Executive Summary

ES.1     Introduction

The Federal Fiscal Years (FFYs) 2026–30 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) five-year capital investment plan for the Boston region’s transportation system.

Guided by the Boston Region MPO’s vision, goals, and objectives, the TIP prioritizes investments that preserve the current transportation system in a state of good repair, provide safe and reliable transportation for all modes, enhance livability, support clean air and healthy communities, promote equity, resiliency, and sustainability, and improve mobility throughout the region. These investments fund arterial roadway and intersection improvements, maintenance and expansion of the public transit system, shared-use path construction, first-and-last-mile improvements for users of active transportation, and major highway reconstruction.

The Boston Region MPO is guided by a 23-member board with representatives of state agencies, regional organizations, and municipalities. Its jurisdiction extends roughly from Boston north to Ipswich, south to Marshfield, and west to municipalities along Interstate 495. Each year, the MPO conducts a process to decide how to spend federal transportation funds for capital projects. The Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS), which is the staff to the MPO, manages the TIP development process.

MPO staff coordinates the evaluation of project funding requests, proposes programming of current and new projects based on anticipated funding levels, supports the MPO board in developing a draft TIP document, and facilitates a public review of the draft before the MPO board endorses the final document.

ES.2     FFYs 2026–30 TIP Investments

The complete TIP project list is available in Chapter 3 of this document and online at bostonmpo.org/tip. The TIP tables provide details of how funding is allocated to each programmed project and capital investment program. These tables are organized by federal fiscal year and are grouped by highway and transit programs.

ES.2.1 Highway Program

The Highway Program of the TIP funds the priority transportation projects advanced by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and the cities and towns within the Boston region. The program is devoted primarily to preserving and modernizing the existing roadway network by reconstructing arterial roadways, resurfacing highways, and replacing bridges.

In Massachusetts, Federal-Aid Highway Program funding is apportioned by MassDOT, which allocates funding to Grant Anticipation Notes (GANs) payments, various statewide programs, and Regional Targets for the state’s MPOs. In the FFYs 2026–30 TIP, roadway, bridge, and bicycle and pedestrian programs account for more than $2.56 billion in funding to the Boston region. The Regional Target funding provided to the MPOs may be programmed for projects at the discretion of each MPO, whereas MassDOT has discretion to propose its recommended projects for statewide programs such as those related to bridge repairs and interstate highway maintenance.

ES.2.2 Transit Program

The Transit Program of the TIP provides funding for projects and programs that address the capital needs prioritized by the three transit authorities in the region: the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), the Cape Ann Transportation Authority (CATA), and the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA). The Transit Program is predominantly dedicated to achieving and maintaining a state of good repair for all assets throughout the transit system.

The FFYs 2026–30 TIP includes $7.75 billion in transit investments by the transit authorities that will support state of good repair, modernize transit systems, and increase access to transit.

ES.3     Regional Target Program Details

During FFYs 2026–30, the Boston Region MPO plans to fund 58 projects with its Regional Target funding. In total, 18 new projects were added to the MPO’s Regional Target Program during this TIP cycle. These 18 projects included seven in the Community Connections program and three in the Transit Transformation program. Ten roadway projects were newly funded in the FFYs 2026–30 TIP Regional Target program, including five design projects, one project previously listed under MassDOT’s Statewide Highway Program, and four construction projects new to the TIP. Details on these projects are available in Table ES-1.

Table ES-1
New Regional Target Projects Funded in the FFYs 2026–30 TIP

Note: Funding amounts in this table include both federal and non-federal funds, including matching funds.

CTPS = Central Transportation Planning Staff. FFY = federal fiscal year. GHG = greenhouse gas.  MassDOT = Massachusetts Department of Transportation. MBTA = Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. MPO = metropolitan planning organization. N/A = not applicable. RRFB = rectangular rapid flashing beacon. TIP = Transportation Improvement Program.

Source: Boston Region MPO.

The signing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), on November 15, 2021, increased the amount of Regional Target funding available to the Boston Region MPO in the FFYs 2024–28 TIP cycle by approximately nine percent from the funding levels in the FFYs 2023–27 TIP. This funding level was sustained in the development of the FFYs 2025–29 and  FFYs 2026–30 TIPs.

During the development of the FFYs 2026–30 TIP, the MPO had significant amounts of funding available to program in FFYs 2026 and 2030. However, there were significant shortfalls of funding in FFYs 2027, 2028, and 2029 as a result of delayed programming of nine projects and substantial cost increases.

Another three projects programmed for FFY 2025 were delayed until FFY 2026 as part of both the development of the FFYs 2026–30 TIP and an accompanying Amendment 10 to the FFYs 2025–29 TIP. The unprogrammed balance in FFY 2025 was addressed through Amendment 10 by adding the following nine transit projects that originally had applied to MPO staff for FFY 2026 funding:

• Additional funding to support CATA’s Gloucester Facility Modernization project ($312,500)
• Automatic Passenger Counting (APC) and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) deployments for CATA operations ($680,000)
• Funding to replace three buses operated by CATA ($1,800,000)
• Priority improvements for the MBTA’s Plan for Accessible Transit Infrastructure (PATI) near bus stops ($1,000,000)
• Overhauls of two catamaran ferries for the MBTA ($2,634,000)
• Addressing a cost increase on the MBTA’s Natick Center Station Accessibility Improvements Project ($2,500,000)
• Funding for accessibility improvements at the MBTA’s Wellesley Square Station ($5,000,000)
• Additional funding for the procurement of six more 29-foot compressed natural gas (CNG) buses for the MWRTA ($4,200,000)
• Construction funding for the MWRTA’s Blandin Hub Redesign Initiative ($6,000,000)

For FFY 2026, no programmed projects could be accelerated to utilize the balance; so, the MPO worked with former proponents from the FFY 2025 Project Design Pilot, regional transit authorities, the MBTA and MassDOT to identify projects that could be funded. The MPO selected 15 projects for funding in FFYs 2026.

Five of these projects were selected for design funding:

• Design of improvements to Route 2A/Route 119, Great Road in Acton ($860,000)
• Design of a crossing over the MBTA Fitchburg commuter rail line in Cambridge near Danehy Park ($2,000,000)
• Design of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail extension through Hudson, from Felton Street to Priest Street ($909,700)
• Design of improvements to Route 60 in Malden between Franklin Street and Lynn Street ($800,000)
• Redesign of the Broad Street and Dalton Parkway Corridor in Salem ($1,068,780)

Seven projects were funded through the Community Connections program:

• Replacement of 20 Bluebikes BikeShare stations in Boston ($783,860),
• Purchase and installation of three new Bluebikes stations and 10 electric Bluebikes in south Brookline ($238,646),
• Replacement of seven Bluebikes stations and 123 docks in Cambridge ($268,458)
• Replacement of 40 Bluebikes, 40 docks, and 10 concrete slab station platforms in Somerville ($107,417)
• Purchase and installation of three new Bluebikes stations, 28 bikes, and three electric Bluebikes in Chelsea ($86,228)
• Procurement of 22 bicycle racks with 117 spaces in Marblehead ($6,250)
• Purchasing and installing 67 bicycle racks, two bike shelters, and 12 rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs) in Newton ($473,132).

Three projects were selected through the Transit Transformation program:

• MBTA—Better Bus Project—Operational Safety Improvements at Bus Stops ($3,216,897)
• MBTA—Bus Priority and Accessibility Improvements ($6,000,000)
• MBTA—Operational Enhancement of Bus Routes 714 and 716 ($1,875,000)

Lastly, the MPO funded the initial phase of the construction of the Lynnfield Rail Trail from Ford Avenue to Nichols Lane in FFY 2026 for $6,062,695. This project was previously programmed in the FFY 2029 Statewide Highway Program, with phasing of the project enabling acceleration of one component to FFY 2026.

Unlike in prior TIPs, where projects were often identified later in the project evaluation life cycle and could not be scored in time for programming scenarios, MPO staff worked closely with project proponents to ensure that the majority of these projects were evaluated using the MPO’s scoring criteria. While a small number of these projects could not be scored in time, a qualitative assessment showed that they align well with MPO goals, including enhancing connectivity between regional trails and improving the state of good repair for the regional transit system.

Figure ES-1 shows how the Regional Target funding for FFYs 2026–30 is distributed across the MPO’s investment programs. As the chart shows, the Boston Region MPO’s Regional Target Program is devoted primarily to enhancing mobility and safety for all travel modes through significant investments in Complete Streets projects. A large portion of the MPO’s funding also supports the modernization of key regional roadways and transit infrastructure through investments in Major Infrastructure and Transit Transformation projects. The MPO also elected to leave approximately $44.82 million unprogrammed.

Figure ES-1
FFYs 2026–30 TIP Regional Target Funding by MPO Investment Program

FFY = federal fiscal year. MPO = metropolitan planning organization. TIP = Transportation Improvement Program.

Source: Boston Region MPO.

As noted in Figure ES-1, the MPO has programmed more than 94 percent of its available funding over five years. Table ES-2 further details the number of projects and the allocation of funds across each program in the FFYs 2026–30 TIP. More details about every project funded through the MPO’s Regional Target Program are available in Chapter 3.

Table ES-2
FFYs 2026–30 Boston Region MPO Regional Target Investment Summary

Note: Funding amounts in this table include both federal and non-federal funds, including matching funds.

* This figure includes $8 million in BikeShare Support funding.

FFY = federal fiscal year. MPO = metropolitan planning organization. N/A = not applicable.

Source: Boston Region MPO.

When making decisions about which projects to fund, the MPO considers how the allocation of funds to each investment program compares to the funding goals outlined in the MPO’s current Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), Destination 2050. The funding goals for investment programs set forth in the LRTP reflect the types and mix of projects the MPO seeks to fund to help it achieve its goals and objectives for the region, from enhancing safety for all users to promoting mobility and accessibility across the region. More information on the MPO’s goals and objectives is available in Chapter 1, and a comparison between LRTP investment program goals and program funding levels in the FFYs 2026–30 TIP is shown in Figure ES-2.

Figure ES-2
FFYs 2026–30 TIP: Regional Target Funding Levels Relative to LRTP Investment Program Goals

FFY = federal fiscal year. LRTP = Long-Range Transportation Plan. TIP = Transportation Improvement Program.

Source: Boston Region MPO.

The investments made in the FFYs 2026–30 TIP will be implemented in 36 cities and towns throughout the Boston region. Figure ES-3 illustrates the distribution of Regional Target funding among the eight subregions within the Boston Region MPO’s jurisdiction, as defined by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). This figure also shows how the distribution of funds compares to key metrics for measuring the need for funding by subregion, including the percent of regional population, employment, and Federal-Aid roadway miles within each subregion.

Figure ES-3
FFYs 2026–30 TIP: Regional Target Funding Levels Relative to Key Indicators

Note: Unprogrammed funds and funds held for the MPO’s Transit Transformation  and Community Connections programs are not included in this figure.

FFY = federal fiscal year. MAGIC = Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal Coordination. MAPC = Metropolitan Area Planning Council. MetroWest = MetroWest Regional Collaborative. NSPC = North Suburban Planning Council. NSTF = North Shore Task Force. SSC = South Shore Coalition. SWAP = South West Advisory Committee. TIP = Transportation Improvement Program. TRIC = Three Rivers Interlocal Council.

Source: Boston Region MPO.

Additional information on the geographic distribution of Regional Target funding across the region, including a breakdown of funding by municipality, is included in Appendix D.

ES.4     Financing The FFYs 2026–30 TIP

ES.4.1 Highway Program

The TIP Highway Program was developed with the assumption that funding for Massachusetts from the Federal-Aid Highway Program would range between $858 million and $918 million annually over the next five years. These figures do not include matching funds provided for projects by the state or local entities. With the addition of matching funds, approximately $1.07 billion to $1.15 billion was available statewide for projects in FFYs 2026–30.

The process of determining the MPO’s share of this federal funding for the Boston region follows several steps. First, MassDOT reserves funding for GANs debt service payments for the Accelerated Bridge Program; these payments are expected to conclude in FFY 2026. Then, the remaining Federal-Aid Highway Program funds are budgeted to support state and regional (i.e., MPO) priorities. The funding for regional priorities is referred to as Regional Target funds. 

The remaining Federal-Aid Highway Program funds are budgeted to support state and regional (i.e., MPO) priorities. MassDOT customarily provides the local match (which can also be provided by other entities). Projects are typically funded with 80 percent federal dollars and 20 percent state dollars, but the share may vary depending on the funding program. Costs for project design are often borne by the proponent of the project, though the Boston Region MPO has allocated Regional Target funds for design support in the FFYs 2025–29 and FFYs 2026–30 TIPs.

Next, MassDOT allocates funding across the following funding categories:

• Reliability Investments: These programs include the Bridge Program—comprising inspections, systematic maintenance, and National Highway System (NHS) and non-NHS improvements—the Pavement Program, the Roadway Improvements Program, and the Safety Improvements Program.
• Modernization Investments: These programs include the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Retrofit Program, the Intersection Improvement Program, the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Program, and the Roadway Reconstruction Program.
• Expansion Investments: These programs include the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program and transit network expansions.

Finally, MassDOT allocates the remaining funding among the state’s 13 MPOs for programming. This discretionary funding for MPOs is suballocated by formula to determine the Regional Target amounts. The Boston Region MPO receives the largest portion of MPO funding in the state, with approximately 43 percent of Massachusetts’ Regional Target funds allocated to the region. MassDOT develops these targets in consultation with the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies (MARPA). This TIP was programmed with the assumption that the Boston Region MPO will have between $125 million and $161 million annually for Regional Target amounts, which consist of federal funding and state funding for the local match.

Each MPO may decide how to prioritize its Regional Target funding. Given that the Regional Target funding is a subset of the Highway Program, the MPO typically programs the majority of funding for roadway projects; however, the MPO has flexed portions of its highway funding to the Transit Program for transit expansion projects and through its Transit Transformation and Community Connections programs. The TIP Highway Program details the projects that will receive Regional Target funding from the Boston Region MPO and statewide infrastructure projects within the Boston region. Details on these investments are outlined in Chapter 3.

ES.4.2 Transit Program

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) allocates the funds programmed in the TIP Transit Program according to formula. The three regional transit authorities in the Boston Region MPO area that are recipients of these funds are the MBTA, CATA, and MWRTA. The MBTA, with its extensive transit program and infrastructure, is the recipient of the preponderance of the region’s federal transit funds.

The current federal transportation legislation, the BIL, allocates funding to transit projects through the following formula programs:

• Section 5307 (Urbanized Area Formula Grants): Provides grants to urbanized areas to support public transportation based on levels of transit service, population, and other factors
• Section 5337 (Fixed Guideway/Bus): Seeks to maintain public transportation systems in a state of good repair through replacement and rehabilitation capital projects
• Section 5309 (Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants): Provides grants for new and expanded rail, bus rapid transit, and ferry systems that reflect local priorities to improve transportation options in key corridors
• Section 5339 (Bus and Bus Facilities): Provides funding to replace, rehabilitate, and purchase buses and related equipment, and to construct bus-related facilities
• Section 5310 (Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities): Provides funding to support transportation to meet the special needs of older adults and persons with disabilities

ES.5     The TIP Development Process

ES.5.1 Overview

When determining which projects to fund through the Regional Target funding process, MPO members collaborate with municipalities, state agencies, members of the public, advocacy groups, and other stakeholders. The MPO board uses evaluation criteria in its project selection process to help identify and prioritize projects that advance progress across the MPO’s six goal areas:

• Safety
• Mobility and Reliability
• Access and Connectivity
• Resilience
• Clean Air and Healthy Communities
• Transportation Equity

More information on the MPO’s goal areas can be found on the Destination 2050 web page: https://bostonmpo.org/lrtp.

As shown in Figure ES-1 and Table ES-2, the MPO has established investment programs designed to direct Regional Target funding towards MPO priority areas during the next 20 years.:

• Intersection Improvements
• Complete Streets
• Major Infrastructure
• Bicycle Network and Pedestrian Connections
• Community Connections, which includes a Bikeshare Support Program
• Transit Transformation

Projects that the MPO selects to receive Regional Target funding through the TIP development process are included in one of the six investment programs listed above. More information about the MPO’s investment programs are available in Chapter 2.

The MPO incorporates performance-based planning and programming (PBPP) practices into its TIP development and other processes. These practices are designed to help direct MPO funds towards achieving specific and measurable outcomes for the transportation system. MPO investments directly relate to the PBPP framework and further the MPO’s goals and performance targets. With the development of the FFYs 2026-30 TIP, the MPO leveraged funding availability across all fiscal years to program new projects to address transit system reliability, traffic safety for all users, NHS bridge condition, and other priorities. The MPO will continue to closely link its performance targets, investment decisions, and monitoring and evaluation activities. More information on PBPP is available in Chapter 4 and Appendix A (Table A-2).

ES.5.2 Outreach and Data Collection

The outreach process begins early in the federal fiscal year. Cities and towns designate TIP contacts and begin developing a list of priority projects to be considered for federal funding, and the MPO staff asks the staff of cities and towns in the region to identify their priority projects. MPO staff compiles the project funding requests into a Universe of Projects, which is a list of all projects identified as potential candidates to receive funding through the TIP.

Priority projects from regional transit authorities and the MBTA are typically identified as part of the authorities’ annual program development process. The MPO staff accepts applications for Transit Transformation funding in the fall. Projects that MPO staff receive applications for, that are not funded through the TIP or the Capital Investment Plan, may be added to the Universe of Projects.

The Universe includes projects at varying levels of readiness, from those with significant engineering and design work complete to those still early in the conceptual or planning stage. MPO staff collects data on each project in the Universe so that the projects may be evaluated.

ES.5.3 Project Evaluation

MPO staff evaluates projects based on how well they address the MPO’s goals. For MPO staff to conduct a complete project evaluation, projects eligible for Bicycle Network and Pedestrian Connections, Complete Streets, Intersection Improvements, and Major Infrastructure program funding must have a functional design report or the project plans must include the level of detail defined in a functional design report, a threshold typically reached when a project nears the 25 percent design stage. To complete an evaluation for projects under consideration through the MPO’s Community Connections program, project proponents must submit a completed application to MPO staff.

In response to significant cost increases in recent TIP cycles for projects already programmed for funding, the MPO board created a committee in the wake of the FFYs 2022–26 TIP cycle to further explore the causes of project cost increases and devise MPO policy changes to support more reliable project delivery. The TIP Project Cost Ad Hoc Committee began its work in June 2021 and advanced a set of policy recommendations to the full MPO board in September 2021. These changes were formally adopted by the MPO on November 4, 2021, and were in effect for the development of the FFYs 2026–30 TIP.

Among other changes, the MPO elected to codify its policy of requiring that project proponents submit 25 percent designs and obtain an updated cost estimate for their projects prior to being programmed in the TIP. Given persistent project readiness issues witnessed across multiple TIP development cycles, the MPO formed a new committee, the TIP Process, Engagement, and Readiness Committee, which recommended full enforcement during the development of the FFYs 2027–31 TIP. This committee will review additional or revised policies to complement the new policy. 

The evaluation results for all projects are presented to the MPO board members for their consideration for programming in the TIP. Draft scores are shared directly with project proponents, at which point proponents are encouraged to review the scores and provide feedback so that MPO staff may make any warranted adjustments to arrive at appropriate final results. Once the review process is complete, final scoring results are posted on the MPO’s website where MPO members, municipal officials, and members of the public may review them.

ES.5.4 TIP Readiness Day

An important step toward TIP programming takes place midway through the TIP development cycle at a meeting—referred to as TIP Readiness Day—that both MassDOT and MPO staff attend. At this meeting, MassDOT project managers provide updates about cost and schedule changes related to currently programmed projects. These cost and schedule changes must be taken into account as MPO staff helps the MPO board consider updates to the already programmed years of the TIP and the addition of new projects in the outermost year of the TIP.

Among the other new policies advanced by the TIP Project Cost Ad Hoc Committee, the MPO board adopted a policy requiring proponents of projects that experienced a cost increase of 25 percent or more (for projects costing less than $10 million) or $2.5 million or more (for projects costing more than $10 million) to present to the MPO board on the reasons for these cost increases. The MPO would then compare these projects—at the new costs—to other projects and consider this cost-effectiveness evaluation when deciding whether or not to fund the projects at the higher costs. These cost changes are most often revealed through conversations between MassDOT staff and MPO staff during TIP Readiness Day, making this new policy especially relevant at this stage of TIP development.

ES.5.5 Staff Recommendation and Draft TIP

Using the evaluation results and information about project readiness (i.e., the extent to which a project is fully designed and ready for construction), MPO staff prepares a recommendation or a series of programming scenarios for how to program the Regional Target funding in the TIP. Other considerations, such as whether a project was included in the LRTP, addresses an identified transportation need, or promotes the distribution of transportation investments across the region, are also incorporated into these programming scenarios. The staff recommendation is always financially constrained—meaning, subject to available funding. There was approximately $754 million of Regional Target funding available to the Boston Region MPO for FFYs 2026–30. In this TIP cycle, the MPO board members discussed several scenarios for the Regional Target Program and selected a preferred program in April 2025.

In addition to prioritizing the Regional Target funding, the MPO board reviews and endorses the statewide highway program that MassDOT recommends for programming. The board also reviews and endorses programming of funds for the MBTA’s, CATA’s, and MWRTA’s transit capital programs.

ES.6     Approving The TIP

After selecting a preferred programming scenario, usually in April, the MPO board votes to release the draft TIP for a 30-day public review period. The comment period typically begins in late April, and during this time the MPO invites members of the public, municipal officials, and other stakeholders in the Boston region to review the proposed program and submit feedback. During the public review period, MPO staff hosts public meetings to discuss the draft TIP document and elicit additional comments.

After the public review period ends, the MPO board reviews all municipal and public comments and may change elements of the document or its programming. The MPO board then endorses the TIP and submits it to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for approval. MassDOT incorporates the MPO-endorsed TIP into the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The FHWA, FTA, and United States Environmental Protection Agency review the STIP for certification by September 30, the close of the federal fiscal year.

ES.7     Updates To The TIP

Even after the TIP has been finalized, administrative modifications, amendments, and adjustments often must be introduced because of changes in project schedules, project costs, funding sources, or available revenues. This may necessitate reprogramming a project in a different funding year or programming additional funds for a project.

Notices of administrative modifications and amendments are posted on the MPO’s website. If an amendment is necessary, the MPO notifies affected municipalities, stakeholders, and members of the public via email. The MPO typically holds a 21-day public review period before taking final action on an amendment. In extraordinary circumstances, the MPO may vote to shorten the public comment period to a minimum of 15 days. Administrative modifications and adjustments are minor and usually do not warrant a public review period.

ES.8     Stay Involved With The TIP

Public engagement is an important aspect of the transportation planning process. Please visit bostonmpo.org for more information about the MPO, to view the entire TIP, and to submit your comments. You also may wish to sign up for email news updates and notices by visiting bostonmpo.org/subscribe and submitting your contact information. To request a copy of the TIP in accessible formats, please contact the MPO staff by any of the following means:

Mail: Boston Region MPO c/o CTPS MPO Activities Group, 10 Park Plaza, Suite 2150, Boston, MA 02116-3968

Telephone: 857.702.3700 (voice)

For people with hearing or speaking difficulties, connect through the state MassRelay service:

• Relay Using TTY or Hearing Carry-over: 800.439.2370
• Relay Using Voice Carry-over: 866.887.6619
• Relay Using Text to Speech: 866.645.9870

Email: publicinfo@ctps.org

Translations of the Executive Summary of the FFYs 2026–30 TIP are also available:

• 執行總結 (PDF)
• 执行总结 (PDF)
• Rezime Egzekitif (PDF)
• Resumen Ejecutivo (PDF)
• Resumo Executivo (PDF)