Memorandum for the Record

Regional Transportation Advisory Council Meeting

July 22, 2020, Meeting Minutes

2:30 PM–3:30 PM, Zoom

Lenard Diggins, Chair, representing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Ridership Oversight Committee

Meeting Agenda

1.    Introductions

Lenard Diggins called the meeting to order at 2:30 PM. (For attendance list, see page three.)

2.    Pedestrian Report Card Assessment (PRCA) Interactive Database—Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager, Casey-Marie Claude

Casey-Marie Claude, MPO staff, presented on the PRCA interactive database tool that the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) created in 2019. She said the precursor to the PRCA database was a 2015 pedestrian level of service (PLOS) study. C. Claude said that the study was intended to assess pedestrian suitability at intersections and roadway segments by measuring the safety and comfort of walking locations. She said that while MPO staff were developing the grading methodology of the PLOS study, they decided to incorporate four evaluation criteria from the MPO’s Long-Range Transportation Plan goals: safety; system preservation; capacity management and mobility; and economic vitality. C. Claude said that MPO staff also incorporated the overall prioritization of transportation equity into the PRCA assessment grading.

C. Claude then discussed a number of updates made to the PRCA tool during 2019:

·       Scoring scale modification

·       Pedestrian crashes

·       Transportation equity regional thresholds

·       “How-to-score” manuals

·       Non-signalized intersections

C. Claude discussed how MPO staff have been using PRCA grading in studies and projects to illustrate how pedestrian suitability can be affected. She then demonstrated how to use the PRCA map to view how locations are graded by the different evaluation criteria.

Discussion

Andy Reker, City of Cambridge, and C. Claude discussed the best ways to measure how much curb extensions improve vehicle yielding behavior and pedestrian comfort. C. Claude explained that MPO staff used two metrics—lanes of travel and crossing distance—to determine pedestrian suitability. They also discussed whether improved sight lines to crossing pedestrians result in measurably better vehicle yielding behavior.

John McQueen, WalkBoston, and C. Claude discussed that proximity to transit was incorporated into the Bicycle Report Card but not the PRCA tool. They also discussed how to determine speed of vehicle traffic when that is used as an element in grading pedestrian usability.

Franny Osman, Acton Transportation Advisory Committee, and C. Claude discussed how the PRCA tool has been used so far. C. Claude also said the PRCA tool was designed so that people could find information themselves and take that information to their municipalities to show what needs to be improved at a location to make it safer or more comfortable for pedestrians.

Susan Barrett, Town of Lexington, and C. Claude discussed whether the PRCA pedestrian crash data is as current as local police department crash data. They also discussed whether the PRCA tool could be used to evaluate transit stops specifically.

L. Diggins and C. Claude discussed how preliminary geographic data for the PRCA tool is gathered by using available online satellite imagery, such as Google Maps. They also discussed how MPO staff determined the weighting share to give each evaluation criterion when grading the Pedestrian Report Card on a location.

A. Reker and C. Claude discussed how the PRCA tool could be recalibrated to better reflect aspects of pedestrian traffic in urban core locations, where pedestrian traffic levels are much higher than suburban and rural locations.

Brendan Kearney, WalkBoston, L. Diggins, and C. Claude discussed how to encourage more public submissions of data for inclusion into the PRCA database—including “close call” incidents, which are typically underreported.

J. McQueen and C. Claude discussed how the PRCA database takes into consideration measures of sidewalk condition mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

3.    Adjourn

L. Diggins adjourned the meeting at 3:25 PM.

Attendees

Member Municipalities	Representatives and Alternates
City of Cambridge	Andy Reker

 

Member Citizen Advocacy Groups	Representatives and Alternates
MBTA Ridership Oversight Committee	Lenard Diggins
Acton Transportation Advisory Committee	Franny Osman
WalkBoston	Brendan Kearney
WalkBoston	John McQueen

 

Other Attendees	Affiliation
Susan Barrett	Town of Lexington

 

MPO Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff
Casey-Marie Claude
Matt Archer