Massachusetts industry executives were awaiting word at ENR press time on whether a state House and Senate conference committee could hash out differences over their respective versions of a five-year, $13-billion transportation bond bill. Both versions of the bill are similar, and Gov. Deval Patrick (D) has indicated his support. As a result, many expect it to pass and authorize capital spending on a host of long-awaited projects to improve heavily used roads, rails and other infrastructure.

Anthony Puntin, executive director of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, is optimistic about the bill's passage, but he also cautions that anything can happen. "Everybody assumes that it will be agreed on. But we don't know," he observes.

Planned items covered in both bills include the South Coast Rail project, extending regional service from the Boston area to the state's southeastern coast; the Green Line extension, which would add new stations and 4.3 miles to the Greater Boston light-rail service; and South Station improvements, including expansion and upgrades of Boston's 115-year-old commuter and Amtrak rail hub. Both bills include funding for road and highway projects statewide.

去年的帕特里克政府将决定哪些项目从债券收益中获得资金。新利18备用网址由于债券将涵盖接下来的五年，因此下一个政府也将决定优先事项。

但是，“在马萨诸塞州，债券法案创造了一个支出清单，它比[可用]的资金更大的支出清单……因此，其中的某些事情最终不会得到资助，”董事Kristina Egan说马萨诸塞州的非营利运输。但是她说：“我认为政府将推动许多项目向前发展”，包括主要的铁路项目，道路和公路改善措施以及马萨诸塞州湾运输管理局系新利18备用网址统的升级。

去年7月，州立法机关批准了一项8亿美元的运输融资法案，将汽油税提高了3美分，至24美分，并向香烟增加了1美元的费用。