MPO Meeting Minutes

Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization Meeting

June 15, 2023, Meeting

10:00 AM–12:00 PM, State Transportation Building Boardroom, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116, and Zoom Video Conferencing Platform

David Mohler, Chair, representing Gina Fiandaca, Secretary of Transportation and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)

Decisions

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) agreed to the following:

• Approve the minutes for the meeting of May 4, 2023
• Approve the I-90 Allston Multimodal Modeling work scope
• Release the Destination 2050 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) for its 30-day public review period
• Release the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2024 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) for its 21-day public review period
• Endorse the FFYs 2023–27 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Amendment Six
• Approve proposed updates to the 2011 MPO Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Meeting Agenda

1.    Introductions

See attendance on page 12.

2.    Chair’s Report—David Mohler, MassDOT

There was none.

3.    Executive Director’s Report—Tegin Teich, Executive Director, Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS)

T. Teich stated that the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant agreement with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has been finalized. Work will begin during the summer and will include engaging interested stakeholders. The second round of FHWA funding, including demonstration grants is due July 10, 2023. All interest parties are encouraged to sign up for email updates and contact Rebecca Morgan, rmorgan@ctps.org, for more information.

T. Teich introduced Sarah Philbrick the Manager of MPO Planning and Policy. T. Teich stated that two data scientists will be starting in July.

T. Teich stated that she was interviewed by Boston: Invest.

4.    Public Comments  

There were none.

5.    Committee Chairs’ Reports

Derek Krevat, MassDOT, stated that the UPWP Committee met on June 13, 2023, and voted to recommend that the MPO board endorse the FFY 2024 UPWP.

6.    Regional Transportation Advisory Council Report—Lenard Diggins, Chair, Regional Transportation Advisory Council

There was none.

7.     Introduction to Joi Singh, Massachusetts Division Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

J. Singh stated that she has been working as the FHWA Massachusetts Division Administrator since December 2022. J. Singh stated that there is a common goal to provide a transportation system that is safe, accessible, and provides ease of travel. J. Singh stated that she has worked in transportation for over 13 years at state Departments of Transportation, consulting, and the FHWA headquarters and division field offices.

8.     Action Item: Approval of May 4, 2023, MPO Meeting Minutes

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1.    May 4, 2023, meeting minutes (pdf) (html)

Vote

A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of May 4, 2023, was made by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (Eric Bourassa) and seconded by the MBTA Advisory Board (Brian Kane). The motion carried.

9.    Action Item: Work Scope: I-90 Allston Multimodal Modeling—Ben Dowling, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1.    I-90 Allston Multimodal Modeling Work Scope (pdf) (html)

B. Dowling stated that CTPS provided support for the Allston Multimodal project in 2018 and 2020 and that this work scope will provide support to MassDOT in drafting the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Report.

The work program has four tasks and is expected to require four months of work and cost $116,039 from the MassDOT On-Call Support Contact. In Task One, staff will prepare the travel demand model for use in this study. Task Two will have staff model and analyze the Forecast-Year No-Build scenario to compare to the base-year scenario. In Task Three, staff will model and analyze the Opening-Year No-Build scenario with the same outputs as in Task Two. Task Four is the on-going coordination with the project team, with an expected result in the submission of an environmental filing.

Discussion

Kenneth Miller, FHWA, stated that as the next phases of the work continue, the inputs used in model forecasting are of interest to staff reviewing submissions.

Vote

A motion to approve the I-90 Allston Multimodal Modeling work scope was made by the MBTA Advisory Board (B. Kane) and seconded by the MAPC (E. Bourassa). The motion carried.

10. Action Item: Destination 2050 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP)—Bradley Putnam and Betsy Harvey, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1.    Draft Destination 2050 full document (pdf) (html)

2.    Destination 2050 Appendices (html)

3.    Destination 2050 Executive Summary (pdf) (html)

4.    Executive Summary—Spanish (pdf) (html)

5.    Executive Summary—Haitian Creole (pdf) (html)

6.    Executive Summary—Traditional Chinese (pdf) (html)

7.    Executive Summary—Simplified Chinese (pdf) (html)

8.    Executive Summary—Portuguese (pdf) (html)

9.    Executive Summary—Vietnamese (pdf) (html)

B. Putnam stated that the MPO is required to update its LRTP every four years and that Destination 2050 has a planning horizon from FFY 2024 to FFY 2050 and will be effective from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2027. B. Putnam reviewed key development stages that the board participated in. The goals of the LRTP are equity, safety, mobility and reliability, access and connectivity, resiliency, and clean air and healthy communities. Targeted investment program allocations are found in Table 1.

Table 1
Investment Program Allocations

Program	FFYs 2024–28 and 2034–50	FFYs 2029–33
Complete Streets	45%	30%
Major Infrastructure	30%	47%
Intersection Improvements	12%	10%
Bicycle Network and Pedestrian Connections	5%	5%
Transit Transformation	5%	5%
Community Connections	2%	2%
Bikeshare Support	1%	1%

 

The projects listed in the LRTP and their associated time bands are found in Table 2.

Table 2
Projects Listed in the LRTP

Location	Name	FFYs 2024–28	FFYs 2029–33
Norwood	Route 1 at University Avenue	X
Wrentham	I-495/Route 1A Ramps	X
Boston	Rutherford Avenue	X	X
Somerville	McGrath Boulevard	X	X
Framingham	Route 126, Route 135, and MBTA and CSX Railroads		X
Lexington	Routes 4 and 225, Hartwell Avenue, and I-95 Interchange		X
Boston	Allston Multimodal*
Hopkinton	I-495 and I-90 Interchange*

*Outside of the MPO’s fiscal constraint

Public engagement activities that occurred during the development of the plan include the following:

·       Public surveys

o   Vision, Goals, and Objectives

o   Investment Priorities

·       Big Ideas for Scenario Planning focus groups

·       Subregional group meetings

·       Regional Transportation Advisory Council meetings

·       Transit Working Group meetings

·       MPO open houses

·       Meetings and interviews with advocacy and community-based organizations

B. Harvey stated that the Disparate Impact and Disproportionate Burden (DI/DB) analysis is required by federal regulations to determine if MPO projects in the LRTP would, in the aggregate, disproportionately affect minority or low-income populations. In 2020, the MPO approved a DI/DB policy to determine if an impact is likely, if the impact would be adverse, and if the impact would affect the minority or low-income population more than the nonminority or non-low-income population. Analysis metrics include destination access by transit and highway to jobs, higher education, parks, and essential places; environmental impacts such as congested vehicle-miles traveled (VMT), carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds; and average travel time by transit and highway.

B. Harvey stated that there were six DI/DB findings, found below:

·       Minority population

o   Access to healthcare by transit

§  Increase in access to healthcare for minority and nonminority population, but increase is greater for nonminority population

o   Average travel time by highway

§  Increase in travel time for minority population and decrease for nonminority population

o   Average travel time by transit

§  Increase in travel time for minority population and decrease for non-minority population

·       Low-income population

o   Access to jobs by transit

§  No change for low-income population and increase in access to jobs for non-low-income population

o   Access to healthcare by transit

§  No change for low-income population and increase in access to healthcare for non-low-income population

o   Access to parks by highway

§  No change for low-income population and increase in access to parks for non-low-income population

B. Harvey stated that the MPO is required to provide substantial legitimate justification to keep projects in the LRTP as currently reflected and to address the DI/DBs through avoidance, minimization, or mitigation. Staff recommend mitigating the impacts through the TIP. Strategies include using Conveyal to analyze metrics with DI/DBs and prioritizing project scenarios that would improve outcomes for minority and low-income populations.

Staff request for the board to vote to release the Destination 2050 LRTP for its 30-day public review period.

Discussion

E. Bourassa asked if the DI/DB analysis was limited to the projects explicitly listed in the LRTP, or if it includes projects in the TIP as well. B. Harvey stated it is only the projects in the LRTP.

E. Bourassa confirmed that none of the DI/DB results indicated a decrease in destination access or increase in travel time, but that the benefits of improvements for minority and low-income populations are not as great as for nonminority and non-low-income populations.

B. Kane noted the significance of many projects listed in the LRTP and encouraged additional work to reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips. B. Kane asked what policy mechanisms are available to address this goal. D. Mohler stated that the Boston Region MPO could increase funding to transit to promote mode shift, but noted the complexity involved.

Matthew Moran, Boston Transportation Department, spoke in support of developing a metric to assess and measure VMT, with a goal to see a reduction in overall VMT.

L. Diggins asked if the drivers of inequity have been identified in the DI/DB analysis. B. Harvey stated that the only changes in the analysis model are the projects, so the driving factor of the inequity can be hard to determine. Contributing factors include the distribution of different demographics, such as race and income.

Jay Monty, City of Everett, stated that the MBTA Communities Law encourages transit-oriented development and suggested supporting communities working to increase housing supplies in response to the law.

Dennis Giombetti, MetroWest Regional Collaborative (City of Framingham), asked about the methodology used to identify DI/DBs. B. Harvey stated that the analysis uses metrics within the travel demand model and measures the percent of the minority or low-income population within a transportation analysis zone where impacts are expected.

Marc Draisen, MAPC, encouraged interagency coordination on projections, which could allow expected demographic shifts to also be considered. M. Draisen spoke of other opportunities to collaborate throughout agencies to promote a common goal.

B. Kane requested a presentation on the federal funding allocation process.

M. Moran asked if a committee could be established to discuss goals and metrics and evaluate the effectiveness of them. E. Bourassa suggested using the performance-based planning measures to evaluate progress. D. Krevat stated that there is a federally required, non-single-occupancy-vehicle performance measure that the state develops and that the MPO adopted, which is assessed every two years as part of the federal transportation performance management rulemaking process but that this does not explicitly rely on VMT data; rather, it is based on Census Journey to Work data. K. Miller added that all federal dollars awarded to the region flow through the MPO, which gives the MPO the ability to add input to projects beyond the target-funded projects.

Melisa Tintocalis, North Suburban Planning Council (Town of Burlington), encouraged the use of quantifiable goals, such as the number of constructed bicycle lanes in the region, in addition to percentage goals.

Vote

A motion to release the Destination 2050 LRTP for its 30-day public review period was made by the MetroWest Regional Collaborative (D. Giombetti, City of Framingham) and seconded by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (L. Diggins). The motion carried.

11. Action Item: Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2024 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP)—Srilekha Murthy, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1.    Draft FFY 2024 UPWP full document (pdf) (html)

2.    FFY 2024 UPWP Appendices (html)

3.    FFY 2024 UPWP Executive Summary (pdf) (html)

4.    Executive Summary—Spanish (pdf) (html)

5.    Executive Summary—Haitian Creole (pdf) (html)

6.    Executive Summary—Traditional Chinese (pdf) (html)

7.    Executive Summary—Simplified Chinese (pdf) (html)

8.    Executive Summary—Portuguese (pdf) (html)

9.    Executive Summary—Vietnamese (pdf) (html)

S. Murthy stated that the draft FFY 2024 UPWP began development in fall 2022 and will be complete in July 2023. The UPWP programs $7.1 million between CTPS and MAPC, with an increased focus on funding existing programs to allow staff to maintain and expand program work. Funding includes the following:

·       Public Engagement Program: $296,000

·       Climate Resilience Program: $76,000

·       Multimodal Mobility Infrastructure Program: $336,000

·       Four discrete studies:

o   Lab and Municipal Parking Phase II: $45,000

o   Parking in Bike Lanes: Strategies for Safety and Prevention: $20,000

o   Strategies for Environmental Outreach and Engagement: $25,000

o   Applying Conveyal to TIP Project Scoring: $60,000

Staff requested the board vote to release the FFY 2024 UPWP for its 21-day public review period.

Discussion

D. Mohler stated that the UPWP Committee voted to recommend the release of the FFY 2024 UPWP for public review.

Vote

A motion to release the FFY 2024 UPWP for its 21-day public review period was made by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (L. Diggins) and seconded by the Inner Core Committee (Tom Bent, City of Somerville). The motion carried.

12. Action Item: FFYs 2023–27 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Amendment Six

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1.    FFYs 2023–27 TIP Amendment Six (pdf) (html)

E. Lapointe stated that the FFYs 2023–27 TIP Amendment Six proposes the following:

·       Grant programming for Salem Ferry Retrofit

·       Funding source adjustments to Lynn Station Improvements Phase II and Forest Hills Improvement Project

·       Cost changes to Lynn–Nahant–Northern Strand Extension Project

·       New start year for grade-crossing project in Framingham

One comment was received during the 21-day public review period expressing support for the cost changes to the Lynn–Nahant–Northern Strand Extension Project.

Staff requested the board vote to endorse FFYs 2023–27 TIP Amendment Six.

Vote

A motion to endorse the FFYs 2023–27 TIP Amendment Six was made by the MBTA Advisory Board (B. Kane) and seconded by the MetroWest Regional Collaborative (D. Giombetti). The motion carried.

13.  Action Item: Boston Region MPO Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Updates—Tegin Teich, Executive Director

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1.    Proposed Updates to the 2011 MPO MOU (pdf) (html)\

T. Teich stated that the current MOU was signed by all board members in 2011 and identifies basic governance and process agreements, such as the makeup of the board, officers of the board, voting rules, and agreements on roles and information sharing.

In the Federal Certification Review Report, there was one corrective action that must be addressed by September 30, 2023. The corrective action calls for the MPO to include in the MOU a description of the process for sharing information to develop the annual list of obligated projects. The proposed updates have staff compiling a federal funding obligation report from MassDOT, MBTA, and regional transit authorities (RTAs), which would be published to the MPO website. Other proposed updates include the following:

·       Agency and group names

·       Number of municipalities in the planning area

·       Reference to transportation authorization

·       Remove reference to quarterly off-site meetings

·       Remove reference to ended programs and projects

·       Updated timing

Additional recommendations for future consideration from the certification review include the following:

·       Establish the right level of detail vis-à-vis the Operations Plan

·       Further review and correct outdated language

·       Add context for sharing information about Federal Transit Administration funding

·       Establish roles of RTAs

·       Commit to a review cycle

·       Identify more opportunities to expose board members to other MPOs

The potential next steps are to establish an ad hoc committee to develop a framework for the process to further update the MOU and propose the outline for the update topics. In July a meeting would be held to review existing materials and discuss topic areas, in August topic areas would be established, and in September the framework would be finalized and forum and target timeframes would be proposed.

The board established consensus on establishing an ad hoc committee to update the MOU.

Discussion

L. Diggins spoke in support of the proposed updates and noted the commendation received on the Public Engagement Program, in the context of removing requirements to have regular off-site meetings.

Tom Bent, Inner Core Committee (City of Somerville), spoke in support of increasing opportunities to interact with other MPOs.

Vote

A motion to approve the updates to the MPO MOU was made by the MetroWest Regional Collaborative (D. Giombetti) and seconded by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (L. Diggins). The motion carried.

14. Introduction to the MPO Operations Plan and Communication Norms—Tegin Teich, Executive Director

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1.    Draft Operations Plan (pdf) (html)

2.    Draft Communication Norms (pdf) (html)

T. Teich stated that the Administration and Finance Committee and MPO staff have worked to develop the MPO Operations Plan and Communication Norms. An Operations Plan is required by the 2011 MOU and was recommended in the 2019 and 2022 federal certification reviews. The Operations Plan was created with the intent to codify important processes in easily updated documents, detail the role of board and committee members in a transparent regional process, and clarify the roles and expectations for agencies involved in decision-making. The Operations Plan contains sections for the elections process; role of officers; roles of board members, committees, and Regional Transportation Advisory Council; work processes; executive director hiring, evaluation, and compensation; information sharing; maintenance of the plan; and a timeline.

The Communication Norms were developed simultaneously with the Operations Plan to set expectations for communication and interactions between board and committee members, staff, and the public that reflects values, rules, standards, and principles to contribute to an inclusive environment. It provides a framework for discussions if interactions violate the norms.

Discussion

M. Draisen spoke of the thorough development of these documents.

B. Kane thanked individuals involved in the development of the documents, including board members and MPO staff.

Steve Olanoff, Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood), encouraged revisiting the voting rule that specifies only municipalities within a subregion may vote for its respective open seat. S. Olanoff spoke in support of the 48-hour advanced notice requirement for all votes.

David Koses, City of Newton, spoke of his experience at the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations when first joining the board and encouraged the exploration of similar programs for board member orientation.

15. Members’ Items

T. Bent announced that the Community Path along the Green Line Extension in Somerville officially opened on June 9, 2023.

16. Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by the MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the MBTA Advisory Board (B. Kane). The motion carried.

 

Attendance

Members	Representatives and Alternates
At-Large City (City of Everett)	Jay Monty Eric Molinari
At-Large City (City of Newton)	David Koses
At-Large Town (Town of Arlington)	John Alessi
At-Large Town (Town of Brookline)	Robert King
City of Boston (Boston Planning & Development Agency)	Jim Fitzgerald
City of Boston (Boston Transportation Department)	Matt Moran
Federal Highway Administration	Kenneth Miller Joi Singh
Federal Transit Administration
Inner Core Committee (City of Somerville)	Tom Bent
Massachusetts Department of Transportation	David Mohler John Bechard
MassDOT Highway Division	John Romano
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)	Ali Kleyman
Massachusetts Port Authority	Sarah Lee (remote)
MBTA Advisory Board	Brian Kane Amira Patterson (remote)
Metropolitan Area Planning Council	Eric Bourassa Marc Draisen
MetroWest Regional Collaborative (City of Framingham)	Dennis Giombetti
Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal Coordination (Town of Acton)	Kristen Guichard (remote)
North Shore Task Force (City of Beverly)	Darlene Wynne
North Suburban Planning Council (Town of Burlington)	Melisa Tintocalis (remote)
Regional Transportation Advisory Council	Lenard Diggins
South Shore Coalition (Town of Hull)	Chris DiIorio (remote)
South West Advisory Planning Committee (Town of Medway)	Peter Pelletier
Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood/Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce)	Tom O’Rourke Steve Olanoff

 

 

Other Attendees	Affiliation
Miranda Briseño	MassDOT
Conrad Crawford	Charles River Watershed Association
Larry Durkin	Town of Saugus
Robert Kearns	Charles River Watershed Association
Derek Krevat	MassDOT
Jeanette Rebecchi	Town of Bedford
Cheryll-Ann Senior	MassDOT
Derek Shooster	MassDOT
Patrick Snyder	MassDOT

 

MPO Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff
Tegin Teich, Executive Director
Logan Casey
Annette Demchur
Ben Dowling
Sabiheh Faghih
Hiral Gandhi
Betsy Harvey
Ryan Hicks
Stella Jordan
Ethan Lapointe
Erin Maguire
Srilekha Murthy
Gina Perille
Sarah Philbrick
Judy Taylor
Sam Taylor