In an effort to save billions of dollars, the State of Massachusetts may merge the MBTA, the Highway Department, and the Turnpike Authority into what is being called the Massachusetts Surface Transportation Authority.
"State Senate leaders today unveiled a proposal to restructure the state's transportation system that would bring the Turnpike, the MBTA, and the state Highway Department, under one agency titled the Massachusetts Surface Transportation Authority.
The new quasi-public agency would also oversee roads and bridges managed by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Tobin Bridge, which is owned by Massport.
The new superagency would simplify operations and reduce costs, with potential savings of up to $6.5 billlion over 20 years, the leaders said in a statement.
'The idea is to streamline, eliminate redundancies between agencies, and make sense of the current system,' said Senate President Therese Murray. 'We think this plan does that.'"
FULL STORY: State Senate would create transportation superagency
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