Congestion Management Process (CMP) Committee Meeting Minutes

Draft Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization Meeting

September 19, 2024, Meeting

2:00 PM–3:00 PM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform

Jay Monty, Chair, Representing Mayor Carlo DeMaria, City of Everett

Decisions

The CMP Committee agreed to the following:

• Approve the minutes of the meeting of August 17, 2023
  
  

Meeting Agenda

1. Introductions

See attendance on page 6.

2. Public Comments  

There were none.

3. Action Item: Approval of August 17, 2023, MPO Meeting Minutes

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1. August 17, 2023, Meeting Minutes (pdf) (html)

Vote

A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of August 17, 2023, was made by the Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood) (Steven Olanoff) and seconded by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (Lenard Diggins). The motion carried.

4. Review of Roadway Pricing Work—Sarah Philbrick, MPO Staff

Sarah Philbrick, MPO Staff, provided an update on the MPO’s roadway pricing work that MPO staff undertook last year. She stated in her update that the report was published in December 2023on the Boston Region MPO website along with a two-page summary. She said that the report is an overview of different roadway pricing programs beyond cordon pricing. In addition, she said that funding has been set aside for the second phase of roadway pricing as a discrete study titled Roadway Pricing: Balancing the Need for a Transition to Sustainable Mobility with Equity Considerations in FFY 2025. She said that this study has not yet been written or approved by the MPO board but will be proposed in fall of 2024. She also said that roadway pricing work is not being forgotten, but the MPO is currently focusing on other CMP work.

Discussion

Jay Monty, City of Everett, acknowledged MPO staff’s work on roadway pricing. L. Diggins asked whether the plan was to complete the study by the end of the year so that the findings can be used by the Transportation Finance Task Force.

Tegin Teich, Executive Director, stated that the plan was initially going to be completed within the calendar year, however, the Task Force’s objectives have shifted. Due to recent changes, MPO staff are still having internal conversations about what might be the best path forward to complete this study.

5. CMP Network and Performance Measures Update—Priyanka Chapekar, MPO Staff

Priyanka Chapekar, MPO Staff, overviewed the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) guidelines for the CMP. The CMP was summarized as an approach for managing congestion based on performance monitoring of transportation networks with the aim of coming up with strategies to reduce congestion. P. Chapekar summarized the eight-step process prescribed by FHWA for formulating a CMP, with the first step being formulation of regional CMP objectives. She then presented the draft CMP objectives that were developed in alignment with the broad goal areas of the MPO’s Long-Range Transportation Plan, Destination 2050. These objectives included the following:

1. Setting up strategies to quantify congestion
2. Improving movement of freight and people across the region through different modes
3. Evaluating multimodal transportation networks to identify gaps in connectivity and efficiently manage travel demand to increase utilization
4. Reducing traffic volumes, which would reduce air pollution and consequently promote healthier communities by improving air quality
5. Setting up systems for monitoring performance on different transportation modes to enable congestion evaluation, which would also help with improved public health, economic vitality, racial and economic equity, and climate resilience.

Discussion

Dan Jaffe, Charlestown resident, expressed concern about the communities in and north of Charlestown becoming isolated from Boston by the development of a new transit corridor passing through the area.

P. Chapekar responded that this comment is helpful for considering performance metrics that would include multimodal perspectives and not hinder the development of any communities in the Boston region, adding that looking at land use development in conjunction with transportation networks is useful.

D. Jaffe added that analyzing peak hour rush time windows independently of low time points is important.

Jen Rowe, City of Boston, asked about the difference between objectives One and Five.

P. Chapekar clarified that Objective One only includes strategies to evaluate congestion patterns, while Objective Five considers methods for evaluating the effectiveness of implemented strategies through performance monitoring systems.

John Alessi, Town of Arlington asked for additional background on the CMP, including if it is a new type of document required by the FHWA or if there are existing documents the MPO has previously developed.

P. Chapekar responded that the CMP is not a new FHWA requirement, but the last full comprehensive update was in 2004. A revision of the CMP would align it with Destination 2050 and allow MPO staff to address recent issues using relevant new data.

D. Jaffe expressed additional concern about monitoring primary and secondary traffic flows using useful metrics. D. Jaffe spoke about monitoring rush hour and non-rush hour volumes for transit, biking, and highways, with an emphasis on biking and pedestrian infrastructure needed for Charlestown. D. Jaffe also stated that the available data is inadequate for these modes, adding to the difficulty of arguing to improve monitoring methods.

P. Chapekar responded that using real-time metrics is a part of the CMP and would be addressed later in the presentation.

J. Rowe asked for additional information on Objective Three, specifically about the context for multimodal networks, efficient travel demand management for automobiles, and measuring efficiency. J. Rowe stated that the City of Boston is also measuring reliability using available tools for managing demand without using corridor pricing and asked for clarification.

P. Chapekar responded that the MPO is proposing a multimodal transportation network because the Boston region is already served by many alternative modes to automobiles, which has been included in the next step for the CMP. P. Chapekar stated that the MPO is considering strategies to promote usage of other modes, such as bikeshare and transit as potential solutions to reducing the number of cars on the road, which was where Objective Three’s efficient travel demand management aspect originated from.

J. Rowe stated that the Objective’s emphasis on multimodal transportation is to provide alternatives that reduce the number of vehicles on the road.

Steve Olanoff, Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood), asked if the CMP is an actual document; S. Olanoff did not recall previously reading one.

P. Chapekar responded that different MPOs take different approaches for the CMP; some present it as a report, while others use interactive formats because the objective of the CMP is to continuously monitor and update congestion performance as new data becomes available. MPO staff aim to incorporate a document and interactive online formats for its CMP.

S. Olanoff asked again if there will be a report.

P. Chapekar responded that there will be a report, but ongoing updates to the data would happen online.

S. Olanoff asked about the data source used, and if it is INRIX.

P. Chapekar answered that INRIX mainly has data related to traffic and automobiles. Datasets provided by local transit agencies are preferred for transit. P. Chapekar stated that a possible compilation of the two can be a way to ensure that data for both transit and roadways is monitored.

S. Olanoff asked how different data sources and studies are being pieced together.

P. Chapekar responded that there are many different data sources that could be used for the CMP’s performance metrics, such as INRIX, MBTA, the National Performance Management Research Data Set and the American Community Survey.

J. Rowe asked if there would be a scope to provide feedback on CMP objectives and their timeline for finalization.

P. Chapekar responded that the objectives could be discussed again in the next committee meeting and that MPO staff are open to having more frequent CMP committee meetings.

P. Chapekar briefly overviewed the next step of CMP formulation, which is the CMP network. P. Chapekar spoke about the purpose and characteristics of the CMP network and proposed that the network for the Boston Region be multimodal as the region has several existing multimodal transportation networks. P. Chapekar stated that the network has been formulated based on thresholds set for user volumes on each of the multimodal components. P. Chapekar overviewed the proposed components of the CMP network that were listed as roadways, buses, MBTA rapid transit, MBTA commuter rail, MBTA ferry, bicycle and pedestrian networks, routes by other Regional Transportation Authorities, and freight. P. Chapekar stated that these components have been mapped using available data from 2022 or 2023. P. Chapekar spoke about the data sources for mapping each component, and thresholds used to determine inclusion on the CMP network.

D. Jaffe asked if it is useful to consider only small segments of complete roads as part of the network.

P. Chapekar responded that this localized perspective would be helpful for carrying out focused studies for improvement recommendations rather than considering a full-length roadway.

J. Rowe asked for additional clarification on the ‘multimodal’ aspect of the proposed objectives and how they relate to congestion of motor vehicles.

P. Chapekar responded that most CMPs only have roadways as part of their network, but including different modes allows MPO staff to start considering monitoring the performance of alternative modes and to understand their relationship with road traffic in terms of user volumes.

6. Members’ Items

There were none.

7. Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by the City of Everett (Jay Monty) and seconded by the Town of Arlington (John Alessi). The motion carried.

Attendance

CIVIL RIGHTS NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

Welcome. Bem Vinda. Bienvenido. Akeyi. 欢迎. 歡迎 .

You are invited to participate in our transportation planning process, free from discrimination. The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is committed to nondiscrimination in all activities and complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin (including limited English proficiency). Related federal and state nondiscrimination laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of age, sex, disability, and additional protected characteristics.

For additional information or to file a civil rights complaint, visit www.bostonmpo.org/mpo_non_discrimination.

To request accommodations at meetings (such as assistive listening devices, materials in accessible formats and languages other than English, and interpreters in American Sign Language and other languages) or if you need this information in another language, please contact:

Boston Region MPO Title VI Specialist

10 Park Plaza, Suite 2150

Boston, MA 02116

Phone: 857.702.3700

Email: civilrights@ctps.org

For people with hearing or speaking difficulties, connect through the state MassRelay service, www.mass.gov/massrelay. Please allow at least five business days for your request to be fulfilled.