Draft Memorandum for the Record
Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization
Unified Planning Work Program Committee Meeting Summary
March 22, 2024, Meeting
10:00 AM–11:30 AM, 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
There were none.
Materials
Materials for this meeting included the following:
1. FFY
2025 UPWP Universe of Studies (pdf)
2. FFY
2025 UPWP Universe of Studies (html)
Meeting Agenda and Summary of
Discussion
1. Introductions
See attendance on page 6.
2. Public
Comments
Dan Jaffe asked about the Silver Line extension to Sullivan
Square and expressed concern about the extension of the line into the
Charlestown community. He proposed an Orange Line spur line into Everett. He
mentioned some public developments that would cause increased traffic, and his
belief that the community would be unable to handle it.
D. Krevat acknowledged the comment and thanked D. Jaffe for
sharing. There were no other comments.
3. FFY
2025 UPWP Universe of Proposed Discrete and Program-based Studies—Srilekha
Murthy
Discussion
Srilekha Murthy (MPO Staff) presented on the FFY 2025 Unified
Planning Work Program (UPWP) Proposed Studies. S. Murthy spoke about the
proposed study of various bicycle and pedestrian plans from across the region.
There were no questions or comments.
S. Murthy then discussed a proposed study about the removal
of parking on commercial streets. Lenard Diggins (Regional Transportation
Advisory Council) stated that this study could be incorporated into future
freight studies. David Koses (City of Newton) asked how the data would be
gathered. Rounaq Basu (MPO Staff) answered that staff does not have an answer
to that yet. S. Murthy further clarified that these particular proposals are in
very early stages. Jen Rowe (City of Boston) mentioned a study that showed that
the removal of parking had an economic benefit to local businesses. D. Koses
(City of Newton) voiced his support for the proposal.
S. Murthy mentioned another proposed study on bike and
helmet use. There were no questions or comments.
S. Murthy then discussed an FFY 2023 Sustainability and
Decarbonization effort. Erin Maguire (MPO Staff) added that stakeholders were
interested in further steps. L. Diggins pointed out that this study could
have multiple uses to various departments and interests. Tom O’Rourke (Three
Rivers Interlocal Council) asked for a definition of “freight” in this context.
E. Maguire clarified it was defined as any movement of bulk goods. J. Rowe
added that another aspect would be electric-powered freight transport. D. Krevat
voiced his support for the study.
S. Murthy then expanded on three more proposed freight
studies. The first was a study about a freight priority network. T. Bent
mentioned that some other cities used bus lanes for priority freight transport
and asked if that idea would be part of the study. R. Basu said that it would
not, but explained the Biden administration had recently released the
nationwide freight priority network and that this was going to be the basis for
much of the data mapping. D. Krevat pointed out that this topic could be part
of the study on decarbonization, as previously discussed, and he also pointed
out that results from this particular study could potentially assist with
determining federal funding eligibility for certain roadways for the National
Highway Freight Program federal formula source at a high level.
S. Murthy introduced the next study on using e-cargo bikes
for first- and last-mile deliveries. S. Murthy said this study received
significant interest and will be moving forward in the near future through the
MPO as well as through other entities currently conducting a related study.
There were no questions or comments.
S. Murthy then talked about a similar study on multimodal
mobility, which will fall under the same category as the previous two studies.
Rebecca Morgan (MPO Staff) expressed concern about the budget and commented
that more discrete ideas were preferred due to budget. Brian Kane (MBTA
Advisory Board) agreed with R. Morgan. He asked for a more specific strategy
and offered connections in the freight industry. B. Kane also asked for
more specific dialogue with people in the freight industry. L. Diggins
agreed with B. Kane and then mentioned that car sharing fit in with multimodal
mobility as well.
S. Murthy discussed the next study about multimodal mobility
related to the usage of transit by bicyclists and related issues. D. Krevat
asked if anyone from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) had
done a similar study. L. Diggins said that some data were collected, and he offered
to bring Scott Mullen, who proposed this study, to a future UPWP meeting to
address questions. J. Rowe agreed there were some similar studies done at the
MBTA. D. Krevat pointed out the connection to the BlueBikes study as well.
S. Murthy turned over the presentation of the next three
proposed studies to R. Basu. R. Basu had submitted all of these proposals,
one on the connection between bikes and trains, another on mode shift, and a
third on roadway pricing. L. Diggins asked for a comment from J. Rowe, who
mentioned there was a challenge concerning fees the MBTA required for e-bike
stations on MBTA property. L. Diggins expressed support for the mode shift
proposal and the role public transit could play in mode shift. J. Rowe agreed.
D. Krevat expressed support for both proposals and asked if there was a
connection to the current BlueBikes study. R. Basu explained the study was
similar, but looked in a new direction.
Next, there was a discussion of a proposed study on roadway
pricing. L. Diggins expressed his support. B. Kane asked for clarification on
the timeline of this work. S. Murthy clarified the study would run from
October 2024 to September 2025. B. Kane stated that a new study would not be
useful, as the Governor’s Transportation Funding Task Force would already be
exploring this topic on a much tighter timeframe. J. Rowe disagreed, and
pointed out that the studies differed in scope. B. Kane responded by advocating
for implementation and publication of data already collected, rather than
further studies. R. Morgan expressed a desire for prioritizing the study
on a shorter time frame. Tegin Teich (MPO Executive Director) clarified that
work was being done to use data already collected to create policy. L. Diggins
also advocated for active implementation and a shorter time frame. J. Rowe
pointed out some studies had already been published and asked for
clarification. B. Kane pointed out that valuable data remain unpublished, which
made reference difficult. T. Teich commented that work was being done to
prepare the relevant material for the board. D. Koses asked if data had been
collected specifically on toll avoidance. L. Diggins answered that these data
were collected in other cities. R. Basu agreed. T. Bent also mentioned seeing
this traffic behavior. D. Krevat mentioned that MassDOT’s draft Statewide Long-Range
Transportation Plan references an action item to explore congestion pricing at
a high level and that in the future, if the study were to proceed, it would be
more relevant to occur at a statewide level with adequate funding for a
comprehensive assessment of implications of a congestion pricing program rather
than at a regional level with limited funding.
S. Murthy discussed the next study on transit outages. L.
Diggins expressed tentative support, but cautioned about the overuse of the
term “emergency.” B. Kane asked if this was a continuation of any previous
studies; S. Murthy clarified it was not. B. Kane mentioned monthly community
forums held by the MBTA on this subject and offered recordings and other data
that had already been collected. He again expressed concern about the time
frame. T. Bent noted some issues with the MBTA’s use of buses during train
station closures, mentioning it was either usually in excess or inadequate. J.
Rowe expressed interest in the forum recordings.
D. Krevat went on to share a proposed study on identifying
on-demand transit needs. L. Diggins commented on the potential cost of the
project.
D. Krevat discussed a proposal on understanding how
demographics of suburban areas and transit demand in those areas are changing
as higher costs in the City of Boston and inner core are pushing lower-income
residents further from the inner core area. S. Murthy noted that there is an
issue with accessing historical data. L. Diggins suggested incorporating the
impact of the pandemic in this study. J. Rowe asked if MBTA funding could be
used for this study. D. Krevat said the study was a good candidate for that
funding. T. O’Rourke expressed support.
S. Murthy then discussed a proposed study on dedicated bus
lane use. B. Kane proposed an amendment to add a study of economic benefit
from the dedicated bus lanes. R. Morgan agreed that that element could be
added. D. Koses mentioned a study of bus lane use by general traffic and
S. Murthy responded that the study was in progress. Stella Jordan (MPO Staff)
clarified that survey responses were currently being collected. T. Bent
mentioned the need for enforcement and tied this idea back to the previously
discussed freight studies. T. Bent also discussed the importance of
implementing study conclusions. R. Basu added that there was limited funding
for these particular studies.
S. Murthy then discussed a similar proposed study on bus and
bike lanes and the impact on air quality. S. Murthy pointed out that this
proposal needed more planning and scope work to make it more discrete and to
fully map out the intentions and methods of the study. There were no questions
or comments.
S. Murthy then presented a study proposal on climate change,
specifically flood impact on destination access. D. Krevat and J. Rowe
expressed interest and support. L. Diggins expressed curiosity about previous
work done by staff using Conveyal, which this study would be built upon. D.
Krevat explained Conveyal’s work at a high level. S. Murthy mentioned that
there is work ongoing using Conveyal, from which this proposal stems, and Judy
Day (MPO Staff) expressed appreciation for the feedback.
Lastly, S. Murthy shared the proposal for a study on climate
resilience, specifically about the change in air quality metrics and its
impact.
S. Murthy closed by explaining that a survey would be sent
out for staff and committee members to rank the preferences of the proposed
studies. S. Murthy explained the results will be shared in the next committee
meeting.
Vote
None taken.
4. Members’
Items
There were none.
5. Adjourn
A motion to adjourn was made by the Regional Transportation
Advisory Council (L. Diggins) and seconded by MassDOT (D. Krevat). The
motion carried.
