BOSTON, Mass. — Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt was in Watertown on Tuesday speaking to the Charles River Chamber of Commerce, where she outlined updates to her plans for the state's roads, trains, buses and infrastructure.

Echoing recent comments from her boss, Gov. Maura Healey, Tibbits-Nutt made it clear that the Healey administration isn't pursuing more tolls — after she floated the idea last month, starting a controversial conversation around transportation revenue funding. Still, she says, the issue of needing more revenue isn't going away.

"I spend a lot of time talking about different funding mechanisms. That is a very controversial thing to talk about," she said, to laughter from the few dozen attendees. "But we have to talk about it. And whether people think my idea is crappy that's fine, but we need ideas. We need any ideas because we've used everything we have and the tools aren't working."

Massachusetts does have a major new education and transportation funding source in the form of an income surtax on the wealthiest households, but some policymakers in the administration and the Legislature are on the hunt for more revenue.  

The transportation secretary also discussed record-breaking traffic congestion, funding the Allston multimodal project and its importance for regional transit equity, commuter rail worker contract talks with Keolis, her confidence in the Cape Cod bridges finally getting replaced, and her hopes around current efforts to update Massachusetts' aging transportation infrastructure.