Draft Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization

Unified Planning Work Program Committee Meeting

March 31, 2016 Meeting

9:30 AM to 11:30 AM, Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) Large Conference Room, Suite 2150, 10 Park Plaza, Boston

Bryan Pounds, Chair, representing the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)

Decisions

The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) Committee agreed to the following:

• Approval of MPO staff recommendations for new discrete spending
• Meeting on April 21^st  

Materials

Materials for this meeting included:

• An agenda
• Draft minutes from the February 18, 2016 UPWP Committee meeting
• Updated Draft FFY 2017 Universe of New Studies
• Staff Priority and UPWP Committee Priority List
• Draft Staff Recommendation for FFY 2017 New Studies and Analyses
• Proposed new ongoing program

Meeting Agenda and Summary of Discussion

Introductions

Bryan Pounds, Chair, UPWP Committee (Massachusetts Department of Transportation) called the meeting to order at approximately 9 AM. UPWP Committee members and MPO staff introduced themselves. (For attendance list, see page 6.)

Action Item: Approval of UPWP Committee Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the February 18, 2016 UPWP Committee meeting minutes was made by Eric Bourassa, MAPC, and seconded by Tom O’Rourke, Town of Norwood (TRIC). The motion carried with one abstention.

Discussion of Any Updates to the FFY 2017 Draft Universe of New Studies

Ali Kleyman, MPO staff, discussed changes made to the Universe since the Committee’s last meeting. The project descriptions of Shopping Behavior by Mode of Arrival (B-4), Safety Effectiveness of Safe Routes to School Programs (A-7), and Low Cost Tactical Urbanism Projects for Rapid Implementation (A-5) were clarified. Balanced Traffic Volumes and the Data Collection placeholder were determined to be better suited under ongoing Data Resources tasks. The Roadway Network Performance category was renamed to Multimodal Mobility, as it takes into account all modes.

Discussion of Staff and Committee Member Priorities for FFY 2017 New Studies

As the universe is being formed, each project is evaluated based on certain factors. Ali Kleyman, MPO staff, incorporated the LRTP goals to better evaluate the proposed studies. Other considerations of studies include how they will enhance the state practice, how they will affect the MPO’s understanding of emerging issues, cost-effectiveness, and time range. Following the UPWP Committee’s priority votes, MPO staff recommended eight studies. Ali gave an overview of how the staff recommendations align with the Committee votes:

• Low Cost Improvements to Express-Highway Bottleneck Locations (C3), Addressing Priority Corridors from the Long Range Transportation Needs Assessment (C-4), and Planning for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (C-6) received four top priority votes
  
  
• Addressing Safety, Mobility, and Access on Subregional Priority Roadways (C-1) received four top priority votes and one bottom vote
  
  
• Safety Effectiveness of Safe Routes to School Programs (A-7) received three top priority votes and two bottom votes
  
  
• Study of Promising GHG-Reduction Strategies (B-7) received two top priority votes
  
  
• Using GTFS to Find Shared Segments with Excessively (E-7) received two top priority votes and one bottom vote
  
  
• MPO Generated Research Topics (F-1) received two top priority votes

There is overlap between the Committee’s and CTPS staff’s priorities: C-3, C-4, C-6, and C-1. Certain projects that were the Committee’s priorities were not included in the recommendation for the following reasons:

• Safety and Operations at Selected Intersections (C-2) is not in the recommendation because it will be conducted in FFY 2016 and cannot be conducted every year; it requires time to pass to be able to refresh the list of candidate locations. It has been alternated with other studies in recent UPWP cycles. Instead, it has been alternated with C-3.
  
  
• The Effects of Induced Demand on Transportation System Efficiency (C-5) is not in the recommendation because several CTPS managers feel that much information exists on this subject and that it is not a priority of their federal partners.
  
  
• Transportation Mitigation of Major Developments: Review of Existing Strategies (B-2) is not in the recommendation because staff felt that the project would be best undertaken following the completion of the ongoing Core Capacity Constraints project. Staff expects the Core Capacity Constraints project to be completed in April or May.

Discussion of Staff Draft Recommendation for FFY 2017 New Studies

Karl Quackenbush, MPO staff, outlined ongoing research conducted under F-1. By comparing the RMV’s driver’s license data to census and other data, CTPS staff is developing predictors of driver’s license acquisition rates. Ideally, this information could be used as a predictor for transit dependency in particular populations. This could potentially be built into the travel demand model.

Karl discussed the merits of B-7 in relation to a recent CTPS study of GHG reduction strategies. The strategies studied were on a national level, and B-7 would look into these strategies and attempt to refine and localize them to the Boston region. This would be a rigorous analytical process, and the results would be used to inform policy and planning by providing context to issues both within and out of the purview of the MPO.

Laura Wiener asked if A-7 would result in something that can be used by other communities. Mark Abbott, MPO staff, discussed coordination with MassRides and OTP to develop a study that would look at different locations throughout the Boston region. The goal is to study one school from each subregion, both before and after the implementation of SRTS. Bryan stated that OTP supports this task.

MPO staff feels that the MBTA Bicycle Parking/Park and Ride Monitoring (E-1) can be incorporated into the ongoing Congestion Management Program. Scott Peterson, MPO staff, explained that a similar project was previously withdrawn from the FFY 2016 UPWP because private lots and MBTA lots are combined within the model, the assumptions rendered analysis too complicated. In addition, MPO staff felt that results of the study may not be used. He noted that the last dataset is from 2012, which needs refreshing, and CTPS will study pricing structures; this will hopefully lay the groundwork for future analysis.

A question was raised regarding the MPO staff’s recommendation of E-7. The MPO staff member who suggested this study stated that certain headway irregularities exist but are not documented; documentation could highlight headways that can be fixed or explain why certain headways are needed. Tegin Teich Bennett (Cambridge) stated that the City of Cambridge conducted a similar study which has informed various projects, and such a study could inform other municipalities in a similar manner.

A question was raised regarding the importance of the Bicycle Level of Service (LOS) Metric (A-8). Karl stated that the Pedestrian LOS project is underway, the results of which could inform the committee’s future decision regarding A-8; these results will likely be available at the end of the current fiscal year or the beginning of the next. Tegin suggested that the committee maintain awareness of the effectiveness of LOS metrics in measuring inputs into projects, as their effectiveness has been disputed. Lourenço Dantas noted that MPO staff researches topics relating to bicycle activity; in the next UPWP cycle, A-8 could morph into a measure that has more meaning to their planning work.

A motion to approve the MPO staff’s recommendations for the new discrete studies was made by Dennis Crowley, and seconded by Tom. The motion passed unanimously.

Discussion of New Proposed Ongoing Program: MPO/CTPS Study Information Database

In response to feedback from the MPO, the proposed program would result in a database that annually tracks recommendations which stem from UPWP studies. This would not fall under discrete spending. This would allow for regular reports to the UPWP Committee. The specific method of reporting is yet to be determined.

Member Items

There were none.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be on April 21^st, prior to the MPO meeting (starting at 9:00 AM).

Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by Dennis Crowley, Town of Medway (SWAP) and seconded by Tom O’Rourke, Town of Norwood (TRIC). The motion carried.

Attendance