Massachusetts Department of Transportation


The Massachusetts Department of Transportation oversees roads, public transit, aeronautics, and transportation licensing and registration in the US state of Massachusetts. It was created on November 1, 2009, by the 186th Session of the Massachusetts General Court upon enactment of the ''2009 Transportation Reform Act.''

History

In 2009, Governor Deval Patrick proposed merging all Massachusetts transportation agencies into a single Department of Transportation. Legislation consolidating all of Massachusetts' transportation agencies into one organization was signed into law on June 26, 2009. The newly established Massachusetts Department of Transportation assumed operations from the existing conglomeration of state transportation agencies on November 1, 2009.
This change included:
As an executive department, the governor of Massachusetts appoints the state secretary of transportation, who is also the "chief executive officer" of the department. The governor also appoints a five-person board of directors which approves major decisions. The department directly administers some operations, while others remain semi-autonomous.

Highway Division

Formerly an independent state entity, which until 1992 even had its own uniformed police force for vehicular traffic law enforcement, the Registry of Motor Vehicles Division is now directly administered by MassDOT. It is the equivalent of the department of motor vehicles in most states, and processes driver's licenses and motor vehicle registrations.

Rail and Transit Division

All public transportation agencies are administered independently. Until July 2015, the MassDOT board of directors had served as the board of directors for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the major provider of public transportation in the Greater Boston area, when its governance of the MBTA was suspended by the state legislature and temporarily replaced by a separate Fiscal and Management Control Board appointed by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. In June 2021, the FMCB was dissolved, and the following month, Baker signed into law a supplemental budget bill that included a provision creating a permanent MBTA Board of Directors and Baker appointed the new board the following October.
The remaining 15 public transit authorities are called Regional Transit Agencies, and they provide public bus services in the remainder of the state. The regional transit authorities are:
The regional transit authorities shown in italics above are within MBTA's commuter rail service area, and provide connections to MBTA trains.
DOT retains oversight and statewide planning authority, and also has a Rail section within the Mass Transit Division. Intercity passenger trains are operated by the federally owned Amtrak, and freight rail is privately operated.
MassDOT is a member of the Northeast Corridor Commission.

Aeronautics Division

The Aeronautics Division, formerly the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission, administers state financing of its airports; inspects and licenses airports and landing pads; registers aircraft based in Massachusetts as well as aircraft dealers, regulates airport security, safety, and navigation; and is responsible for statewide aviation planning. The Department of Transportation does not own any airports; the state-owned airports are controlled by the independent Massachusetts Port Authority.
Government regulation of aviation in the United States is dominated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Airline passenger and baggage screening is provided by the federal Transportation Security Administration, but airport security is provided locally.

Other groups

The 2009 reform law also created within MassDOT:

Other Massachusetts transportation agencies

Massachusetts Port Authority

The Massachusetts Port Authority remains independent from the Department of Transportation, but the Secretary of Transportation serves on the Massport board of directors. Massport owns and operates the maritime Port of Boston, Boston's Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field and Worcester Regional Airport, which was transferred from the City of Worcester in 2010.

Steamship Authority

regulates all ferry services to and from the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and also operates its own passenger, vehicle, and freight ferries. The Authority has an effective monopoly on car ferry service, but private companies operate various passenger routes.

State transportation funding

Transportation funding available to the state and its agencies include:
The statewide budget included $919 million for transportation in FY2009, not including $797M in sales tax revenue dedicated to the MBTA.
Local cities and towns also receive vehicle excise tax revenues, and levy property taxes. Both state and municipal agencies can levy fines for parking and traffic violations.
Article 78 of the Massachusetts Constitution says all motor vehicle fees and taxes, including fuel taxes, must be spent on transportation, including roads, mass transit, traffic law enforcement, and administration. Transportation is thus a net recipient of general state funds.

Capital planning

Massachusetts has 10 regional metropolitan planning organizations:
and three non-metropolitan planning organizations covering the remainder of the state:
By law, all federal transportation grants must be allocated by the responsible MPO. Statewide planning and coordination of MPOs is handled by the Department of Transportation.
AcronymNameResponsible agencyHorizon
STIPState Transportation Improvement ProgramDOT3 years
TIP Transportation Improvement Program13 regional MPOs3 years
RTP Transportation Plan13 regional MPOs~25 years, updated every 4 years
PMTProgram for Mass TransportationMBTA 25 years, updated every 5 years
CIPMBTA Capital Improvement PlanMBTA4–5 years
MBPMassachusetts Bicycle PlanDOT25 years
UPWPUnified Planning Work Program13 regional MPOs1 year
MMS or CMSMobility Management System or Congestion Management System13 regional MPOs4 years?
SRPState Rail PlanState DOTNot specified

CTPS is the Central Transportation Planning Staff, which is the staff of the Boston MPO and with which the MBTA contracts for planning assistance.
The Highway Division accepts submissions for projects from its district offices and municipalities.

Accelerated Bridge Program

The Accelerated Bridge Program is a bond bill signed into law by Governor Deval Patrick in August 2008, a year after the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse put the state's bridges in the spotlight. The $3 billion, 8-year accelerated bridge program will replace and rehabilitate around 270 bridges statewide. 300–500 additional bridges will be preserved to prevent further deterioration. As of September 1, 2015, the program has reduced the number of structurally deficient bridges to 408, from 543 in 2008. The program is paid for using bonds in anticipation of future federal transportation grants to be issued to the state.
The MassDOT has called the Accelerated Bridge Program the "Laboratory of Innovation". Engineers on each project are invited to investigate other options to replace the bridges faster and more efficiently to reopen the bridges to traffic faster. Some of these options for the projects are:
  • Design/build
  • Prefabricated girders
  • Prefabricated deck panels
  • Prefabricated substructure
  • Heavy lift of a slide-in bridge
  • Float-in bridge
  • Modular bridges
  • "Bridge in a backpack" was used to rebuild a bridge over the Scott Reservoir Outlet in Fitchburg for $890,480. With this technique, lightweight composite tubes are carried into place by several workers on foot and then the weather-resistant tubes are filled with concrete.
  • Bridges constructed in a single phase with traffic detoured
As of September 2015, there were 198 active or completed contracts, including replacement or repair of the following bridges :