Most power players are skittish about the idea of new taxes or tolls to fund transportation investments, but not the Senate’s point person on the issue, who is not shy about his willingness to turn over every rock.

“Obviously, you get criticized for talking about revenues at any point,” said Sen. Brendan Crighton, adding that there are no imminent plans for legislative action on new transportation levies. “But if we don’t have the conversation, we’re never gonna get to a consensus on what the best approach is.”

During an interview on last week’s episode of The Horse Race podcast, Crighton spoke openly about his interest in at least exploring or weighing almost anything to produce more money for transportation systems.

That bluntness stands in contrast to many others on and around Beacon Hill.

A task force Gov. Maura Healey convened to produce a deep dive into the entire transportation funding issue concluded the best approach is a tax stream that voters approved, and legislative leaders do not seem eager to kick off the next bruising debate about how to pay for roads, bridges, and the MBTA.

Almost every system for moving people around the Bay State remains a source of headaches for commuters and lawmakers alike.

The long-term funding plan for maintaining the T is still an open question, congestion in Greater Boston is worsening, regional transit agencies are jockeying for more financial support, and the fate of federal funding for critical infrastructure for bridges and roads is causing budgeting agita.

“Crisis is a hard word to define, but I think we have serious challenges ahead of us,” Crighton said. “I don’t know if there’s such a thing as a stable crisis. I feel like we have a ton more work to do, but we’re at least keeping our head above water.”

The Lynn Democrat ascended to the top Senate position on the Transportation Committee in 2021, following in the footsteps of his longtime boss, former senator Tom McGee (who is now chair of the MBTA board of directors).

Crighton arrived at a pivotal moment. A year later, the Federal Transit Administration flagged a series of major safety issues at the T and ordered immediate, pricey fixes to protect passengers and employees.

Crighton remembers it as a period of “real, acute crisis, with tragic deaths and injuries at stations. We had train cars on fire. We had safety disasters all over the place.” As a result, he said, the Legislature’s transportation committee that usually focuses on funding and policy took on “more of an oversight role.”

The MBTA has improved significantly since that nadir, especially under the tenure of general manager — and now interim transportation secretary — Phil Eng. But bigger questions are still unanswered, such as how to tackle the next inevitable funding gap and the enormous costs of fixing outdated infrastructure, last estimated at nearly $24 billion.

Crighton said dealing with those issues will take “rolling up our sleeves” and “making up for the sins of the past in many ways.”

“When it comes to public transit, Massachusetts isn’t Massachusetts and Boston isn’t Boston without this system,” Crighton said. “We have no alternative.”