The Boston Region MPO and Its Responsibilities
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization is responsible for programming the spending of transportation funds in 101 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts and for conducting the regional transportation planning processes through which the region’s current and future transportation needs are identified and prioritized. It is the responsibility of the MPO to conduct its work and decision-making so as to equitably distribute the benefits and burdens of the transportation system within the region and utilize and conserve the available financial, infrastructure, natural, and cultural resources in the most effective way possible.

The MPO has defined policies and objectives to guide this planning and programming. The policies are the basis for the MPO’s vision for the region. They explain the MPO’s priorities and help balance the region’s diverse and competing needs and interests. The objectives frame the MPO approach to implementing the policies. This includes inviting public participation from all stakeholders in the region throughout the transportation planning process.

The policies and their related objectives address the topics of: system preservation, modernization and efficiency; mobility; environment; safety and security; regional equity; land use and economic development; public participation; and finance.

System Preservation, Modernization and Efficiency
To emphasize the preservation, modernization and efficiency of the existing transportation system, the MPO will:

A. Put priority on projects that maintain, repair, and modernize existing infrastructure.

B. Set funding goals for maintaining the system.

C. Make investments that maximize the efficiency, effectiveness, reliability, and flexibility of the existing transportation system.

D. Encourage and support, through planning and programming, projects and programs that improve the operation of the existing transportation system through the use of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), new technologies, and transportation system management

Mobility
To improve mobility for people and freight, the MPO will:

A. Put a priority on projects and programs that increase the availability of transportation options for people and freight by improving connections, access to and within the system, services, and infrastructure to meet needs.

B. Support projects and programs that improve public transportation service by making it faster, and more reliable and affordable.

C. Consider how an improvement to a single mode can make the entire system work better.

D. Fund projects that expand the existing transportation system’s ability to move people and goods in areas identified in the Boston Region Mobility Management System, the MBTA Program for Mass Transportation, the MPO’s Regional Equity Program, MPO and EOT freight studies and through public comment. This includes encouraging options that manage demand. Adding highway capacity by building general-purpose lanes should be considered only when no better solution can be found and should be accompanied by proponent commitments, developed in the environmental review process, to implement TDM measures.

E. Assist agencies and communities in planning and implementing projects that provide bicycle and pedestrian routes, networks, and facilities.

F. Support programs that meet public transportation needs in suburban communities, including improving access to existing public transportation and partnering with others to initiate new intra-suburban services linking important destinations.

G. Provide better access for all to transportation throughout the region, including for our youth, elderly and disabled users, and members of zero-vehicle households. This includes identifying and addressing structural and operational barriers to mobility.

H. Develop a multi-modal, comprehensive plan for freight movement that includes an evaluation of: freight infrastructure needs and access to intermodal facilities (air, road, rail, and water).

Environment
To minimize transportation-related pollution or degradation of the environment; promote energy conservation; support preservation of natural resources and community character; advance sustainability, regional environmental benefits, and health-promoting transportation options, the MPO will:

A. Give priority to projects that maintain and improve public transportation facilities and services so as to increase public transportation mode share and reduce reliance on automobiles.

B. Give priority to projects that reduce congestion or manage transportation demand to improve air quality.

C. Support, through planning and programming, projects that make transportation in the region more sustainable.

D. Promote the use of low-polluting or alternative fuels, efficient engine technology or other new, viable technology and resource protections.

E. Consider environmental issues during project selection; in particular, air quality and reduction of pollutants (CO, NOX, VOCs, particulates, and CO2), water resources (soil and water contamination, stormwater management, and wetlands impacts), greenfields and open space, and wildlife and ecosystems; and value those that reduce negative impacts.

F. Recognize value in transportation projects that preserve natural and cultural resources, including visual, historic, aesthetic, noise, community cohesiveness, and local quality of life values.

G. Recognize, in evaluations, projects that respect community character in their purpose and design.

H. Consult with environmental and cultural resource agencies and entities on environmental effects, particularly through the existing NEPA/MEPA processes.

I. Encourage, through planning and programming, transportation choices that promote a healthy lifestyle such as walking and bicycling.

Safety and Security
To improve safety and security for all transportation system users and prepare the transportation system for its role in emergency response preparedness, the MPO will:

A. Support designs and fund projects, and programs that address safety problems and enhance safe travel for all system users. This includes designs and projects that encourage motorists, public transportation riders, bicyclists and pedestrians to share the transportation network safely.

B. Support, through planning and programming, the installation, operations, upgrades, and timely maintenance of system infrastructure, including ITS, to provide for safety and security.

C. Participate in regional planning for safety and security initiatives, such as evacuation and contingency measures, and homeland security.

Regional Equity
To promote the equitable sharing of the transportation system’s benefits and burdens; incorporate environmental justice principles into transportation planning and programming activities, the MPO will:

A. Continue the outreach to communities with a high proportion of low-income and minority residents to identify transportation needs.

B. Assess regional equity by analyzing mobility, accessibility and congestion for communities with a high proportion of low-income and minority residents.

C. Fund projects that address identified regional equity issues and needs.

Land Use and Economic Development
To promote the integration of land use, economic development and transportation planning to achieve efficiencies; benefits for mobility and the environment, including sustainable communities and transportation; and stronger economic opportunities, the MPO will:

A. Link transportation planning with land use and economic development plans, particularly in areas identified for economic development by state, regional and local planning.

B. Make transportation investments where existing or planned development will encourage public transportation use, walking, and bicycling.

C. Give priority to projects in areas identified in local and regional plans as being suitable for concentrated development and/or redevelopment, including brownfield redevelopment; support initiatives that increase sustainability.

D. Consider both existing development and densities in transportation decision-making and give priority to projects that support them.

E. Consider the appropriate use and maintenance of transportation rights-of-way to maximize public benefits.

F. Put priority on transportation investments related to existing centers of economic activity; or to areas with adequate water and sewer infrastructure; or to municipal centers or areas targeted for economic development.

G. Support, through planning and programming, transportation improvements that provide transportation links for economic activities such as freight movement.

Public Participation
To promote public involvement in all phases of transportation planning and design, the MPO will:

A. Implement the MPO public participation plan in a way that provides all residents and businesses the opportunity to participate in the transportation planning process.

B. Communicate effectively with project proponents and members of the public to ensure their understanding of the MPO project evaluation and selection processes and facilitate their participation.

C. Use the MPO’s criteria, based on MPO policies, in decision-making and project selection.

D. Continue to work with the Advisory Council in the development of all MPO documents, and support the Advisory Council’s work of bringing the public’s views to MPO decision-making.

E. Reach out to under-represented persons and groups, including low income and minority residents and those with limited-English proficiency, to ensure that decisions are made in an open and participatory process.

F. Solicit the input of environmental, cultural resource, community, business, economic development and other appropriate agencies on MPO activities to promote the integration of these interests with transportation planning and programming.

G. Work to improve coordination among the local, regional, and state jurisdictions that own and operate the region’s transportation system.

H. Expand methods of communication and explore new technologies to improve outreach. Use varied media and visualization techniques.

Finance
To secure and efficiently and effectively apply financial resources for the maintenance, modernization, and appropriate expansion of the regional transportation system, the MPO will:

A. Consider project effectiveness in meeting transportation needs during project selection.

B. Work to identify and acquire new revenues for the transportation system, including those from innovative funding sources and public-private partnerships.

C. Work with implementing agencies, communities and project proponents to identify and adopt information systems to better estimate and contain project costs.

D. Consider the cost of maintenance and operations when selecting projects.

Click here to download the MPO Policies in PDF.

Click here to submit comments on the MPO Policies.