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American Citizenship, Opportunity, Transportation
August 9, 2022

Massachusetts Needs a Comprehensive Performance Management Framework

Many states have made promoted government efficiency and effectiveness by setting goals and tracking their progress. Massachusetts tried making a performance structure, but in 2014 it was discontinued. Today, the state lacks a comprehensive structure to track progress.
Opportunity, Transportation
May 22, 2018

Love It When the T Listens!

It seems MBTA officials were listening to this March segment of Bloomberg Radio’s Bay State Business. During the program, I was discussing simple ways to increase MBTA revenue without imposing an across-the-board fare hike. Raising fares may make sense in some scenarios,...
American Citizenship, Opportunity, Transportation
December 8, 2017

Beacon Hill Needs to Get This Right - Right Now

No one said it better than Justice Louis Brandeis. “Sunshine is said to be the best of disinfectants, electric light the most efficient policeman.”  If today’s story on former State Senator Brian Joyce, indicted today for allegedly collecting about $1 million in...
American Citizenship, Opportunity, Transportation
July 29, 2015

Our Letter to the Open Meeting Advisory Commission

Public trust and citizen engagement is fundamental in a healthy government.  Transparency engenders both. The Massachusetts legislature is one of the minority of state legislatures in the country where open meeting law doesn’t apply.  In fact, according to a 2011 study by...
American Citizenship, Opportunity, Transportation
June 22, 2015

A Pretty Much Guaranteed Free Ride

There’s no such thing as a free ride. Ask any accountant and he or she will tell you that there’s always a cost involved. Some businesses give free samples to market their products – a cost to grow revenue.  Others give their...
American Citizenship, Transportation
June 11, 2015

A Tale of Two Transparencies

Recently, we wrote about the redemption of Secretary of State William Galvin after a records request for communications between his office and the Office of the Attorney General revealed the frustrating brush-offs he had received from the previous two AGs. Shortly thereafter,...
American Citizenship, Transportation
May 13, 2015

The High Cost of Records Requests at the MBTA Hits a New Low

As we’ve written about before, in Massachusetts your legal right to transparency at times comes with a fairly hefty premium. Agencies routinely use exorbitant fee estimates as a way to get out of having to fulfill “burdensome” (read: embarrassing) requests, and no...
Opportunity, Transportation
April 7, 2015

Public Left in Dark on Carmen’s Union Contract

Background Over the past two months, Pioneer Institute has focused substantial resources on analyzing the MBTA’s operations, finances, pension system and governance (leadership and accountability).  A key piece of our work has included comparisons of the Authority to other American transit systems. ...
Opportunity, Transportation
April 6, 2015

And What About the T's Retirement Costs?

Pension and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) costs significantly impact the MBTA’s financial position.  There’s been much talk about the T’s retirement costs but relatively little about how those costs and their funding rank among other large transit systems.  The MBTA has not...
Opportunity, Transportation
February 6, 2015

How is Keolis Fined for Late Commuter Rail Trains?

Your toes are numb, the faces around you sullen and the service alert on your phone says the next train will arrive at a different time than the LED screen overhead.  The train you planned on taking to work broke down and...