WORK PROGRAM
MBTA Mobility Integration Framework
January 20, 2022
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) votes to approve this work program.
Agency and Other Client Transportation Planning Studies and Technical Analyses
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)
Client Supervisor: Lynsey Heffernan
Principal: Rebecca Morgan
Manager:Paul Christner/Sandy Johnston
MassDOT Directed PL Funds
Schedule and budget details are shown in Exhibits 1 and 2, respectively.
This studyis supported in full with non-MPO funding. Committing MPO staff to this project will not impinge on the quality or timeliness of MPO-funded work.
The MBTA has requested that Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) perform research to support its interest in exploring a framework for integration (for example, technology, fare, payment, service, physical, etc.) with other mobility providers in Massachusetts, such as transportation network companies (TNC) and bikeshare providers. This project will support the MBTA with answering the policy question, or “why” side of mobility integration. The MBTA wishes to develop a policy that will guide its assessment of potential integrations in a way that is rigorous, honest, and supports the MBTA’s own goals and objectives. This research will support the MBTA in establishing a framework for the future of mobility integrations and identifying what gaps such integrations can and cannot fill. Examples of mobility integrations include partnerships with bikeshare such as BlueBikes; the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS); and first- and last-mile partnerships with TNCs.
This task will explore the following questions.
Provide input into what mobility in Massachusetts may look like in the future. What new mobility providers are on the horizon? How will they fit into the Massachusetts landscape broadly and into the MBTA services specifically?
Work on this project will consist of three tasks or phases, which will build a library of information; use this information to analyze alternatives; and make recommendations for an MBTA policy addressing mobility integration. Tasks 1 and 2 will largely run concurrently, although Subtask 1.1 is foundational and will precede both tasks.
CTPS will develop a peer agency analysis corresponding to the local/regional/statewide analysis that will be developed in Task 2 and drawing on the experience of peer transit agencies that have integrated with mobility providers.
CTPS will identify seven to 10 transit agencies, both US and international, that have executed or are pursuing MaaS or mobility integrations in areas such as fares and service planning. CTPS will collect the written policies that these agencies have developed and create an assessment matrix assessing what elements are included in which plans. CTPS will then use this matrix to inform both further research into these agencies’ plans (see Subtask 1.2) and interviews with MBTA staff and regional stakeholders (see Subtasks 2.1 and 2.2).
CTPS will interview and collect relevant documents and data from the transit agencies identified in Subtask 1.1. Areas of interest include the following:
CTPS will write a memorandum that summarizes the findings from Subtasks 1.1 and 1.2 and illustrates several case studies relevant to the MBTA. Questions considered will include whether peer transit agencies have been able to solve the challenges posed by local stakeholders and whether they have found some strategies or evaluation metrics more helpful than others.
This task will engage regional and statewide stakeholders to pursue a gaps analysis and begin to develop the rationale for pursuing mobility integrations in the Commonwealth, and the MBTA’s role in those integrations. The goal will be to identify perceived gaps in transit and mobility and develop perspectives on how mobility integrations can help close them. Using the assessment matrix developed in Subtask 1.1 to inform these interviews will give both stakeholders and MBTA staff concrete elements to consider.
CTPS will interview MBTA staff to review MBTA goals and vision around mobility integration, including perceived opportunities and obstacles to integrations, and what policy goals and values can be fulfilled (or potentially obstructed) by potential integrations. The interview will also include questions around the role the MBTA currently fills in the transportation ecosystem and an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the current structure.
CTPS will conduct interviews with five to seven stakeholders involved in transportation policy and related fields in Massachusetts. Stakeholders to be interviewed may include academic researchers; policy thinkers; advocacy groups; and other mobility providers. CTPS will also facilitate a workshop or open house through the MPO’s Transit Working Group to gain input from other transit operators and regional stakeholders.
CTPS will synthesize the information gathered in subtasks 2.1 and 2.2 and identify the regional gaps and rationale for pursuing mobility integrations in Massachusetts based on the findings from tasks 1 and 2.
Regional Needs Assessment for Future Integrations (memorandum and table of responses)
The focus of this task will be to analyze the precise policies on mobility integration adopted by peer agencies; identify the critical elements and strengths and weaknesses; relate these elements to the MBTA’s goals; and make recommendations for the MBTA’s mobility integration policy.
CTPS will compare the products of subtasks 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, and 2.2, to identify elements that are commonly shared between peer agencies and locally expressed needs. This will create an evolved version of the peer agency assessment matrix from Subtask 1.1.
CTPS will write a memorandum summarizing findings from all subtasks, identifying best practices, and making recommendations for elements to include in the MBTA mobility integration policy. The memorandum will seek to identify best practices that are also local priorities; best practices that are not identified in local feedback; elements of local feedback that are not known to be peer best practice; and how all of these elements relate to the MBTA’s own internally expressed goals.
|
Task |
Month | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
|
1.
Peer Agency Review and Case Studies
|
From Month 1, Week 1 to Month 6, Week 4.
Deliverable
A
Delivered by Month 6, Week 4.
|
|||||||
|
2.
Regional Gaps and Needs Assessment
|
From Month 1, Week 1 to Month 6, Week 4.
Deliverable
B
Delivered by Month 6, Week 4.
|
|||||||
|
3.
Policy Analysis and Recommendations
|
From Month 7, Week 1 to Month 8, Week 4.
Deliverable
C
Delivered by Month 8, Week 4.
|
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|
Task |
Person-Weeks |
Direct
Salary |
Overhead
(109.09%) |
Total
Cost |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M-1 | P-5 | P-4 | P-3 | P-2 | Total | ||||
|
1.
Peer Agency Review and Case Studies
|
3.3 | 1.5 | 3.6 | 2.2 | 7.5 | 18.0 | $26,991 | $29,444 | $56,436 |
|
2.
Regional Gaps and Needs Assessment
|
4.0 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 7.0 | 18.5 | $27,794 | $30,321 | $58,115 |
|
3.
Policy Analysis and Recommendations
|
1.7 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 7.4 | $11,398 | $12,434 | $23,833 |
|
Total
|
8.9 | 3.5 | 6.9 | 7.7 | 16.9 | 43.9 | $66,184 | $72,200 | $138,384 |
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