Gas tax
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Climate Report Card Gives MassDOT A Failing Grade As Mass. Misses Key Climate Goals
As traffic continues to increase and EV sales lag, will MassDOT finally pivot to public transportation as a climate solution?
February 13, 2026
Another Year, Another Budget Gap: Gov. Healey Still Needs A Long-Term Solution for Funding the T
The MBTA's Chief Finance Officer and transit advocates are in agreement: the T will need a major, sustained infusion of state funds within the next two years to avoid major service cuts, and the higher-than-expected "Fair Share" transportation funding that rescued the T's budget last year won't be enough.
January 22, 2026
Massachusetts Gasoline Consumption Continued to Increase in 2024
Gasoline consumption and air travel in Massachusetts produced about 27 million metric tons of greenhouse pollutants in 2024, making it unlikely that the Healey administration will meet targets that Governor Baker set in the state's official climate plan.
February 10, 2025
Gov. Healey Pledges to Double Operating Support for the T, Seek Replacement for Gasoline Taxes
Governor Maura Healey delivered her first State of the Commonwealth address, which included a few brags about her administration's accomplishments in turning around the MBTA, and a few new promises for transportation policies her administration would like to take on in 2024.
January 18, 2024
Driving is the New Smoking: Lessons From America’s Public Health Victory Over Tobacco
Smoking, once a celebrated totem of American culture, is increasingly an ostracized habit of the marginal few. Getting there, though, took deliberate vision, coordinated efforts, and persistent policy trial and error over decades — and those efforts reveal a partial roadmap for breaking our country’s similarly dangerous addiction to cars.
September 2, 2022
Ten Ways the U.S. Can Cut Gasoline Expenditures Right Now
A top intergovernmental organization released a 10-point plan to cut gasoline use worldwide in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine — but the U.S. will have trouble actually implementing it without an upheaval on our national transportation culture.
March 23, 2022
Business Groups, Advocates Agree: Drivers Need To Pay More
As legislators on Beacon Hill start working on a new transportation funding bill this week, business groups and sustainable transportation advocates are finding common ground on proposals to raise new funds for the state's transportation infrastructure with new fees, taxes and tolls on motor vehicle users.
October 30, 2019
Report: Higher Gas Tax, Like Higher Transit Fares, Could Increase Inequality
While many sustainable transportation advocates champion higher gasoline taxes as a way to pay for transportation improvements, a new report from the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) warns that higher gasoline taxes will exacerbate the state's growing income inequality – unless the state simultaneously passes other tax policies to benefit low-income families.
October 17, 2019
