Massachusetts and Boston in particular are notorious for their torturous transportation. From the MBTA and commuter rail lines to bumper-to-bumper traffic, simply put: getting from A to B in the Bay State is a perturbed process. Massachusetts gubernatorial 2014 hopeful Don Berwick discussed in a conference call Wednesday his policy plans to make the commonwealth more efficient when it comes to conveyance.

Having already traversed much of eastern Massachusetts during these early stages of the race to succeed Governor Deval Patrick come November, Berwick outlined a seven-step process in which he hopes to implement a “transportation system [that] saves quality of life in Massachusetts.”

In Berwick’s eyes, every facet of Massachusetts is tied to transportation – from job growth to healthcare, revenue generation to day-to-day living, mass transit is the foundation of the state’s major socioeconomic pillars. As he noted over the phone, “transportation failure is a threat to our economy… investing and upgrading in transportation puts people to work and supports thousands of jobs every year.”

And while bolstering the workforce and lining, their and the state’s pockets are certainly immediate needs for some, his plan will also help the Bay State act as nationwide standard for protecting the environment and reducing our dependance on harmful fossil fuels.

“[The] gas tax is going to become an even less significant revenue source,” he commented when touching upon creating profit while going greener. “We need it for now.” A stopgap solution, sure, but his idea for increasing public transportation ridership while minimizing our carbon footprint over subsequent years is deterrent-based.

A staple to his proposed measure is a “‘vehicle miles traveled’ fee structure, with strict attention to privacy concerns. A modernized fee system can be equitable, efficient, and responsive to the needs of commuters.” In this way, Berwick hopes to produce less reliability on gasoline while making subway and rail systems more lucrative to riders.

Another advantageous initiative he touched upon, in hopes of fostering seamless transportation, economic growth, and public transit use ,was his willingness to explore “regional equity and regional development to get people to move around across the state.” The western half of Massachusetts is very much disconnected from the eastern, with the Massachusetts Turnpike as the only quick and viable means of trekking from one end to the other. How difficult it must be for someone living outside the I-495 ring in the likes of Springfield and even Worcester to, for example, timely catch a flight out of Logan Airport.

Said Berwick, matter-of-factly: “I support high speed rail when it shows proper economic return.” So far, on a smaller scale, it’s worked for hauling people to and from Cape Cod via the CapeFLYER service so why not span a similar line of track from east to west? For Berwick, it has to produce money. And it has for the CapeFLYER.

In expanded detail, via a press release, Berwick’s seven-step transportation are as follows:

1. He will work with the Legislature to identify revenue sources sufficient to fully fund the rehabilitation and modernization necessary for Massachusetts to thrive, and he will bring the argument for doing that to the public without mincing words. The gas tax may be necessary in the current environment, but it is not our future.
2. He will work to transition our approach from supporting transportation through taxes on gasoline to more modern methods that ask people to pay according to what they use – methods like a “vehicle miles traveled” fee structure, with strict attention to privacy concerns. A modernized fee system can be equitable, efficient, and responsive to the needs of commuters.
3. He will regard fare increases on mass transit as the last and least desirable of all revenue sources: we need more ridership, not less.
4. He will not play favorites among the regions and constituencies in the state that need better transport to thrive.  The MBTA is absolutely key (it serves a majority of the state’s population and its equipment is aging dangerously) but so are the other regional transit authorities many of which need service upgrades and better schedules.  Transportation improvement in Massachusetts cannot be treated as a “zero sum” game among our regions.  We are one state, and every region deserves a fair deal.
5. He will pursue policies that encourage increasing use of public and mass transit, as well as bicycles, as part of a comprehensive energy and carbon reduction policy; and he will favor policies to encourage major expansion of use of electric and other clean vehicles.
6. He will insist upon a transportation department that sets and meets goals according to clear, transparent metrics for performance – metrics that track job growth, carbon reduction, air quality, service quality, and enhanced mobility, among others, to ensure that we get value for our dollar. He will aim is to see to it that the decisions and choices we make about transportation are less controlled by politics and more informed by facts, evidence, and sound public policy principles.
7. He will ensure that Massachusetts is in the forefront of our technology revolution – a leader, not just in the nation, but in the world. New technologies like “smart streets” have boundless potential to better protect the environment, reduce commute times, and make traveling in Massachusetts more convenient.