Remember when Massport was going to eat up the turnpike authority and solve all its problems? Now the state Senate is looking at a proposal to create a super-duper Massachusetts Surface Transportation Authority to gobble up the turnpike (which includes the Harbor tunnels), the MBTA, DCR parkways and the Tobin Bridge (now owned by Massport).

State Sen. Steven Baddour explains the proposal on Blue Mass. Group (with more details here), says the thing would be called MassTrans. One interesting idea: turn the current state highway fund into a "Surface Transportation Trust Fund." So those new gas taxes could help subdidize the T?

Baddour says reorganization could save up to $6 billion (over 20 years) in reduced overhead. Cool, no? And we'll just pretend for a second that the state has an outstanding record with creating authorities and commissions that run well and cost effectively (hey, there's always the MWRA).

But what happened to Massport in all this? Perhaps this is all for the good - without the Tobin, that authority can get back to doing what it's supposed to: Running the port of Boston.

If you only drive on the turnpike west of 128, you'll love the governor's plan to eliminate the turnpike authority. If you travel between 128 and downtown, though, you'll hate it: Patrick's proposing to ditch all tolls west of 128, but hike them inside 128 to pay for the Big Dig.

West of 128, the state highway department would take over maintenance of the road; east of it, say hello to your new Massport overlords.

Patrick administration tries to get MassHighway, Massport to help out MBTA, turnpike authority. Can it work?

Gabrielle Gurley considers:

... Massport is in comparatively good financial shape (at least for now) thanks, in part, to its lucrative parking concession at Logan Airport, but MassHighway has its own debt issues, so it remains to be seen what "assistance" means in the real world.

And, what of MassTrans, the once and future department re-organization plan that no one wants to own anymore? If the Patrick administration can restore a semblance of fiscal health to the T and the Turnpike, all while bypassing a Legislature definitely unenthused about anything that smacks of defiling the state’s sacred transportation org chart, so much the better for the Patrick administration. (Oh, and yes, presumably Massachusetts commuters...) What's next, Fast Lane transponders and Charlie Cards for everyone?

Channel 4 reports that whenever Massport takes over property, Boston Police lose their police powers. Might make sense for Logan, but the authority controls growing chunks of South Boston waterfront as well:

This issue is causing tension between Boston police and State police. For example, on the sidewalk in front of the New Seaport Hotel, Boston Police have no police powers. Because the hotel is owned by Massport, it is the exclusive jurisdiction of the State police.

Of course, the issue is hardly a new one for those of us who live on or near parkways, where there's a similar phenomenon (get into an accident on the VFW Parkway in West Roxbury, and you have to wait for State Police to show up).

A.k.a. Massport. Jimbo reads how Massport wants to add 4,500 spaces for rental cars at Logan:

... According to the article, a Massport representative at the meeting said that the proposed consolidated rental-car facility is "a trend that other major airports are following in terms of providing services that travelers have come to expect." Well, how about the things that local residents have come to expect, like air that is safe to breathe?

TJIC isn't buying Massport's contention that it now has safeguards in place to keep longshoremen from pulling stunts like putting their four-year-old sons on the authority payroll.

The Herald reports Deval Patrick is looking at leasing key roads to private companies, who would then be able to make money by squeezing commuters like a turnip.

Here's the thing: Although the authorities that now run our toll roads (the turnpike authority and Massport) are isolated to some extent from the public they allegedly serve (hence the "quasi" in "quasi-public"), the are, ultimately, still responsible to our elected officials (just ask Christy Mihos). Private companies? All bets are off:

... In Indiana, for example, a deal to privatize that state’s toll road led to a 100 percent up-front toll hike, and the possibility of 7 percent annual increases over the life of a 75-year lease. ...

Not that, in the greater scheme of things, toll increases would be a bad thing, if, say, they meant greater investment in public transportation, but the odds of that happening with private ownership? Hah!

John isn't buying Massport's contention that it had to shut down free Wi-Fi competitors to its paid service at Logan for public-safety reasons:

... Critical public safety communications? This is about homeland security? Please. They must think we're idiots.