Massachusetts Port Authority


Massachusetts Port Authority is a port authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It owns and operates three airports—Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field, and Worcester Regional Airport—and public terminals in the Port of Boston. It is a financially self-sustaining public authority whose transportation facilities generate more than $600 million annually; no state tax dollars are used to fund operations or capital improvements at Massport facilities. Its headquarters is located in the Logan Office Center, adjacent to Logan Airport in East Boston, Massachusetts.

History

The Massachusetts Port Authority was created in 1956 by the Massachusetts General Court to replace the locally controlled port commission; however, the Authority was not enabled until 1959, due to delay in bond funding. The Authority is an independent public authority, not a state agency.
In 1966, Castle Island Container Terminal was constructed for Sea-Land Corporation, one of the first intermodal container facilities. In 1971, the Authority constructed a second container port in Charlestown for the use of other shipping companies. In 1980, Sea-Land ended its exclusive lease, and the first container port was enlarged and made available for other shipping companies.
On January 1, 2010, the Tobin Bridge was transferred from the Authority to the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
In June 2019, by a vote of 5-to-2, Massport's board of directors selected the current port director to serve as the authority's chief executive. She will be earning a salary of $360,000-a-year and is scheduled to start the new position in September 2019.

Massport facilities

Airports

The Port of Boston includes Cruiseport Boston and facilities in the Boston Marine Industrial Park in South Boston, and others in East Boston and Charlestown:

Massport Shuttle

The Massport Shuttle connects all terminals at Boston Logan International Airport to Airport Station on the MBTA Blue Line, as well as the water transportation dock on Harborside Drive and the Rental Car Center.
Massport also operates Logan Express bus service between all terminals and park-and-ride lots in Braintree, Framingham, Woburn, and Peabody. In 2014, with the closure of the Government Center subway station, Massport started running a Logan Express to the Hynes Convention Center and Copley Square in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. Even after Government Center reopened in 2016, the shuttle service to Back Bay continues to operate, and starting in 2019 riders of that shuttle got priority in the TSA security line.

Silver Line

Massport provides financial assistance to the MBTA for operation of the Silver Line Bus Rapid Transit service to Logan terminals from downtown Boston, and contributes to the maintenance of Airport Station and ventilation of the Ted Williams Tunnel.

Other services

By state law, municipal police do not have jurisdiction on Massport property. Police protection is provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Massport Police. Massport Fire Rescue provides fire protection on agency property.

Executive directors