A friend of Jim Aloisi’s told him that he hoped the new secretary of transportation was going into his new position with his eyes wide open. “I’m better off if I keep my eyes shut,” Aloisi joked.
Aloisi told the story yesterday while bantering with the MBTA board of directors in his first meeting as chairman. Meanwhile, Senate President Therese Murray, along with Sens. Steven Baddour and Richard Tisei, were beating the Patrick administration to the punch with their “reform before revenue” transportation restructuring extravaganza over at the State House.
Hopefully, Aliosi will open his eyes long enough to steer Gov. Deval Patrick’s transportation plan into the bright light of day. Right now, more than a year and one secretary of transportation later, the governor’s comprehensive plan is…well, where is it exactly?
After the meeting, Aloisi said that the plan would be unveiled in the next few weeks. Pressed for a more precise timeframe, he said it would be sometime in February.
He commented that since he’d served on the Transportation Finance Commission he knew what he was up against. “Many of their ideas and cautions will find their way into our plan.”
Asked if that meant the administration was starting from scratch, the secretary paused. The administration is not starting from scratch, Aloisi assured me, adding “I’ve only been on the job three days.”
