Juliette Kayyem is a Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts. A former Boston Globe columnist, Juliette served stints lecturing at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council on International Policy. Prior to this, Juliette was the Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Homeland Security.
The views expressed here purely those of the candidate and not necessarily BostInno’s.
Infrastructure is literally the backbone of our state’s economy. We have to see it that way or else we will not be prepared for the future. Without an efficient, reliable and forward-thinking infrastructure, our economy is less productive and able to expand and grow going forward. Transportation infrastructure – our roads, highways, railways, airports, and ports – helps move our workforce to their jobs, and goods and services to customers. It is what supports our high productivity and helps expand the economy through trade with the rest of the country and the global economy. But infrastructure is much more than just transportation. It includes our energy system (energy generation, transmission and distribution) as well as telecommunications, connecting us to each other and the world. How and where we invest in infrastructure also reflects core values we hold dear such as equality of opportunity and environmental stewardship.
The strength of Massachusetts lies in the diversity of the 351 cities and towns throughout the state. Each community’s unique needs, whether a region, municipality, or constituency, contributes to the success of the Commonwealth’s economy. This diversity also demands that we have a strong infrastructure to allow each community to build upon its strengths while benefiting from being connected to the whole. Our infrastructure is currently based on investments made half a century ago.
The MBTA and our interstate highway system are over 50 years old and have helped build the economy we have today. At the same time, they require significant maintenance and upgrading, much of which is long overdue because the political establishment has been unwilling or unable to tackle this issue. It is estimated that an additional $15 to $19 billion is needed beyond current projected revenues just to bring our surface transportation system to a “state of good repair.” And traffic is expected to increase by almost 40% over the next 40 years. Building an infrastructure that reduces congestion, increases reliability and creates more economic opportunity is essential.
The investments Governor Patrick has made need to be nurtured by the next Governor. These longer-term solutions that will tackle some of the structural problems that we face. Forty-five percent of the Department of Transportation and the MBTA budgets have been going to pay off debt. Coming up with solutions to our transportation financing challenges will take bold, innovative thinking, hard policy decisions, and political will. And solutions will be home grown, particularly since Washington’s contribution to state infrastructure spending continues to decline.
Beyond sustaining and maintaining our current infrastructure, we need to invest in expansion and modernization to orient our infrastructure for a 21st century economy. Advanced technologies that improve logistics, create a smarter grid, increase access to housing and jobs, increase transportation efficiency as well as the speed of communications must be part of our vision for the future, particularly given the importance of proximity and speed in the knowledge economy. As we expand our connection to new markets with direct flights from Logan to places like Tokyo, Panama City, Bejing, Istanbul and possibly Tel Aviv, we need to be seen as a state that is investing in its future and understands the importance of good infrastructure to building a thriving, globally-connected economy.
We are fortunate in Massachusetts to be able to draw upon world-class expertise in the state when it comes to infrastructure. Going forward, we need to encourage more public-private partnerships as well as regional approaches where we share key infrastructure with our New England neighbors, particularly in energy and commerce.
We cannot settle for the infrastructure of today, but we must surge for the infrastructure of tomorrow. So that we can increase opportunity for our residents and connect the state regionally and globally to jobs, people and markets.
For more information on Juliette’s gubernatorial stances, you can view her campaign website here.
