Draft Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization
Unified Planning Work Program Committee Meeting Minutes

May 9, 2024, Meeting

1:00 PM–1:20 PM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform

Derek Krevat, Chair, representing Monica Tibbits-Nutt, Secretary of Transportation and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)

Decisions

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) Committee agreed to the following:

• Release Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2025 UPWP for a 21-day public comment period

Materials

Materials for this meeting included the following:

1.    FFY 2025 UPWP (pdf) (html)

2.    FFY 2025 UPWP Executive Summary (pdf) (html)

Meeting Agenda

1.    Introductions

See attendance on page 4.

2.    Public Comments

There were none.

3.    Action Item: Federal Fiscal Year 2025 UPWP, Srilekha Murthy, MPO Staff

Tegin Teich, Executive Director, provided strategic context and a brief overview of FFY 2025 UPWP. T. Teich stated that MPO staff are shifting programmatic work planning to reflect multiyear visions for the MPO’s programs and allocate federal funding towards programs that will fulfill ideas outlined in the Long-Range Transportation Plan. T. Teich stated that MPO staff use the annual UPWP cycle to implement elements of that plan each year.

T. Teich stated that this shift includes a reasonable amount of rethinking and rewriting of the content in the document. T. Teich also stated that while discrete studies play an important role in the MPO’s work, they represent a small percentage of the MPO’s work in one year, and are, by definition, constrained to a one-year framework because they need to be completed in one year with a deliverable within that year.

Derek Krevat, MassDOT, expressed support for the multiyear perspective and is looking forward to reviewing the FFY 2025 UPWP with that context. D. Krevat stated that it is helpful to understand the approach that MPO staff took to the UPWP this year.

Srilekha Murthy, MPO Staff, stated that the Draft FFY 2025 UPWP programs $7.5 million between the Central Transportation Planning Staff and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) across 18 programs, two technical assistance programs, and three discrete studies. In FFY 2024, the UPWP received about $7.1 million in funding, resulting in a slight increase this year. Almost all the MPO’s work is funded at similar levels to FFY 2024.

This funding is for existing programs and to maintain staff’s ability to respond quickly to needs as they arise. Three discrete studies are being funded, including the following:

·         BlueBikes and MBTA Connections: $60,000

·         Roadway Pricing: $50,000

·         Decarbonizing the Freight Sector: $40,000

S. Murthy requested that the committee vote to present the Draft FFY 2025 UPWP to the MPO Board to request to release the draft document for a 21-day public comment period, beginning May 17, 2024, and concluding June 7, 2024. The draft will be presented to the MPO Board at the May 16, 2024, meeting. The final FFY 2025 UPWP document will be presented to the UPWP Committee on June 13, 2024, and to the MPO Board on June 20, 2024.

Discussion

Lenard Diggins (Regional Transportation Advisory Council) requested the addition of chapters or headers, as well as pagination, and a table of contents for ease of navigation.

S. Murthy responded that those standard elements would be added to the version presented to the MPO board.

Julia Wallerce (MAPC) stated that the MAPC is conducting a study with the City of Boston that is similar to Decarbonizing the Freight Sector and asked if a note could be added to clarify for MPO board members that the studies are separate.

D. Krevat stated that the scope for Decarbonizing the Freight Sector may be larger than the MAPC’s study.

S. Murthy responded that Decarbonizing the Freight Sector has a larger scope than the City of Boston and considers Inner Core communities. S. Murthy also stated the study would have a clear description and any questions and comments from the MPO board could be addressed with this information.

D. Krevat added that there could be a note that the MAPC’s work in the City of Boston would be consistent with and not duplicative of the Decarbonizing the Freight Sector Study.

Vote

A motion to approve the Draft FFY 2025 UPWP to present to the MPO Board was made by the Regional Transportation Authority Council (L. Diggins) and seconded by the City of Newton (David Koses). The motion carried.

4.    Members’ Items

There were none.

5.    Next Meeting

The next meeting will be June 13, 2024. MPO staff will request that committee members vote to endorse the FFY 2025 UPWP.

6.    Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by the Advisory Council (L. Diggins) and seconded by the MBTA Advisory Board (Brian Kane). The motion carried.

 

Attendance

Members	Representatives and Alternates
At-Large City (City of Newton)	David Koses
Massachusetts Department of Transportation (Office of Transportation Planning)	Derek Krevat
MBTA Advisory Board	Brian Kane
Metropolitan Area Planning Council	Julia Wallerce
Regional Transportation Advisory Council	Len Diggins
SouthWest Advisory Planning Committee (Town of Wrentham)	Rachel Benson
Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood)	Thomas O'Rourke

 

Other Attendees	Affiliation
George Klevorn
Yem Lip	City of Malden

 

MPO Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff
Tegin Teich, Executive Director
Annette Demchur
Casey Cooper
Hiral Gandhi
David Hong
Stella Jordan
Ethan Lapointe
Erin Maguire
Srilekha Murthy