Technical Memorandum

DATE: January 17, 2019

TO: Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization

FROM: Boston Region MPO Staff

RE: MPO Transit Committee: Key Questions and Next Steps

This document lists questions and next steps for the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) members and staff to consider as the MPO establishes a transit committee to enhance the representation of public transportation providers on the MPO board. At its November 8, 2018, meeting, the MPO board voted to begin the process of amending its memorandum of understanding (MOU) to add a seat to the board that would represent a transit committee. The adopted motion specified that the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) would serve as the committee’s representative on the MPO board for an initial three-year term beginning once an updated MOU has been executed. MPO staff requests MPO member feedback on the items in the following sections at the MPO’s January 17, 2019, meeting to advance action to form this committee.

1 Questions for Forming an MPO Transit committee

Table 1, next page, summarizes key questions related to forming an MPO transit committee by topic area. MPO staff recommends that the MPO decide, or identify preferred options for, these aspects of the transit committee before it is formed.

The MPO may make decisions or recommendations regarding other aspects of the committee, different from those mentioned in the table, or allow the committee to decide on these features:

A maximum number of total transit committee members
Minimum or maximum numbers of members from certain transit provider groups
Requirements for entities to maintain their status as voting members
Term length for an entity to serve as a transit committee member (excluding any permanent members)
Term length for a member entity to serve as the committee’s representative to the MPO

Table 1
Key Questions Related to Forming an MPO Transit Committee

Topic Area	Question
Functions	What should be the mission of this transit committee? What would be the responsibilities of the transit committee’s representative on the MPO board? What would be the roles and responsibilities of the transit committee members?
Membership	What types of entities should be committee members, and of these, which should be permanent members? What should be the minimum number of committee members? What methods or criteria should be used to select committee members? Which entities should be eligible to serve as the committee representative to the MPO board? What restrictions should there be, if any, for transit committee members (excluding the designated representative) to serve on the MPO board or Regional Transportation Advisory Council, and vice versa?
Support and Operations	What activities might MPO staff undertake to support the committee, and what costs might be involved?

2 Next Steps

Using MPO member feedback on the questions in the previous section, MPO staff will work with the MPO on the following next steps to establish the transit committee:

Develop refined proposals regarding the transit committee’s functions membership, and other aspects for the MPO’s review and approval.

Update any MOU that would be affected by the creation of the transit committee.

Modify the MPO’s MOU (last updated in 2011) to establish the transit committee and include its representative as a voting member of the MPO board, which would increase the total number of voting members from 22 to 23.

Modify the MPO’s 2012 MOU with the Cape Ann Transportation Authority (CATA), MWRTA, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to describe the transit committee and parties’ relevant roles and responsibilities with respect to the committee.

Identify an initial set of committee members, which would include MWRTA and CATA. MassDOT proposes that MassDOT’s Rail and Transit Division also be a member. Additional members could include one or more entities representing other regional transit authorities operating in the Boston region, transportation management associations, or municipalities that provide transit service. As part of this step, the MPO might request that certain organizations participate on the committee or help support a call for interested participants.

Schedule a date for transit committee meetings to begin.

Amend the MPO’s federal fiscal year (FFY) 2019 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) to provide staff support for the transit committee, as appropriate, and include a committee-related task and budget in the FFY 2020 UPWP. Both tasks would involve action by the MPO’s UPWP Committee and the MPO board.