March 16, 2017 Meeting

1:00 PM to 2:45 PM, State Transportation Building—10 Park Plaza, Conference Rooms 2 and 3, Boston, MA

Bryan Pounds, Chair, representing the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)

Decisions

The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) Committee agreed to the following:

• Approve the summary of the UPWP Committee meeting of February 16, 2017.

Materials

Materials for this meeting included the following:

1. February 16 UPWP Committee Meeting Summary

2. Draft FFY 2018 UPWP Universe of Studies

3. Results of survey of priority ratings of Universe of Studies by MPO staff and committee members.

Meeting Agenda and Summary of Discussion

1. Introductions

Bryan Pounds, Chair of the UPWP Committee, called the meeting to order at approximately 1:00 PM. UPWP Committee members and MPO staff introduced themselves. (For attendance list, see page 4)

2. Action Item: Approval of UPWP Committee Meeting Summary

A motion to approve the UPWP Committee meeting summary of February 16, 2017, was made by B. Pounds and seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

3. Discussion of FFY 2018 Universe of Studies and Development of Committee List of Priorities

Bryan Pounds (Chair) and Sandy Johnston (MPO staff) led a discussion of the existing Universe of Potential Studies and narrowing the list of possible work down to a set of the highest priorities.

S. Johnston introduced the results of the surveys sent out to MPO staff and UPWP Committee members, in both verbal and graphic formats. He explained that because of the accelerated schedule for UPWP development this year, budget estimates for the studies are not yet available. Before beginning discussion of the discrete study concepts, S. Johnston responded to several clarifying questions from Committee members about the presentation materials.

After discussion, the Committee decided to move forward with a discussion of the studies by topical category. S. Johnston introduced each study and summarized its level of support (based on the survey), then the committee members discussed the study, with S. Johnston or other staff responding to technical questions.

Dennis Crowley (Medway/TRIC) asked why voting was conducted by asking Committee members to indicate their 10 highest and 5 lowest priority studies, rather than through ranked choice voting, which has been done in the past. S. Johnston responded that while it is possible that such voting had been conducted in the past, and might be a good idea in the future, he had simply replicated the surveys from the previous year. Some discussion ensued. S. Johnston agreed to consider a different survey format for next year.

Discussion about potential studies focused on ordered tiers: those that had clear support from both the staff and the committee; those that had strong support from some sectors, but reservations from others; those about which there were no strong priorities; and those about which there was a negative consensus. Two study proposals that provoked significant discussion included study M-5 (on autonomous vehicles), and study T-17 (Allston Transit Study). Ultimately, study M-5 was included in the list of priority studies, with instruction to staff to clarify intent to some extent, while it was decided that study T-17 lacked clear definition and might be better funded in the future once the broader proposal for the Allston/I-90 interchange reconstruction project has more clearly formed via its environmental review process.

There was some discussion about prioritization of projects that have regional benefits vis-à-vis those that are more focused on a single geographic area.

After discussion, it was decided that between this meeting and the next one MPO staff would focus their efforts on the ten studies that had been color-coded as dark green (high priority), light green (priority), and yellow (priority with reservations), with the exception of the Allston Transit Study (previously yellow). Staff would also provide details on an additional two studies and staff research projects, which had been included as recurring studies in previous years. Last, staff would be able to provide detailed descriptions and full budget estimates at the next committee meeting, when the list of priority studies would be finalized.

4. Member Items

There were none.

5. Next Meeting

The next meeting was scheduled for April 20^,2017 at 1:00 PM. Staff committed to preparing materials by 4/13.

6. Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made and seconded by another member. The motion carried unanimously.

Attendance

Organization	Name
Massachusetts Department of Transportation	Bryan Pounds
Metropolitan Area Planning Council	Eric Bourassa
City of Boston	James Gillooly
At-Large Town (Town of Arlington)	Laura Wiener
At-Large City (City of Newton)	David Koses
MetroWest Regional Collaborative (Town of Framingham)	Dennis Giombetti
Inner Core Committee (City of Somerville)	Tom Bent
Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood/Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce)	Steve Olanoff
Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood/Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce)	Tom O’Rourke
Regional Transportation Advisory Council	Tegin Teich Bennett

MPO Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff
Karl Quackenbush, Executive Director
Robin Mannion, Deputy Executive Director Scott Peterson, Director of Technical Services
Lourenço Dantas, Certification Activities Group Manager
Jen Rowe, Public Participation Program Manager Sandy Johnston, UPWP Manager Steven Andrews, Transit Analysis and Planning Group Mark Abbott, Traffic Analysis and Design Group Manager Róisín Foley, Administrative and Communications Assistant