Memorandum for the Record
Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization
Unified Planning Work Program Committee Meeting Summary
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM, State Transportation Building—10
Park Plaza, Conference Rooms 2 and 3, Boston, MA
Bryan Pounds, Chair, representing the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)
The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) Committee agreed to the following:
• Approve the summary of the UPWP Committee meeting of March 16, 2017.
Materials for this meeting included the following:
1. March 16 UPWP Committee Meeting Summary
2. Draft Recommended List of FFY 2018 Discrete Studies
3. Draft FFY 2018 UPWP Document: Committee Member Review Chapters
Bryan Pounds, Chair of the UPWP Committee, called the meeting to order at approximately 12:30 PM. UPWP Committee members and MPO staff introduced themselves. (For attendance list, see page 4.)
A motion to approve the UPWP Committee meeting summary of March 16, 2017, was made by B. Pounds and seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
The committee proceeded with meeting agenda Item 2, presentation of the draft recommended list of UPWP MPO-funded discrete studies and programs. Sandy Johnston, UPWP Manager, introduced the revised list, as defined through Committee and staff surveys and staff discussions and discussed at previous Committee meetings. S. Johnston mentioned that of the priority list of 11 studies agreed upon at the end of the previous meeting, two would be funded by MassDOT section 5303 funds rather than 3C funds, but conducted during FFY 2018. Steve Olanoff, Three Rivers Interlocal Council, asked whether they would still appear in the UPWP. B. Pounds clarified that one, Traffic and Parking Analysis for Dedicated Bus Lanes, would be funded through an extended contract with FFY 2017 MassDOT 5303 funds, while Title VI Service Equity Analysis, Phase II would be funded under FFY 2018 5303 funds, and would appear listed in the FFY 2018 UPWP.
S. Johnston presented the recommended list of discrete studies, complete with more detailed budget numbers. B. Pounds asked for comments, and with none offered, brought up the point that study T-3, Low-Cost Improvements to MBTA Rapid Transit Service, had considerable overlap with a contract already in existence between MBTA and MIT that does not explicitly cover low-cost improvements but could be extended to do so. A discussion ensued between B. Pounds, Karl Quackenbush, Executive Director, Eric Bourassa, Metropolitan Area Planning Council, and others about the exact scope of the MIT contract and the potential for overlap or redundancy with the proposed T-3 study. Elizabeth Moore, Director of Planning and Policy, said that staff felt that they could find enough tasks to accomplish and recommendations to make under the proposed T-3 study even with the MBTA-MIT contracted work. K. Quackenbush expressed that if there was a desire to reallocate funding from T-3, those funds should be allocated to another transit-related study to keep the staff workload balanced.
Discussion ensued about how to allocate the UPWP funding from T-3. E. Bourassa mentioned in a recent MPO meeting that money had been cut from the Community Transportation Program [MPO-funded TIP investment program] and suggested that some UPWP funds could be spent to define the investment program for the MPO. He further suggested that there might be commonalities between the CT investment program and the First- and Last-mile study (T-13), potentially expanding the scope of that work. A discussion ensued around this idea.
K. Quackenbush suggested that if there were to be a real effort to strengthen the CT investment program, it would be helpful to spend UPWP resources to define it. E. Bourassa asked Lourenço Dantas, Certification Activities Group Manager, what staff has envisioned for the investment program. L. Dantas said he thought it would make sense to allocate the funds to define the CT investment program for this upcoming FFY, if the Committee desired, or to funnel the funds into an existing MPO program that could cover this desired work. There was discussion about the level of interest from the MBTA and other stakeholders into implementing first- and last-mile improvements and the kind of work the CT investment program could support. E. Bourassa said he would be happy to see the $50,000 from the T-3 study allocated to developing the CT investment program. B. Pounds suggested it could be merged into the T-13 task. There was general agreement that it would be possible to combine the T-3 and T-13 studies, use the combined funding to define the CT investment program, and do the first- and last-mile shuttle connections as part of the same UPWP study concept.
K. Quackenbush stated that combining the T-3 and T-13 studies as discussed was sensible, and discussion about the exact definition of the new study ensued. E. Bourassa made a motion to move $50,000 from T-3 to T-13 and rename it “Community Transportation Program Development.” The motion was seconded by several members. Staff agreed to return to the committee with a redefined description for this study concept before the May 4, 2017, MPO meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
S. Johnston presented the completed chapters of the FFY 2018 UPWP: chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8, and two appendices. S. Johnston noted that aside from the new discrete studies, most of the document resembles the current UPWP. There was some discussion. There was a motion and second to recommend the draft document for the MPO review on May 4, 2017. The motion carried.
There were none.
The next meeting was scheduled for May 4, 2017, immediately before the MPO meeting. B. Pounds and other committee members expressed their appreciation at staff’s ability to prepare the draft UPWP on an accelerated schedule.
A motion to adjourn was made and seconded by another member. The motion carried unanimously.
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Organization |
Name |
|
Massachusetts Department of Transportation |
Bryan Pounds |
|
Metropolitan Area Planning Council
|
Eric Bourassa |
|
City of Boston |
Tom Kadzis |
|
At-Large Town (Town of Arlington) |
Laura Wiener |
|
At-Large City (City of Newton) |
|
|
MetroWest Regional Collaborative (Town of Framingham) |
|
|
Inner Core Committee (City of Somerville) |
Tom Bent |
|
Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood/Neponset Valley Chamber
of Commerce) |
Steve Olanoff |
|
Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood/Neponset Valley
Chamber of Commerce) |
Tom O’Rourke |
|
Regional Transportation Advisory Council |
|
|
MPO
Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff |
|
Karl Quackenbush, Executive Director |
|
Robin Mannion, Deputy Executive Director Elizabeth Moore, Director of Planning and Policy |
|
Lourenço Dantas, Certification Activities Group Manager |
|
Sandy Johnston, UPWP Manager Mark Abbott, Traffic Analysis and Design Group Manager |