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Massachusetts Launches “Future of Transportation” Commission

The group, created through an executive order, will study and report on how transportation might develop between 2020 and 2040.

(TNS) — Autonomous vehicles and ride-hailing services will be part of the focus of a new "future of transportation" commission in Massachusetts.

Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday created the commission through an executive order and appointed his former chief of staff, Steve Kadish, as the chairman.

Focusing on disruptive technologies, climate change, land use and demographic trends, and various transit services, the 18-member commission is tasked with laying out potential developments in the transportation field between 2020 and 2040.

The commission, which will meet on a monthly basis, has a deadline of Dec. 1, 2018, to issue its report and recommendations. The governor's office considers the commission exempt from the state's open meeting law.

"This is going to be a serious effort, with a broad range of experts who will seek to better understand and evaluate how technology and other forces in society will affect transportation in the decades ahead," Baker's transportation chief, Stephanie Pollack, said in a statement. Pollack will serve as an ex officio member.

Kadish, the chair, left the administration in July 2017 and is now a senior research fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He has worked as a senior vice president at Northeastern University and executive vice president at Dartmouth College.

Other members include:

Rebecca Davis, deputy director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and an ex-aide to former state Sen. Robert O'Leary

Daniel Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association and former vice president at Electric Power Supply Association

Gretchen Effgen, vice president of the global partnerships at Nutonomy, the self-driving car company and former Zipcar employee

Jose Gomez- Ibanez, urban planning and public policy professor at Harvard University and former senior adviser to the World Bank

Kenneth Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists and former Mass. Department of Environmental Protection commissioner

Carol Lee Rawn, director of transportation for CERES, a nonprofit, and former deputy legal counsel for Mass. Gov. Bill Weld

Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and former senior vice president of government affairs at the Associated Industries of Massachusetts

Timothy McGourthy, executive director of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau and former chief development officer for the city of Worcester

Mark Melnik, director of economic and public policy research at UMass Amherst's Donahue Institute and former deputy director for research at the Boston Redevelopment Authority

Colleen Quinn, senior vice president for ChargePoint, worldwide network for electric vehicle charging stations

Karen Sawyer Conrad, executive director of the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, and former director of community development and planning for the city of Peabody

Sandra Sheehan, chief executive officer for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority

Stephen Silveira, senior vice president at ML Strategies, a former member of the Transportation Finance Commission under Gov. Mitt Romney and Gov. Deval Patrick and former deputy director of real estate for the MBTA

Dr. Navjot Singh, managing partner of McKinsey's Boston office and former program manager at General Electric's Global Research Center.

Kirk Sykes, head of the Urban Strategy America Fund LP

©2018 MassLive.com, Springfield, Mass. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.