Following an increase in safety incidents as travel increased post-COVID, serious injuries on roadways decreased 4.3% from CY23 to CY24.

On transit, there were lower rates of safety events across the MBTA bus and subway systems, plus zero total fatalities across all 15 Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs).

The Commonwealth launched several new initiatives to meet safety standards and to help ensure that safety continues to improve for all users and employees.

One such initiative was the MBTA Track Improvement Program that implemented track repairs across all rapid transit lines to address long-term speed restrictions that were degrading the MBTA’s service quality.

The Track improvement Program enhanced safety, reduced delays and disruptions, improved train speeds and delivered timely, reliable, and consistent service for riders.

After replacing over 250,000 feet of rail, the MBTA eliminated over 220 speed restrictions–becoming completely restriction-free by December 2024–effectively resolving 40 years of repairs in 14 months.

This effort resulted in more efficient work scheduling, cross-department collaboration, and speed restrictions returning to a temporary safety measure. New speed restrictions opened from April – June of 2025 were removed in fewer than 3 days 77% of the time and the median restriction was removed in 2 days.

Across MassDOT, promoting safety in transportation is embedded in our day-to-day work. The RMV plays a central role in promoting roadway safety by overseeing driver licensing and suspensions, vehicle inspection and registration services, driver education, school transportation safety programs, crash reporting, and the ignition interlock program, while the Aeronautics Division manages regional airport inspections and has scaled up its support of safety-related preventative maintenance efforts across the Commonwealth through its drone mission program.

A safe transportation system requires constant effort, maintenance, and accountability. Roadway fatalities declined by roughly 20% from their pandemic peak, but CY23 to CY24 saw notable increases in rail grade crossing incidents and in roadway fatalities.

This includes 26 grade crossing incidents, 9 work zone fatalities, and 78 pedestrian fatalities—a 16% increase. Similarly, injuries were up 13% at the RTAs in CY24.

MassDOT, the MBTA, and the Commonwealth’s RTAs are taking active measures to address these safety hazards. The Highway Division is adopting a Safe System Approach for roadway design, expanding support for community-driven roadway and pedestrian safety campaigns, and rolling out a new work zone management system.

The MBTA updated safety investigation processes and software tools to better address systemic issues, while also partnering with the Rail Division to invest in enhanced visibility infrastructure at high-risk grade crossings.

These initiatives are part of a broader commitment to safety that includes annual partnerships with Operation Lifesaver, a national nonprofit raising awareness about the dangers of trespassing on railway properties, and with Samaritans, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing suicides.

MassDOT remains flexible in project planning amid an unpredictable federal funding environment. While not all planned capital funds reached the spending or advertising stages in FY25, we saw success as the Aeronautics Division and MBTA both met their FY25 capital spending targets. With the Federal government now unprecedently revoking unobligated funding from States, the Highway Division has prioritized the prompt obligation of funds, ensuring that 100% of Federal Funds were obligated this past year.
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Existing state funds granted by Fair Share Tax revenue will be essential in identifying alternate paths for projects with jeopardized funding sources as we continue to modernize and maintain Massachusetts’ transportation network.

To deliver in-progress projects while avoiding delays and unnecessary budget increases, MassDOT is combining a disciplined approach to initial design with alternative project delivery methods.

Several multi-year projects completed in FY25 were set back relative to initial budget estimates by the heightened inflation and supply chain challenges of 2021-2023, but the Highway Division has implemented a central design schedule to streamline capital delivery and lock down detailed scopes as early as possible for new and upcoming projects.

Meanwhile, the MBTA is exploring alternative project delivery methods and implementing more efficient work scheduling, with the on-time completion rate for currently active projects projected at 81%, an improvement from past performance.

In addition to these advancements, the MBTA increased operating revenues in FY25 and launched programs to encourage riders to pay their fares, including a new automated fare collection system and a fare engagement team, which will help to sustain and improve service levels.

Delivering projects on time and on budget, along with the daily fulfillment of service, maintenance, and operating goals requires a team of expert staff.

MassDOT and the MBTA are committed to bolstering and retaining this vital workforce. In FY25, the MBTA added over 1,500 employees across all departments, 40% of which were internal hires and promotions essential to the MBTA’s success in filling critical vacancies. Many of these internal hires were more technical or higher responsibility operations positions that require experienced staff.

Initiatives like advancement training programs, improved employee facilities and scheduling, and General Manager round tables are helping retain a knowledgeable cohesive workforce, reducing attrition at the MBTA from over ten percent in FY23 to 8.1% in FY25.

Maintaining rail, aviation, and public transportation assets is crucial for improving safety and ensuring that people and goods arrive at destinations with minimal disruptions due to failures.

Several transportation assets improved in FY25; regional airport pavement condition in FY24 and FY25 is the best it has been in at least a decade, and  the share of Rail bridges in poor or non-operable condition dropped from 8% in FY23 to 6% in FY25.

Providing a reliable travel experience requires continuous, proactive management to prevent the deterioration of critical infrastructure and assets.

Despite major initiatives such as the Accelerated Bridge Program, aging assets and funding uncertainty have contributed to increased system needs, with the Massachusetts Transportation Funding Task Force recommending additional investments in bridge rehabilitation. The number of Highway bridges in poor condition has risen to 509 in FY25 (10% of all Highway bridges), while the backlog of pavement miles needing repair increased by 22.5% from FFY22 to FFY24.

To address these challenges and prioritize investments in bridge and pavement quality, MassDOT’s Capital Investment Plan allocates $6.5 billion for bridge improvements and $903 million for pavement programs, supporting a state of good repair across the transportation network.

MassDOT is also investing in innovative methods to monitor transportation assets and help maximize our spending efficiency. A highlight of this effort is the Aeronautics Division’s Drone Operations Program to inspect infrastructure more efficiently, further enabling improvements in reliability.

The MBTA is prioritizing safe and reliable transportation by undertaking major fleet renewal efforts. Improvements include the replacement of the Orange and Red Line fleets to increase train capacity and enhance rider comfort, as well as plans to perform overhauls halfway through the projected useful life of Blue Line vehicles and buses to ensure continued reliability and safety.

Ultimately, transportation reliability is about getting people to their destinations in a predictable manner, as measured by travel time reliability. In FY25, MBTA service reliability increased for bus, The RIDE, and Heavy Rail (Blue Line, Orange Line, and Red Line) thanks to fewer cancelled trips, increased staffing levels, and the removal of speed restrictions.

Highway travel time reliability also improved slightly for non-interstates. However, travel time reliability declined slightly on interstate highways, and on-time performance for fixed-route buses decreased for seven out of the 15 RTAs. MassDOT and the MBTA are investing in additional transit priority projects across Eastern Massachusetts to improve bus service reliability and reduce congestion for all road users.

The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts, 38.1% in 2022. The most impactful strategy for reducing statewide transportation emissions is ensuring people have safe, reliable options for reaching their destinations by walking, biking, rolling, or public transportation.

As the number of trips taken continues to increase in the aftermath of the pandemic, the vast majority of trips are taken by private vehicle (81%), while walking (15%) and public transportation (2%) represent smaller shares of travel. Incentivizing other ways of travel to shift mode share away from cars is necessary to meet the Commonwealth’s sustainability goals.

Encouragingly, FY25 also saw a 12% increase in MBTA ridership and continued growth in Amtrak ridership, which aligns with the improvement in service and reliability from the MBTA in this period. Meanwhile, RTA ridership surpassed pre-pandemic levels, reaching 32.8 million rides.

Fair Share funding also enabled initiatives dedicated to improving equitable transit access via microtransit and last mile services through the Supplemental Education and Transportation Funds budget. In early 2025, MassDOT awarded $10 million in Transit Connectivity Grants to nine RTAs to improve links between routes and strengthen service reliability.

MassDOT is actively investing in multimodal transportation infrastructure to help build a cleaner transportation network and increase the quality and variety of people’s transportation options.

In FY25, MassDOT successfully expanded the Commonwealth’s priority trail network by 20 miles to improve bicycle connectivity, while also investing more than $110 million since the Complete Streets Program was established, funding grants for municipalities to make travel safer and more comfortable for travelers of all modes and abilities.

Reducing vehicle emissions is another aspect of MassDOT’s clean transportation strategy. The RMV’s inspection program helps regulate these emissions, with only around 4% of vehicles failing the emissions portion of their inspections.

Though fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles currently account for less than 3% of total vehicles, the Commonwealth is home to an increasing number of vehicles that generate zero tailpipe emissions and contribute to our clean transportation goals. To that end, MassDOT operates 99 electric vehicle charging ports (76 of which are publicly available) enabling nearly 58,000 charging sessions in FY25 and saving nearly 636 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent.

Five of the Commonwealth's RTAs have begun adding electric vehicles to their fleets with support from regional transit grants, and a $54 million agreement will electrify train service on the MBTA’s Fairmount Line, reducing pollution along an environmental justice (EJ) corridor and boosting ridership through faster and more reliable service.

A major step towards this goal is the implementation of the MBTA’s Better Bus Project, whose overall aim is to better meet community needs with simplified timetables, modernized facilities, connections to new destinations, and transit priority infrastructure.

In December 2024, the MBTA increased service to 15 minutes or better during service hours every day on routes 104, 109, 110, and 116, while also adding new connections to Logan Airport, affecting a total of six routes.

Ridership increased by 10% on these routes following these changes, a positive indicator for future phases to benefit the 40% of MBTA riders that use the Bus. More recently, the MBTA also extended late-night service, which will improve destination connectivity further in the coming year by running later service hours for popular bus and ferry routes.

One of the MBTA’s strategies for improving destination connectivity is to reduce transit travel times, with a new excess trip time metric that shows extraneous transit travel time on the Blue, Orange, and Red Lines down by 64% from FY24 to FY25.

Beyond metro Boston, MassDOT is dedicated to ensuring transit access to underserved areas like Western Massachusetts, rural communities, and EJ neighborhoods.

The Rail and Transit Division won federal grants to advance West-East Rail planning, while the MBTA launched South Coast Rail to bring passenger rail service to Fall River and New Bedford for the first time in over 65 years, with over 10,000 average weekday riders so far.

Additionally, over $30 million of FY25 state grants were awarded to support fare-free regional transit service.

The MBTA expanded its Income-Eligible Reduced Fare program, which makes transit more accessible for students, low-income riders, and other qualified users. Since program launch in September 2024, over 30,000 applications have been approved, exceeding the MBTA’s initial projections.

Current land use practices ensure that commuting alone by car remains common – about 63% of workers. MassDOT is actively working with the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and incorporating housing criteria in municipal grants. This will provide opportunities to reduce congestion and emissions and ensure residents have ample options to live near the places they work and play and the infrastructure to allow them to walk, roll, or ride there.

MassDOT is committed to streamlining transportation credentialing processes and improving the experience of interacting with the RMV.

In FY25, the RMV saw shorter average wait times for road tests and a higher percentage of Commercial Driver’s License customers who passed the skills test on their first attempt compared to previous years, while the 60.5% adoption rate of REAL ID credentials exceeded the RMV’s earlier targets.

In response to changes in appointment availability and higher demand, wait times for permit appointments and suspension hearings increased in FY25, the RMV is shifting resources and expanding options for customers to complete transactions online and outside of service centers.

Digitization efforts at the RMV and across MassDOT, such as the Aeronautics Division achieving 100% electronic registration for aircraft, are optimizing processes and improving customer experience.

MassDOT and the MBTA continue to remove barriers to accessibility on the statewide transportation system, with the MBTA upgrading 5 Green Line stations and 6 Commuter Rail stations in FY25 alone to ensure that platforms and track crossings are accessible to all passengers.

These initiatives pushed MBTA station accessibility up to 83% in FY25, with more accessibility upgrades slated for 2026 and beyond.

Meanwhile, the Highway Division is addressing deficient curb cuts and conducting a comprehensive inventory of sidewalk condition to help improve pedestrian accessibility on MassDOT-owned roadways.    

Data show more than 2,800 deficient curb ramps in EJ communities, around 500 more than non-EJ neighborhoods, highlighting the importance of prioritizing equitable investment in accessibility improvements. This effort supports MassDOT’s commitment to advance safe, inclusive mobility for all residents.

We’re happy to share what we’ve done this past year with you and we’re looking forward to big things in 2026!
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