FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                            Contact: Erin McNeill

March 27, 2009                                                                                                     617-722-1551    

Senate Passes Bill To Dramatically Restructure State Transportation System

Consolidation and Oversight will save $6.5 billion

 (Boston) –Senator Marc R. Pacheco (D-Taunton) is pleased to announce that the Senate has passed comprehensive transportation reform legislation that consolidates multiple agencies, enhances oversight of transportation projects, and is projected to save up to $6.5 billion over the next 20 years.

 “Two months ago, the Senate announced plans for a major overhaul of the state transportation system, and that is what this important piece of legislation will do,” Pacheco said. “This bill consolidates and streamlines the state’s transportation system, and beefs up our oversight of transportation projects, so that we won’t find ourselves looking at another Big Dig down the road.”

 An amendment authored by Pacheco, chairman of the powerful Post Audit and Oversight Committee, would improve oversight by requiring an owner’s representative on all major transportation projects to protect the Commonwealth’s interests.

 “If we had owner’s representation on the Big Dig, mistakes that cost hundreds of millions of dollars could have been caught early and averted,” Pacheco said.

 The Senate bill, S 2024, passed March 25, eliminates the Turnpike Authority, streamlines communications, and creates a more efficient and cost-effective system under a unifying agency called the Massachusetts Surface Transportation Authority (MSTA).

 The accounting firm Deloitte has estimated that the reforms in the Senate bill would save as much as $6.5 billion over twenty years.

 The bill now goes to the House for further action.

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