Price signals influence decision making and behavior at each stage in the path that discarded material takes to reuse, recycling, composting, or disposal.  Current signals often incentivize disposal, or fail to differentiate between disposal and diversion even when there is a significant fiscal benefit from diversion.  Changing these price signals for those who do not otherwise experience them would yield significant additional diversion.

A water bank is a system of accounting and paying for measures that offset or mitigate water losses due to water withdrawals, sewering, and/or increased impervious areas that prevent aquifer recharge.  The purpose of a water bank is to provide a water supplier with the resources necessary to mitigate the demands of new development through conservation, leak detection, education, or infrastructure improvements.  For example, a water banking program might require that new connections or increased demands be mitigated through payment into a fund, proportional to the amount of water r

Water audits offer detailed information to targeted classes of users.   An audit includes a customer-specific on-site survey of water usage patterns and specific recommendations for increasing water efficiency.  It may also involved distributing and/or installing water-saving devices.  Audits can be conducted for both indoor and outdoor use for residential and nonresidential customers.

In order to minimize the need for long term maintenance investments, improve user satisfaction, and maximize system performance, the Commonwealth should create a comprehensive asset management system for its current transportation inventory.  This plan would be a data driven monitoring system that would evaluate current conditions and performance and identify capital investment needed to maintain a satisfactory performance level.  Management systems have already been partially implemented for some of the Commonwealth’s building (CAMIS by DCAM and FAMIS by DCR) and bridge (PO

Local governments and residents should be provided the tools to generate funds to improve transportation and transit opportunities.  See also Implementation Strategy #2, “Strengthen Municipal Finance.”

21.a    MAPC should work with stakeholders to develop legislation that would allow local and regional tax referenda

21.b    Municipalities should make use of District Improvement Financing to help fund infrastructure improvements

Due in part to debt assumed from Big Dig mitigation projects, 30% of the MBTA operating budget is dedicated to debt relief.  The MBTA is so overwhelmed with debt and the cost of the employee pension program that it cannot serve the basic needs of its ridership or properly maintain its infrastructure, let allow finance needed expansion projects.

Massachusetts needs an immediate source of new revenue that can be used to reduce the maintenance backlog and expand infrastructure to support sustainable land use patterns.  New revenue streams should be diversified, dedicated to transportation so they are stable, reasonably related to transportation uses, and adaptive to increases in materials and labor costs.

Pay-as-you-drive automobile insurance provides discounts based on actual vehicle mileage, with the highest discounts for those who drive the least.  Pay-As-You-Drive pricing can help achieve several public policy goals including fairness, affordability, road safety, consumer savings and choice, and reduced traffic problems. It helps reduce traffic congestion, road and parking facility costs, and environmental impacts. It reduces the need for cross-subsidies currently required to provide “affordable” unlimited-mileage coverage to high-risk drivers.

Comprehensive integration of land use and transportation planning requires a rationale, predictable, and transparent system for designing and selecting projects.  Accomplishing such a system requires elimination of earmarks that fund transportation projects through legislative appropriations.  As an interim step, improved transparency in the state legislature’s earmarking process would reduce unanticipated and costly changes and delays.

Many segments of the small business market often require small loans (less that $30,000) that are not a priority to many mainstream financial institutions.  Micro-businesses and sole proprietorships with few assets to collateralize may find it very difficult the secure the capital necessary to take advantage of certain opportunities.  Innovative lending models and new incentives for conventional lenders are necessary to create the access to capital that will allow the small business sector to thrive.