2025 Annual Meeting Recap: Uncertain Roads, Cooperative Solutions

On May 20, 2025, 128 Business Council hosted its first in-person Annual Meeting since before the pandemic. With 68 registered attendees packed into the Concord Room at the Best Western Plus Waltham Boston, the room buzzed with real energy as old colleagues reconnected and new conversations took root. It was more than a meeting. It was the return of something vital to our region: face-to-face conversation about the future of mobility. For an organization built around the idea of cooperation, that felt especially powerful.

The panel discussion, Uncertain Roads: Local Transportation Realities in a Time of Federal & State Flux, featured MassDOT’s Undersecretary of Transportation Hayes Morrison, State Representative Steven Owens (29th Middlesex), and Executive Director of the Central Transportation Planning Staff to the Boston Region MPO Tegin Teich. We were fortunate to have State Representative Michelle Ciccolo (15th Middlesex) moderate the discussion. With her deep expertise in transportation and municipal planning, along with her gift for public speaking, she guided the panel with a rare mix of technical fluency and audience engagement. We were also joined by elected officials including State Representative Tom Stanley (9th Middlesex); Waltham Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy; and Waltham City Councillors Colleen Bradley-MacArthur and Robert Logan, as well as municipal leaders, corporate partners, and longtime transportation allies from across our service area and beyond.

Early in the conversation, panelists spotlighted the Massachusetts Transportation Funding Task Force—a group that included 128 Business Council among its members and whose work helped set the tone for the discussion that followed. The task force’s report introduced a three-part framework (“stabilize, enhance, transform”) that helped contextualize many of the panelists’ discussions about current and future revenue sources. “Stabilize” refers to addressing immediate financial challenges that strain public transportation operations and critical infrastructure. “Enhance” focuses on updating policies and investing in modern systems to ensure a state of good repair and long-term resilience. “Transform” looks further ahead, exploring new technologies and revenue streams to support sustainability for future generations.

One thing that became immediately clear: the stakes are high. Over half of MassDOT’s capital budget is tied to federal dollars. And while MassDOT and the Commonwealth’s congressional delegation are working hard to keep those dollars moving, the outcomes of upcoming federal funding reauthorizations remain uncertain—and could have far-reaching consequences. Meanwhile, the strings attached to discretionary grants are becoming more ideological and less predictable. This raises serious questions about how far states like Massachusetts should go to secure funds that might come with unacceptable conditions.

That said, not everything hinges on D.C. Panelists emphasized that Massachusetts has other tools—like the Fair Share Amendment, which has already generated $2.4 billion in its first year, far outpacing expectations. But even that won’t be nearly enough. And as we move away from fossil fuels, revenue from gas taxes will shrink.

But the conversation didn’t just focus on billion-dollar megaprojects. In fact, there were multiple urgent reminders that smaller, everyday infrastructure—culverts, guardrails, municipal vehicle fleets—is often the first to suffer under constrained budgets. These ‘unseen’ pieces of the system are critical to safety and resilience, and they’re often overlooked when the headlines go to big (undeniably important) priorities like the Allston Multimodal Project.

One of the most valuable threads running through the discussion was the way panelists demystified how transportation funding actually works. Attendees who weren’t familiar with the work of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) before the event definitely are now! We heard how the MPO’s Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) determines which projects get federal funding, how fiscal constraint rules shape what’s even eligible to be included, and, more generally, how MPOs are where local voices meet federal dollars. That kind of behind-the-scenes context is essential—and it underscored how important it is for local leaders, including those in our own TMA network, to stay actively involved in regional planning.

RTAs, TMAs, and municipal systems often operate beyond the scope of MBTA-centered policy and media attention, but they are uniquely positioned to respond to immediate needs, especially when it comes to workforce mobility and last-mile service gaps. In today’s fragmented funding landscape, that flexibility is not a luxury. It’s a necessity.

Transportation, of course, doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Speakers drew connections between mobility and several of the most pressing challenges facing our region: housing, job access, economic competitiveness, and climate goals. As employers struggle to recruit talent and real estate markets shift, reliable transportation has become a make-or-break factor. And without stronger transportation networks in place, local climate goals could stall—not from a lack of commitment, but because people simply can’t get where they need to go without a car.

As hosts, one of the most meaningful aspects of the event was the level of engagement from the audience. The audience brought thoughtful, sometimes tough questions—and more questions than we had time to answer. Our panelists stayed after the formal close to keep talking with attendees one-on-one, underscoring their shared commitment to practical, region-wide problem-solving.