The Active Transportation Planning Program aims to improve accessibility, safety, convenience, and comfort for people walking, bicycling, and rolling in the Boston metropolitan region. The MPO leverages its role as a regional transportation planning agency to study active mobility travel in the Boston metro area as a whole and facilitate connections between and across neighboring municipalities. We seek to empower communities to better plan for people using active modes within their municipalities and provide recommendations to increase the use of these modes for daily trips by residents, employees, and visitors.
The Active Transportation Planning Program strives to reduce congestion, increase physical activity, and shape more livable communities. Our work is aimed at facilitating greater adoption of active modes and informing investment in sustainable active transport infrastructure throughout the Boston metro region. We prioritize the needs of people living in communities that are less likely to have access to motorized vehicles and rapid transit stations within the region, making active modes of transportation all the more critical to mobility in these communities.
The Active Transportation Planning Program supports the following federal requirements, as described in 23 U.S.C. 217(g), for metropolitan planning organizations related to bicycle and pedestrian travel.
MPOs are required to create a transportation plan that identifies pedestrian walkways and bicycle transportation facilities.
MPOs are required to create a TIP that identifies congestion management strategies they have adopted, such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities, that demonstrate a systematic approach in addressing current and future transportation demand.
The TIP must identify pedestrian walkway and bicycle transportation facilities in accordance with the fact that bicyclists and pedestrians must be given due consideration in MPOs’ transportation plans. Where appropriate, bicycle transportation facilities and pedestrian walkways must be considered in conjunction with all new construction and reconstruction of transportation facilities, except where bicycle and pedestrian use are not permitted.
Transportation plans and projects must provide due consideration for safety and contiguous routes for bicyclists and pedestrians. Safety considerations include the installation, where appropriate, and maintenance of audible traffic signals and audible signs at street crossings.
Approach
In FFY 2026, the Active Transportation Planning Program, informed by the participation of the Active Transportation Steering Committee and the broader goals of the MPO’s LRTP, will focus on the following tasks:
Convening the Active Transportation Steering Committee (Steering Committee): The Boston Region MPO will continue to leverage its role as a regional convenor to host quarterly meetings of the Active Transportation Steering Committee. This body connects MPO staff, advocates, municipal stakeholders, and academics to exchange information, work through regional bicycle and pedestrian transportation issues, and share the MPO’s active transportation related efforts with members.
Needs and Gaps in the Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Networks: As part of a larger, multiyear effort to develop a regional active transportation plan and building off of previous work done to identify regional gaps, MPO staff will identify and prioritize the needs and assess the gaps for the regional bicycle and pedestrian networks. MPO staff will work with the Steering Committee to identify these needs and gaps as well as provide recommendations and best practices for the improvement of bicycle and pedestrian facilities within the region.
Continuing Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Volume Counts: In the spring FFY 2025, MPO staff began conducting automatic bicycle and pedestrian volume counts in locations across the metropolitan region. MPO staff will continue to work with municipalities to collect data in strategic locations to better inform regional and local planning, including revisiting data collection locations at different times of the year to determine the impact of seasonality on bicycle and pedestrian travel patterns.
FFY 2026 Anticipated Outcomes
Summary of key insights and feedback from the Active Transportation Steering Committee
Identification and prioritization of bicycle and pedestrian needs and gaps with best practice guidance for addressing these
Bicycle and pedestrian volume countsand high-level trends1