As this paper reported in recent weeks, the Biden administration’s proposed infrastructure plan might give Massachusetts enough money to make significant down payments on a pair of long-dreamed for transit projects like electrifying the MBTA commuter rail network and converting it into more subway-like “regional rail.” 

Projects like these are essential to the state’s future if we hope to cut our carbon emissions to half of 1990 levels in the next nine years, the state’s new, legally mandated target. With sufficient funding to speed these projects along, they will form the bones of a new carbon-free transportation infrastructure and a scaffolding for most future growth to build on.  

But officials should not assume flashy new trains, battery-powered buses and additional train stations will be enough to decarbonize our economy.  

Dramatically expanding regional transit agencies’ and the MBTA’s capacity to deliver bus service that will let suburbanites and city-dwellers alike “show up and go” will be just as necessary to get to these new lines without driving a car.  

Other “world-class” cities like Toronto and London offer ready examples of the kinds of service Bay Staters need – particularly working-class essential workers for whom the thousands of dollars a year in car payments and car repairs are an especially hard burden compared to $90 monthly MBTA subway passes. With large percentages of these cities’ residents already taking transit in areas just as spread out as many Boston suburbs, it’s clear achieving this target is not rocket science. 

Networks of protected bicycle lanes also offer strong returns on investment. As the pandemic boom in bicycle purchases showed, millions of Americans like riding bikes and see them as more than a toy for summer Sunday outings. But it took last spring’s dramatic collapse in car traffic for many to feel safe enough from parked cars’ swinging doors and SUVs’ massive, deadly grills to use bicycles for everyday trips.  

Bicycle infrastructure may cost far less per mile than roadbuilding or public transit, but it’s usually the province of towns and cities. These cash-strapped governments need an infusion of cash to connect their residents to grocery stores, restaurants and trains. 

Some in state leadership would have us simply trade in our gas-powered cars for electric ones. But that plan ignores the slow turnover rate of private car fleets, the high cost of car ownership for working families, the burden many more electric cars will have on our electricity grid and our already world-beating traffic congestion. 

So, as we chart a path towards a net-zero world, let’s offer Massachusetts residents efficient, affordable alternatives to car ownership. Perhaps by 2030, we can help most families get by with only one car, and by 2045, we can make living car-free a realistic possibility for most. 

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