Mass Transit and Congestion

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, §10, I hereby request the following records:

Annual count of registered vehicles in the state from 1994 until the most recent available year. Ideally filterable and searchable by zip code, municipality, county, and by type (car, truck, etc.)

Annual car-carrying capacity changes on local routes and highways including road miles added, lanes added, etc. from 1994 until the most recent available year.

Data regarding congestion, including volume of traffic/vehicles, problematic intersection studies/data, delay frequency and/or severity, etc. from 1994 until the most recent available year.

Actual investments in buses, trains, infrastructure, and other MBTA rolling stock from 1994 until the most recent available year.

Accident statistics on local routes and highways, including the number of accidents, their locations, their documented causes (if available), etc. from 1994 until the most recent available year.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Mary Connaughton

Neha,

You can contact Scott Haller, one of Pioneer's Research Associates, who is working on this project.

860-990-1584
shaller@pioneerinstitute.org

We had some supplementary requests (registered vehicle counts from 1970, 1980, and 1990), as well as some questions regarding the data that we have already received (mostly concerning whether any methodologies have been altered).

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Mary Connaughton