Secretary
Rides: Red & Blue Line | SL3
I’m a Boston-based strategic consultant, passionate about Sustainable Mobility and the importance of bringing innovation to how we think about, fund and deploy our transportation system. I am also passionate about writing - I’ve written three books (working on a fourth), most recently The Vidal Lecture, and I am a regular contributor to Commonwealth Magazine.
The pathway to my current advocacy began in a triple-decker in East Boston, where I could see first hand the many ways that bad and insensitive transportation planning can wreak havoc on a thriving neighborhood. That pathway led first to a career in the law, serving clients as both a public sector lawyer and a partner at the Boston law firms Hill & Barlow and Goulston & Storrs, where I built a highly regarded Public Law & Policy practice. Along the way, I found myself called upon to serve as a central figure in the establishment of Boston’s Metropolitan Highway System and the creation of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. I also served as a member of the Massachusetts Transportation Finance Commission.
During my tenure as Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation in the Administration of Governor Deval Patrick, I led a landmark transportation restructuring initiative and made a strong effort to secure new revenue to fund our transportation needs. I adopted a policy protocol that explicitly tied transportation decisions and spending to (i) economic growth & development, (ii) regional equity, (iii) social justice, (iv) environmental sustainability, and (v) innovation. I also directed that the MBTA issue its data free of charge, thus enabling private sector entrepreneurs to develop a variety of web-based and mobile applications to help improve the daily commute.
I understand how important the MBTA is to our Sustainable Mobility future. I’m committed to working with others to find common ground and effective solutions to the barriers that exist to having a 21st century public transportation system in place. I have seen first-rate transit systems in places like Bogota, Barcelona and Amsterdam, and our own Portland Oregon. There’s no reason why Greater Boston can’t join these places and offer its residents an egalitarian public transportation system that we all can be proud of. It just takes persistence, commitment, vision and leadership.