Draft Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization
Unified Planning Work Program Committee Meeting Minutes

February 6, 2025 Meeting

1:00 PM–2:00 PM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform

Chris Klem, Chair, representing Monica Tibbits-Nutt, Secretary of Transportation and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)

Decisions

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) Committee agreed to the following:

• Approve the minutes of the meeting of June 13, 2024
• Approve the minutes of the meeting of August 8, 2024
• Approve the minutes of the meeting of November 7, 2024
• Approve Amendment Two of the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2025 UPWP

Materials

Materials for this meeting included the following:

1. June 13, 2024 Meeting Minutes (pdf) (html)
2. August 8, 2024 Meeting Minutes (pdf) (html)
3. November 7, 2024 Meeting Minutes (pdf) (html)
4. FFY 2025 Amendment Two (pdf) (html)
5. FFY 2025 Amendment Two Memo (pdf) (html)
6. FFY 2025 Amendment Two Redline (pdf)

Meeting Agenda

1. Introductions

See attendance below.

2. Public Comments

There were none.

3. Action Item: Approval of June 13, 2024, Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of June 13, 2024, was made by the Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Tom O’Rourke) and seconded by the City of Newton (David Koses). The motion carried.

4. Action Item: Approval of August 8, 2024, Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of August 8, 2024, was made by the Three Rivers Interlocal Council (T. O’Rourke) and seconded by the City of Boston (Jen Rowe). The motion carried.

5. Action Item: Approval of November 7, 2024, Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of November 7, 2024, was made by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (Julia Wallerce) and seconded by the Inner Core Committee (Tom Bent). The motion carried.

6. Action Item: FFY 2025 UPWP Amendment Two—Olivia Saccocia, MPO Staff

O. Saccocia presented Amendment Two to the FFY 2025 UPWP. Amendment Two adds eight federal discretionary grants to Appendix A of the document:

• One Prioritization Process Pilot Program grant awarded to the Boston Region MPO
• One Congestion Relief grant awarded to MassDOT, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), and the City of Boston
• Three Safe Streets and Roads For All grants awarded to the City of Quincy, the City of Watertown, and the Town of Needham
• Three Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program grants awarded to the City of Boston, the City of Revere, and the MBTA

Additional information can be found in the FFY 2025 Amendment Two memo and in the clean and redlined versions of FFY 2025 UPWP document. Links to these materials can be found above or in the MPO meeting calendar.

J. Wallerce noted one discrepancy in the presentation. The Congestion Relief award was incorrectly listed as $12.6 million. The correct amount is $21.6 million. O. Saccocia stated that she would update the meeting materials to reflect the correct information.

C. Klem asked if the committee will need to vote to release this amendment for a public comment period. Dave Hong, MPO staff, explained that UPWP amendments are not federally required to undergo a public comment period.

Vote

A motion to approve Amendment Two to the FFY 2025 UPWP was made by the City of Boston (J. Rowe) and second by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (Len Diggins). The motion carried.

7. FFY 2026 UPWP Cycle—Tegin Teich, Executive Director

T. Teich provided an overview of the development cycle for the FFY 2026 UPWP by explaining the following:

Similar to last year, the MPO has a goal to endorse the document by the end of June. Staff will also continue to engage the public and MPO members in soliciting feedback on the MPO’s work, as was done in the past.

Some aspects of this development cycle will be different. The need to recruit a new UPWP manager led to a more aggressive UPWP development timeline this year. Staff will also adjust the narrative of the document to improve cohesiveness and incorporate information about the agency’s new process for developing work plans.

The way that the committee contributes to UPWP content will be slightly different this year. In addition to providing feedback on discrete studies, the committee will also have the opportunity to provide feedback more broadly on the MPO’s ongoing initiatives. After the idea intake period is complete, staff will share the universe of ideas with the committee. From this list, staff will distill a subset of feasible studies that the group will discuss during the next committee meeting. At the same time, staff will also ask the committee to review and provide feedback on the draft descriptions of the MPO’s ongoing work.

Discussion

L. Diggins asked how the committee will be selecting the discrete studies, as there will not be an opportunity to rank the proposals this year. D. Hong explained that board members and the public will be able to submit study ideas through a Qualtrics form. Once these surveys close, the committee will convene to discuss the shortlist of feasible studies and consider their regional impact. Staff will note the feedback discussed during this meeting to develop the final study scenario. L. Diggins stated that he is interested in seeing how different committee members prioritize different studies. He suggested there be a way for members to provide written feedback on the study ideas to supplement the group’s verbal discussion.

D. Koses asked if the group will have the opportunity to view all proposals generated from the idea intake process. T. Teich stated that yes, the committee will see all ideas that were submitted through the surveys. T. Teich explained that staff will refine the universe of ideas based on feasibility and how well they align with the MPO’s Long-Range Transportation Plan goals.

J. Rowe suggested that the group could use a digital tool during the next meeting to capture feedback on each study.

D. Koses asked if the idea intake process will follow a similar process as in the past. He also asked if the committee will be able to see ideas that are judged not feasible by staff. D. Hong explained that the group will be able to see all ideas that were generated. These will be captured in a spreadsheet and available for the committee to view. The shortlist of feasible studies will then be brought to the committee for a discussion.

8. FFY 2026 UPWP Development Timeline—Olivia Saccocia, MPO Staff

O. Saccocia provided an overview of the development timeline for the FFY 2026 UPWP. During February, the idea intake process will begin. After analyzing this feedback, staff will share the full list of input and the shortlist of feasible study ideas with the committee in April. In May, the list of discrete studies will be finalized and staff will produce a draft UPWP document to release for a 21-day public comment period. After this period, the committee will approve the document and the MPO Board will be asked for a final endorsement by the end of June.

9. Members’ Items

There were none.

10. Next Meeting

C. Klem stated that the committee will be notified of the potential dates for the next meeting.

11. Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by the MBTA Advisory Board (Hanna Switlekowski) and seconded by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (L. Diggins). The motion carried.

Attendance

CIVIL RIGHTS NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

Welcome. Bem Vinda. Bienvenido. Akeyi. 欢迎. 歡迎 .

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