Change without solutions does not equal the reform that we need in Massachusetts. Beacon Hill’s recent attempt at “reform” of our transportation system provides a ready example of how Beacon Hill fails our citizens if reform is superficial or merely cosmetic rather than addressing the root problems that are crying out for solution. Public skepticism becomes cynicism when “change” and “reform” supposedly take place, but the basic problems that need addressing are left behind. Short-term expediency and bureaucratic reshuffling are not an adequate response.

A careful study of our state’s transportation needs showed a short fall of funding over the next twenty years to address the maintenance demands on our current highway, bridge, transit and rail system. In addition, the state is not adequately funding the expansions we are currently engaged in or proposing. Our Massachusetts transportation system is fundamental to the success of our state’s economy and to the production of the jobs we need in these economic times. It must provide an infrastructure that supports investment in the rest of our Commonwealth’s economy, and we cannot let it become a bottleneck or allow it to lapse into dangerous disrepair.

Instead of addressing this basic and needed reform in Massachusetts, recent efforts passed into legislation and signed by the governor are lacking and fall short of the mark. These efforts attempted a consolidation of transportation agencies and a short-term prevention of draconian hikes in tolls, but unfortunately our long-term need for reform was not addressed.

Tolls, including those on the Tobin Bridge affecting commuters and jobs, are still subject to unacceptable future increases. A recent report demonstrated the severe backlog of needed maintenance to preserve the safety on public transit that our citizens require. Some temporarily available federal stimulus money has helped repair some of the bridges and roadways most in need of attention, but no long-term or systematic plan is in place to meet these most important needs on an ongoing basis. We are facing a future where congestion increases, maintenance fails to keep up, safety is compromised, impending expansions are unaddressed, and toll payers become overburdened. The few efficiencies we find from moving agencies around to different bureaucratic configurations fail to come anywhere near what is adequate for a transportation system that meets our daily needs and the requirements of a prosperous, job-creating economy.

To be serious about solutions to our vital transportation infrastructure needs, and to ensure adequate investment in this essential responsibility of state government, we need a dedicated revenue source that will be fair and not just a constant, never ending, and inequitable raising of tolls to ever more unacceptable levels. We must not let congestion become gridlock, deferred maintenance become endangering neglect, economic opportunity become a choked off, strangled and dysfunctional transportation system, as jobs and businesses go elsewhere to places where “reform” is a term that means fundamental change and not just another word for fundamental inaction.

On numerous occasions I have refused to vote for so-called “reforms” that do not meet our crying needs for real reform on Beacon Hill. I will continue to press my colleagues in the legislature and state government to address real needs with real solutions. Continually kicking the can down the road for future years is an unacceptable abdication of responsibility for what we should be doing right now. Transportation is a good place to start because it has such a strong impact on commerce, business, and jobs. I encourage many others to join with me to start a new and more vital and substantial movement toward reform in this crucial area.