VOTING RIGHTS IS one of the nation’s most talked-about policies today, and it’s easy to understand why. In response to the hundreds of anti-voting laws that state legislators have introduced across the country, President Biden invoked the sentiments of the late-Congressman John Lewis in a stirring speech that emphasized how sacred the right to vote is. The speech was most clearly aimed at states like Georgia, which recently took steps as drastic as a ban on sharing food and drinks with those waiting in line to vote.

The assault on voting rights taking place in states like Georgia is undoubtedly important, though you do not need to look across the country to see the steep inequities that limit voter access and hamper our democracy. You can see them all too clearly in Massachusetts. You can feel them all too personally in our own communities.

Here’s what we mean: in the 2020 general election, Massachusetts witnessed a 28-year high voter turnout rate of 76 percent. Yet this result actually distorts what turnout really looked like across the state. According to MassVOTE, a voting rights organization, voter turnout rates reached 85 percent or higher in the Commonwealth’s predominantly white, wealthy, suburban communities. But in more diverse, lower-income, urban communities, voter turnout rates fell dozens of percentage points below that.

This proved apparent in the communities we represent, which include parts of Boston, Lawrence, and other surrounding communities. In parts of East Boston, for example, which is heavily Latinx, voter turnout hit only 61 percent. In Lawrence, which is majority Latinx, voter turnout was only 53 percent. In parts of the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury, which is predominantly Black, voter turnout hit a stunning low of 42 percent. Here, far fewer voters, especially Black and brown, low-income, and immigrant voters, were able to have their voices heard.

Our communities were not alone. Frustratingly, this trend was evident in Gateway Cities across the Commonwealth. In Worcester, for example, the voter turnout rate was only 65 percent. In Brockton, it was 64 percent. In Chelsea: 57 percent. Springfield: 53 percent. In cities like these, which are home to many of the state’s Black and Latinx voters, our democracy must do much better. It must be more accessible and inclusive, especially for those who have long faced unjust barriers to the polls.

No one policy alone is the answer to make our democracy completely accessible and inclusive. We will need numerous reforms in the coming years to create the substantive change we seek. But we believe in one policy that can help foster this change: the FARE Act.

The FARE Act, which we introduced as S.2261 in the Massachusetts Senate and H.3547 in the House of Representatives, would make public transit free on Election Day. Specifically, it would make all subway, bus, and trolley service fare-free for all statewide primaries and elections. It would apply to the MBTA, as well as the 15 regional transit authorities across the Commonwealth, meaning that virtually all corners of the state would benefit from this policy.

We believe the FARE Act is a common-sense solution that can help close the voter turnout gap in Massachusetts. This is because the same groups of people that unfortunately turn out to vote at the lowest rates – Black and brown, low-income, and immigrant individuals – also depend most on public transit. As of 2017, 9 percent of white households in Massachusetts lacked reliable access to a car. That rate is 25 percent for Black households and 27 percent for Latinx households. Nationwide, a majority of those who rely on public transit are people of color and live in a household that makes under $50,000 a year. By breaking down financial barriers to the ballot box, we can make our democracy more responsive to the very people it is underserving now.

While the FARE Act would make Massachusetts a leader in implementing this policy statewide, dozens of cities, including San Diego, Dallas, and Kansas City, provide free public transit on Election Day. When Los Angeles County, which is home to more than 10 million residents and nearly 6 million registered voters, made public transit free on Election Day, it witnessed a 5 percent increase in both bus and subway ridership. By understanding cases like these, we may ensure that the FARE Act thrives in Massachusetts.

In passing the FARE Act, Massachusetts may take one small but critical step to ensure that our democracy is as accessible and inclusive as possible, especially for those experiencing greater barriers to the ballot box.

Joe Boncore, a Winthrop Democrat, is Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation. Frank Moran is a Democratic state representative from Lawrence. Chynah Tyler is a Democratic state representative from Roxbury. The FARE Act will have a public hearing before the Joint Committee on Transportation on Wednesday, July 28.

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SINCE JANUARY, the segment of the Massachusetts civic community with an interest in transportation and climate change has been waiting for the report requested by Gov. Charlie Baker of his Commission on the Future of Transportation. Charged with tackling topics that will influence the economy and landscape of the Commonwealth for years to come, the 18-member commission released its finished product last week.

Even without a year’s worth of study, we’ve known that transportation is broken in Massachusetts. The drivers sitting in traffic day in and day out know that it’s broken. The patrons of regional transit authorities whose service is being cut throughout the state know it’s broken. Commuters crossing their fingers each time they approach a shabby-looking bridge know it’s broken. And riders of the T and commuter rail hopelessly waiting in the winter cold for a delayed train know it’s broken.

Who else knows? Employers whose businesses are hurt by employees and customers not being able to reliably get from point A to point B. And climate scientists, who know that transportation is the top source of the Commonwealth’s greenhouse gas emissions. The sad state of transportation in Massachusetts has been an open secret. The one thing that’s unknown? Whether or not we’ll step up and fix it.

The commission’s report paints a picture of a transportation system in need of modernization.  This dovetails with a 2017 Federal Transit Administration report which outlined  that the MBTA had more mechanical failures than any other rail system in the country. Another study conducted by MassMoves, and commissioned by the Massachusetts Senate, identified a $1.7 billion funding gap to maintain state highways, bridges, and tunnels, along with a $7.3 billion gap to bring the MBTA to a state of good repair. These costs only grow with each passing year of inaction.

What would meaningful action on transportation actually look like? Here are some key ingredients:

Raise revenue. Significant new revenue, raised in a way that does not disproportionately burden the least fortunate among us, is necessary to support the statewide system we have, and to invest in expanded service. Emerging proposals like the Transportation Climate Initiative provide leaders at the state and regional levels with the opportunity to make progress both on our transportation needs and our climate goals.

Continue reforms. MassDOT and the MBTA deserve credit for the work their teams have done around reforms and efficiencies, including modernizing the procurement process, and operational improvements. While reform alone will not generate the funding needed to bolster the state’s infrastructure, it will a) manifest some savings, b) improve performance, and c) increase public trust in the process. Reforms such as making representative governance of transit permanent, supporting improvements to regional systems, and expanding the definition of reform will promote long-term stability and growth in a statewide system.

Lift up what we have. In order to support our businesses and achieve our environmental goals, we must make the necessary investments to bring our infrastructure to a state of good repair. The public has a right to expect routine maintenance and basic modernization of the state’s transportation system, including employing existing technologies to improve service and exploring innovations such as congestion pricing to alleviate crowding on our roads .

Prioritize equity. Our current transportation system fails underserved communities in multiple ways, chief among them limiting access to opportunities and threatening hefty impacts of climate change. A plan for the future should include expanding service and frequency to those most often left behind, at fares that are equitable. Plans must also be thoughtful about how to mitigate the impacts of gentrification that often follow improvements in transportation.

Don’t recreate the wheel.  The Commonwealth’s transportation system of tomorrow already exists in other places. Mexico City and Bogota have been leaders in bus rapid transit. No place does bicycle infrastructure better than the Netherlands. Seattle’s water ferries are enviable, and London uses resources generated by congestion pricing to invest in pedestrian improvements. We can learn from their experiences, make modifications as needed, and bring the world’s best transportation ideas to Massachusetts.

As the Commission on the Future of Transportation’s report makes clear, there is much work to be done in order for Massachusetts to reach our climate goals and create infrastructure that works for everyone. But our collective bookshelves are full of decades’ worth of reports outlining similar findings. We don’t have time to further clutter the shelves. Creating the future of transportation starts today. It’s on us to deviate from our current path, and make our systems across the Commonwealth efficient, inclusive, and sustainable.

Sen. Joseph Boncore represents the First Suffolk and Middlesex District in the Massachusetts Senate and Jesse Mermell is the president of the Alliance for Business Leadership.

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