Senators Try Congestion Pricing Study For Third Time

Senators Try Congestion Pricing Study For Third Time

Source: State House News Service

On 5/24/23, the Massachusetts Senate launched the latest effort to explore the policy, which would impose roadway tolls that rise or fall based on traffic to disincentivize drivers from commuting at already-crowded peak times.

As part of a supersized bundle that tacked on dozens of annual budget riders with a single vote, senators adopted a Sen. Brendan Crighton amendment that would create a mobility pricing commission tasked with studying the financial, travel and environmental impacts from congestion pricing, which is already in place in some other jurisdictions.

The commission will also review issues related to public transit fares, including cost and ridership impacts from means-tested fares on the MBTA and regional transit authorities.

Lawmakers have twice approved creation of a commission to study congestion pricing, but it has never become law in large part due to their procrastination. One measure died when Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed it after the term ended, and last summer, Baker proposed changing the membership of the panel but lawmakers never took up his amendment.

The House did not call for creation of such a commission in its $56.2B annual budget bill, so its final fate will be decided in conference committee negotiations between the two branches.

The amendment bundle featuring Crighton's proposal wove together measures categorized as "education" and "other," adding a string of earmarks to the Senate's budget bill.

A Senate Ways and Means Committee spokesperson said Wednesday afternoon that it is not yet clear how much spending the amendment bundle approved around 10:30 a.m. added to the budget's bottom line. - Source: Chris Lisinski/SHNS | 5/24/23 3:32 PM