Speaking to a packed room at LWVMA’s 95th birthday celebration on Sunday, May 3, 2015, MA Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack provided her vision for the Commonwealth’s transportation system, emphasizing that any discussion about transportation should begin by building a consensus on goals before considering resources. Secretary Pollack, who opened her remarks by highlighting the value of civic engagement and her high regard for organizations like the League, also underscored the necessity of approaching transportation decision making from a long-term perspective and by recognizing that transportation issues are embedded in the larger questions of where people live, where they work, and what services they need to access. She also discussed the need to restructure the process of approving transportation projects so that we do not automatically fund projects that have been waiting in the pipeline for years and sometimes decades, regardless of their current relevance.
Secretary Pollack, who was appointed by Governor Charlie Baker on January 13, has had a long career researching, writing, and advising about transportation–as well as the intersection of transportation with a variety of other issues, including equity, economic opportunity, housing and development, and the environment. She previously worked on transportation policy, finance and equity as Associate Director for Research at the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University since 2005; has provided over a decade of strategic consulting on transportation issues to the public and private sectors; and had a distinguished career at the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston.
LWVMA is extremely grateful to Nancy Beeuwkes of LWV Concord-Carlisle and her husband Reinier for graciously hosting the event.
