Draft Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization
Meeting Minutes

February 5, 2026, Meeting

10:00 AM–12:05 PM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform

David Mohler, Chair, representing Phillip Eng, Interim Secretary of Transportation and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)

Decisions

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) agreed to the following:

• Approve the minutes of the meeting of December 18, 2025
• Approve the minutes of the meeting of January 15, 2025
• Approve the Pedestrian-Scale Lighting Study Work Scope
• Adopt MassDOT’s Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Roadway Safety Performance Targets

Meeting Agenda

1.    Introductions

See attendance on page 7.

2.    Chair’s Report—David Mohler, MassDOT

There was none.

3.    Executive Director’s Report—Tegin Teich, Executive Director, Central Transportation Planning Staff

T. Teich said she attended the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s Annual Conference called Connect 351 and the annual MassDOT Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies meeting.

T. Teich shared that David Knudsen, Chief Data Analyst, would be retiring March 4, 2026, and is celebrating 24 years. D. Knudsen shared his thanks and farewells.

T. Teich stated the next public engagement dashboard update would be in the spring as there is limited new data to report on.

T. Teich previewed the agenda.

Lenard Diggins, Town of Arlington, asked about the MPO’s presence at Connect 351. T. Teich responded only she attended, but perhaps more staff would in upcoming years.

Hanna Switlekoswki, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Advisory Board, shared her appreciation for T. Teich’s attendance at Connect 351.

4.    Public Comments  

There were none.

5.    Committee Chairs’ Reports

Jen Rowe, City of Boston, shared an update on delays under the new readiness guidelines from the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Process, Engagement, and Readiness Committee.

Sam Taylor, MassDOT, said that the Unified Planning Work Program Committee met on January 29, 2026, and discussed FFY 2027 discrete study options.

6.    Community Advisory Council Report—Karl Alexander, Vice-Chair, Community Advisory Council

K. Alexander announced the next community advisory council meeting would take place February 9, 2026, and will be discussing Federal Fiscal Year 2027 discrete study options.

7.    Action Item: Approval of December 18, 2025, MPO Meeting Minutes

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1.     December 18, 2025, Minutes (pdf) (html)

Vote

A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of December 18, 2025, was made by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (Eric Bourassa) and seconded by the City of Boston (J. Rowe). The motion carried.

8.    Action Item: Approval of January 15, 2026, MPO Meeting Minutes

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

2.     January 15, 2026, Minutes (pdf) (html)

Vote

A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of January 15, 2026, was made by the MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the City of Somerville (Tom Bent). The motion carried. The following member abstained: City of Boston (Patrick Hoey).

9.    Action Item: Work Scope: Pedestrian-Scale Lighting Study—Scott Pouder, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

3.     Pedestrian-Scale Lighting Study Work Scope (pdf) (html)

S. Pouder presented the work scope, which has a budget of $50,000 and will last for approximately seven months of work. He explained that properly designed and installed pedestrian-scale lighting can both help define a streetscape and create a sense of place in a community.

Discussion

E. Bourassa asked about the target audience of the study. S. Pouder responded they would look at the guidance and determine best implementation strategies for MassDOT roads and local streets.

Erin Chute, Town of Brookline, shared her support for the study.

Tom Bent, City of Somerville, asked about bringing in lighting professionals for design. S. Pouder responded that MassDOT is working with Michael Baker International. T. Bent also shared that light distribution should be considered in the study.

Steve Olanoff, Town of Norwood, advocated for examining lighting solutions that work for both pedestrians and automobiles.

Chris DiIorio, Town of Hull, said that many towns on the South Shore are concerned with light pollution due to dark sky compliance, and this should be considered in the study.

Meghan Roche, Town of Lexington, shared her appreciation for the study.

Vote

A motion to approve the Pedestrian-Scale Lighting Study Work Scope was made by the MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by T. Bent (City of Somerville). The motion carried.

10.Action Item: Roadway Safety Performance Targets—Priyanka Chapekar, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

4.     Roadway Safety Performance Targets Memo (pdf) (html)

5.     Roadway Safety Performance Targets Appendix (pdf) (html)

P. Chapekar shared a performance-based planning and programming overview, an overview of Roadway Safety Performance Measures and Commonwealth Targets, actions to address roadway safety, future targets and engagements, and requested action to adopt the CY 2026 Roadway Safety Performance Targets.

Discussion

L. Diggins asked how the rates were calculated. P. Chapekar responded they are a function of vehicle-miles traveled (VMT). S. Taylor clarified the rolling averages are seeing a steep decline due to drop offs in 2020 and 2021, which were particularly bad years. D. Mohler explained the lingering effects of the pandemic on VMT and road speeds.

Vote

A motion to adopt MassDOT’s CY 2026 Roadway Safety Performance Targets was made by the MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the Town of Arlington (L. Diggins). The motion carried.

11.Vision Zero Action Plan Update—Ali Kleyman, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

6.     Vision Zero Commitment (pdf) (html)

A. Kleyman reviewed 2025’s safety performance, how regional progress is tracked through Vision Zero, the schedule of the action plan, and projects and strategies that contribute to the plan.

She also previewed the Vision Zero Resolution that will be voted on along with the final Action Plan on March 5, 2026.

12.Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2027 Metropolitan Planning (PL) Funding and 2027–31 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Funding Update—Olivia Saccocia and Ethan Lapointe, MPO Staff

O. Saccocia shared the upcoming PL funding for FFYs 2024–27 that includes $7,777,892 for both MAPC and the MPO.

E. Lapointe explained where regionally prioritized funding comes from, then shared the Boston Region’s allocations for FFYs 2027–31 that includes a net change of
‒$6,818,334. He then summarized how this fiscal constraint corresponds to upcoming project readiness.

13.Disparate Impact and Disproportionate Burden (DI/DB) Analysis for the FFYs 2026-30 TIP—Betsy Harvey Herzfeld, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

7.     DI/DB Memo (pdf) (html)

B. Harvey Herzfeld shared the DI/DB analysis, which examines how projects might affect minority and low-income populations and how the MPO can use this information to select projects to improve outcomes.

She explained various metrics with

·       access to jobs by transit (by low-income populations), access to healthcare by transit (by low-income populations), and access to healthcare (by minority populations) mitigated to date; and

·       access to parks by driving (by low-income populations), travel time by transit (by minority populations), and travel time by driving (by minority populations) not mitigated to date.

Discussion

J. Rowe asked about the tension between traffic calming and restricted destination access and how they are analyzed. B. Harvey Herzfeld responded metrics may be updated to include safety as part of the next Long-Range Transportation Plan.

L. Diggins asked about working with the MBTA to examine the accuracy of the modeled metrics to real life. B. Harvey Herzfeld responded that the MPO is working on improving tools to better model transit network changes.

14.Members’ Items

J. Rowe shared that the Rutherford Avenue project’s stakeholder engagement community meeting will be held on February 11, 2026, at 6:00 PM, at the Warren Prescott School.

D. Mohler announced John Bechard’s retirement from MassDOT. B. Rawson thanked J. Bechard for his service.

15. Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by the MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the Town of Arlington (L. Diggins). The motion carried.

 

Attendance

Members	Representatives and Alternates
At-Large City (City of Everett)	Jay Monty
At-Large City (City of Newton)	David Koses
At-Large Town (Town of Arlington)	Lenard Diggins
At-Large Town (Town of Brookline)	Erin Chute
City of Boston (Boston Planning & Development Agency)
City of Boston (Boston Transportation Department)	Patrick Hoey Jen Rowe
Community Advisory Council	Will Palmer Karl Alexander
Federal Highway Administration
Federal Transit Administration
Inner Core Committee (City of Somerville)	Tom Bent Brad Rawson
Massachusetts Department of Transportation	David Mohler Sam Taylor
MassDOT Highway Division	John Romano
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)	Sandy Johnston
Massachusetts Port Authority
MBTA Advisory Board	Hanna Switlekowski
Metropolitan Area Planning Council	Eric Bourassa
MetroWest Regional Collaborative (City of Framingham)	Dennis Giombetti
MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA)	Jeff Coletti Jim Nee Tyler Terrasi
Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal Coordination (Town of Lexington)	Meghan Roche
North Shore Task Force (City of Beverly)	Darlene Wynne
North Suburban Planning Council (Town of Burlington)
South Shore Coalition (Town of Hull)	Chris DiIorio
South West Advisory Planning Committee (Town of Wrentham)	Rachel Benson
Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood)	Tom O’Rourke Steve Olanoff

 

 

Other Attendees	Affiliation
Aleida Leza
Alex Simone
Andrew Wang	MassDOT
Barbara Lachance	MassDOT District 5
Benjamin Muller	MassDOT
Casey Woodley	Cambridge Systematics
Cheryll-Ann Senior	MassDOT District 5
Erik Hinderlie
John Cashell	Woburn
JR Frey	Hingham
Karin Rose
Michael O’Dowd
Mike Fisher	BL Companies
Nelson Mui	MWRTA
Pete Sutton
Robert Warren
Sheila Page	Wellesley
Srilekha Murthy	BETA Group

 

MPO Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff
Tegin Teich, Executive Director
Adriana Jacobsen
Ali Kleyman
Annette Demchur
Betsy Harvey Herzfeld
Billy Chupp
Carmen Baskauf
David Hong
David Knudsen
Elena Ion
Erin Maguire
Ethan Lapointe
Gina Perille
Hiral Gandhi
Ibbu Quraishi
Jenn Emiko Concannon
Joe Delorto
Kyle Casiglio
Lauren Magee
Olivia Saccocia
Priyanka Chapekar
Rebecca Morgan
Rose McCarron
Sam Taylor
Scott Pouder
Sean Rourke
Shravanthi Gopalan Narayanan
Steven Andrews