Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization 2023 Coordinated Public Transit—Human Services Transportation Plan

Project Manager

Betsy Harvey

Project Principal

Sarah Philbrick

Data Analysts

Stella Jordan

Erin Maguire

Graphics

Adriana Fratini

Ken Dumas

Cover Design

Adriana Fratini

Editor

David Davenport

The preparation of this document was supported

by MPO Combined Planning and §5303 Contract #118967

Central Transportation Planning Staff is

directed by the Boston Region Metropolitan

Planning Organization (MPO). The MPO is composed of

state and regional agencies and authorities, and

local governments.

September 2023

For general inquiries, contact

Central Transportation Planning Staff                                    857.702.3700

State Transportation Building                                                 ctps@ctps.org

Ten Park Plaza, Suite 2150                                                   ctps.org

Boston, Massachusetts 02116                                              

Abstract

The Coordinated Public Transit–Human Services Transportation Plan (Coordinated Plan) documents the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) area’s current transportation providers; unmet transportation needs for seniors (people ages 65 years old and older) and people with disabilities; strategies and actions to meet the unmet needs; and priorities for implementation. The primary purpose of the Coordinated Plan is to improve coordination among transit agencies and other transportation providers to better serve the transportation needs of seniors and people with disabilities. The Coordinated Plan accomplishes this by setting regional priorities for transportation investments and initiatives for human services and public transit coordination.

Executive Summary

            About the Coordinated Plan

The primary purpose of the Coordinated Public Transit–Human Services Transportation Plan (Coordinated Plan) is to improve coordination among transportation providers to better meet the transportation needs of seniors and people with disabilities. It guides applicants in the Boston region in developing their proposals for the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Section 5310, Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Program. In Massachusetts this program is known as the Community Transit Grant Program (CTGP). The CTGP provides funding for projects that meet the transportation needs of seniors and people with disabilities when existing transportation services are unavailable, insufficient, or inappropriate to meet these needs.

As the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the Boston area regional planning association, the Boston Region MPO develops the Coordinated Plan for the 97 municipalities within its region. Figure ES-1 shows the municipalities within the MPO region.

Figure ES-1
Municipalities in the Boston Region MPO

            Applying for the Community Transit Grant Program

In Massachusetts, the state Department of Transportation manages the application process for the CTGP, which is a competitive grant program with an annual application process. Organizations eligible to apply for CTGP funding include local government, private nonprofit organizations, and public transit operators—the Massachusetts Department of Transportation may also use 5310 funding to administer and implement state-prioritized projects. This 2023 update to the Coordinated Plan replaces the MPO’s 2019 Coordinated Plan and should be referred to in CTGP applications beginning with the state fiscal year 2025 application cycle.

To be considered for CTGP funding, projects located within the MPO region must address a transportation need, strategy, or action identified in chapter four of this Coordinated Plan. Table ES-2 (Table 4-2 in chapter 4 in the main document) lists the human service transit needs for the region, as well as strategies and actions to meet those needs; a proposed project that addresses the needs, strategies, or actions that would be considered  “included” in the Coordinated Plan. Given the large and diverse nature of the Boston region, the transportation needs, strategies, and actions described in this Coordinated Plan are broad in order to elicit a range of project proposals that are likely to address unmet human service transportation needs.

Projects eligible for the CTGP include both traditional capital projects and nontraditional projects. Traditional capital projects include the purchase or lease of vehicles for human service transportation that are carried out to meet the special transportation needs of seniors and people with disabilities when public transit is insufficient, inappropriate, or unavailable, as well as support facilities like benches and shelters. Nontraditional projects can include volunteer driver programs, wayfinding, and travel training, among others.

            Existing Public Transit Services

There are a wide variety of public transit services in the Boston region, which can be explored in more detail in this interactive web map. These include

• Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority;
• regional transit authorities;
• Massachusetts Port Authority;
• transportation management associations;
• private, nonprofit services, such as those run by hospitals and universities;
• long-distance transportation providers, such as Amtrak and Peter Pan;
• municipal services; and
• volunteer driver programs.

Public transit—both human service transportation and transit that serves the general population—in the Boston region can often be disconnected, especially outside of the immediate Boston area. Services are run by many different transit providers, with their own fares, eligibility requirements, and service areas. These may or may not be coordinated with other providers with adjacent services, sometimes leading to long wait times, high fares, or simply the inability to reach a particular part of the region at all by public transit. These challenges are magnified in towns further from Boston, as the public transit network is more limited in these areas, despite the often many seniors and people with disabilities who live there. Improved coordination of services and closing the gaps in existing services, through funding such as the CTGP, is critical for addressing the unmet human service transportation needs in the Boston region.

            Boston Region Demographics

Understanding current and future demographics of seniors and people with disabilities helps identify gaps in services and communities where transportation needs may be highest. In the Boston MPO Region, 16 percent of people are 65 or older, while 10 percent have a disability. There is significant overlap between these populations: nearly 50 percent of seniors have a disability. These populations are expected to increase in the coming decades—demographic projections from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute suggest that by 2050, about 20 percent of the population will be aged 65 or older. This is a 37 percent increase over the 2020 population, compared to a 10 percent increase for the total population in the MPO region. While demographic projections for people with disabilities are not available, it is reasonable to assume that this population will increase as the senior population does so.

            Identifying Unmet Transportation Needs, Strategies to Address Them, and Priorities for Implementation

To help identify unmet human service transportation needs, MPO staff conducted extensive public engagement to get input from seniors and people with disabilities, people who work with these populations, and human service transportation providers. Staff used this input to then develop strategies and actions that transportation providers in the region could undertake to address these needs and identified those that might be priorities for the Boston region.

Public engagement was conducted concurrently with engagement for the development of the MPO’s 2023 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), Destination 2050, during which staff collected input about transportation needs and priorities in the region. Most engagement activities during the development of the LRTP and the Coordinated Plan between 2019 and 2023 were conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Staff also conducted several engagement activities focused directly on the Coordinated Plan to collect input. These included meetings with Regional Coordinating Councils; discussions focused on human service transportation needs with the MPO’s Transit Working Group and Advisory Council; a human service transportation coordination workshop with councils on aging, disability commissions, and transit providers; and a survey about human service transportation needs.

The survey—which was distributed to organizations that work with seniors and people with disabilities, human service transportation providers, and the general public, with a focus on getting input from these populations—was conducted in spring of 2023. Respondents were asked to identify their top human service transportation needs and select the top strategies that would help meet those needs. This was asked across four categories: infrastructure, public transit, coordination, and education improvements. The four most commonly selected strategies were

• Provide training opportunities for older adults and people with disabilities to learn which transportation services are available and how to use them (32.7 percent)
• Improve accessibility and comfort at transit stations and stops (with features such as high-level platforms, elevators, escalators, benches, and bus stop shelters) (31.5 percent)
• Ensure that sidewalks and street crossings adjacent to public transit stations and stops are safe and ADA-compliant (30.0 percent)
• Develop collaborations and partnerships between transit service providers, including rideshare companies, to more efficiently meet common needs (29.0 percent)

Respondents were then asked to rank their selected strategies from highest to lowest priority. The two most frequently selected strategies from each category are shown in Figure ES-2—the darkest blue indicates when a strategy was most frequently ranked in that category.

Figure ES-2
Ranking of Strategies to Improve Human Services Transportation

ADA = Americans with Disabilities Act.

            Findings from Public Engagement: Needs and Strategies

Transportation needs and strategies and actions to address them that were identified through public engagement were grouped into the following topic areas:

• Transportation Service Improvements: expansion, maintenance, and overall improvements of public transit services (including new routes, increased frequency, and expanded operating hours)
• Infrastructure Improvements: maintaining existing or constructing new transportation infrastructure
• Vehicle Improvements: improving vehicle accessibility
• Public Engagement and Education: involvement and education of members of the public on transportation services
• Inter-Agency Coordination: coordination between transportation providers
• Housing: consideration of coordinating housing with transportation improvements to provide greater access to human service transportation
• Operating Challenges: improvements in the operation of human service transportation, including customer service, funding, and scheduling
• Eligibility: eligibility requirements for human service transportation
• Affordability: out-of-pocket costs of human service transportation

Table ES-1 shows the needs, strategies, actions, and resources to support them by topic area. 

Table ES-1
Unmet Human Service Transportation Needs and Strategies for Improvement

ADA = Americans with Disabilities Act. COA = councils on aging. LEP = limited English proficiency. RTA = regional transit agency. TNC = transportation network company.

¹ While funding of benches and shelters are allowed under federal 5310 guidelines, as a practice, it is not part of the state Community Transit Grant Program. Other funding opportunities that may support these are listed in table 4-3 or may seek support from their regional transit authority.

            Findings from Public Engagement: Priorities for Implementation

While this Coordinated Plan does not attempt to dictate which strategies and actions should receive funding, it does describe priorities for the Boston region based on how frequently needs were identified during the public engagement process to support the development of applications for CTGP. More than one-half of all comments received spoke of transportation service improvements, with the next most common topic areas infrastructure improvements and inter-agency coordination. Some of the key takeaways from this input include

• Coordinating public transit services. Human service transportation users report the challenge of long, inconvenient transfer times, especially outside of Boston and immediately surrounding communities. In addition, current services have a variety of eligibility requirements and service areas, which result in the creation of service gaps.
• Improving and maintaining transportation accessibility. Many respondents noted inaccessible sidewalks near transit stations, blocked pedestrian facilities during inclement weather events, and limited accessible space on vehicles. Improving the accessibility of general public transit can help to alleviate the demand of paratransit and other human service transportation-specific offerings.
• Expanding service. Respondents indicated a desire for human service transportation services to operate throughout the evening and weekends. In addition, respondents spoke of difficulty accessing medical services in different municipalities than the one in which they reside.
• Improving the customer experience. A recurring theme from engagement is the need to improve driver training and retention strategies, include human service transportation users in planning processes, and create a centralized roster of available services. Respondents spoke of the vulnerability of human service transportation users and advocated expanding driver training to best support seniors and people with disabilities.

This Coordinated Plan updates and replaces the Boston Region MPO’s 2019 Coordinated Plan starting with the state fiscal year 2025 CTGP grant cycle. This document will be updated again in four years in concert with the Boston MPO’s next planned LRTP update, per federal guidance.

Chapter 1—About the Coordinated Plan

The primary purpose of the Coordinated Public Transit–Human Services Transportation Plan (Coordinated Plan) is to improve coordination among Boston region transportation providers to better meet the transportation needs of seniors and people with disabilities. It guides applicants in the Boston region in developing their proposals for the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Section 5310, Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Program. In Massachusetts this program is known as the Community Transit Grant Program (CTGP).

            Applying for the Community Transit GRant Program (Section 5310)

The CTGP provides funding for projects that meet the transportation needs of seniors and people with disabilities when existing transportation services are unavailable, insufficient, or inappropriate to meet these needs. In Massachusetts, the Department of Transportation manages the application process for the CTGP, which is a competitive grant program with an annual application process. Organizations eligible to apply for CTGP funding include states, local government, private nonprofit organizations, and public transit operators.

            Coordinated Plan Requirements

For Boston area projects to be considered for CTGP funding, they must address a transportation need, strategy, or action identified in chapter four of this Coordinated Plan. Table 4-2 (in chapter 4) lists the human service transportation needs for the region, as well as strategies and actions to meet those needs; a proposed project that addresses any of the needs, strategies, and actions identified in that table would be considered to be “included” in the Coordinated Plan. Given the large and diverse nature of the Boston region, the transportation needs, strategies, and actions described in this Coordinated Plan are broad in order to elicit a range of project proposals that are likely to improve unmet human service transportation needs. This 2023 update to the Coordinated Plan replaces the MPO’s 2019 Coordinated Plan and should be referred to in CTGP applications beginning with the state fiscal year 2025 application cycle.

In Massachusetts, the MPOs are responsible for developing the Coordinated Plan for their region. The Boston Region MPO develops the Coordinated Plan for the 97 municipalities within its region. Figure 1-1 shows the municipalities within the MPO region.

Figure 1-1
Municipalities in the Boston Region MPO

Eligible Projects

Projects eligible for the CTGP include both traditional capital projects and nontraditional projects. The FTA defines traditional capital projects as those planned, designed, and carried out to meet the special transportation needs of seniors and people with disabilities when public transit is insufficient, inappropriate, or unavailable. Nontraditional projects are those that exceed transportation services required under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); improve access to fixed-route service and decrease reliance on ADA-complementary paratransit service by people with disabilities; or provide alternatives to public transit that assists seniors and people with disabilities with transportation.

FTA guidance provides some examples of eligible traditional and nontraditional projects:

• Traditional capital projects
• Passenger vehicles
• Passenger facilities such as the purchase and installation of benches and shelters
• Support facilities and equipment, such as computer hardware, dispatch systems, and fare collection systems
• Lease of equipment when a lease is more cost-effective than a purchase
• Acquisition of transportation services under a contract, lease, or other arrangement
• Mobility management and coordination programs among public transit providers
• Capital activities to support ADA-complementary paratransit service, if the service is provided by an eligible recipient or subrecipient
• Nontraditional projects
• Travel training for passengers
• Volunteer driver programs
• Accessibility improvements to transit stations beyond those required
• Wayfinding improvements
• The incremental cost of providing same-day or door-to-door service
• Vehicles that support accessible ridesharing, taxi, and/or vanpooling programs
• Programs that support administration and expenses related to voucher programs

            2023 Coordinated Plan Content

In keeping with FTA guidance, this Coordinated Plan includes the following components:

• Assessment of available services and identification of current transportation providers (public, private, and nonprofit), which is shown in the accompanying online map
• Identification of transportation needs for people with disabilities and seniors
• Strategies, activities, and possible projects to address the identified needs, gaps between current services and needs, and opportunities to achieve efficiencies in service delivery
• Priorities for implementation based on available resources, time, and feasibility

Chapter 2—Existing Transportation Services

This chapter describes the transportation services that operate in the Boston region. An online map of these services can be found here.

            Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)

The MBTA is the primary transit provider in the Boston region. It directly operates or hires contractors to operate heavy rail, rapid transit, light rail, bus rapid transit, local and express bus, ferry, and paratransit services.

            Rapid Transit

The MBTA rapid transit system serves 125 stations on four lines: the Red Line (including the Mattapan Trolley), the Orange Line, the Blue Line, and the Green Lines.

• Red Line—The Red Line has 22 stations on its two branches: the Ashmont Branch between Alewife Station, in North Cambridge, and Ashmont Station in Dorchester, and the Braintree Branch between Alewife Station and Braintree Station in Braintree. All stations are accessible. The Red Line directly serves the municipalities of Cambridge, Somerville, Boston, Quincy, and Braintree.

The Mattapan Trolley is an extension of the Red Line and connects Ashmont Station with stations through Dorchester and a portion of the town of Milton, with the terminus in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston. Seven of the line’s eight stations are accessible.

• Orange Line—The Orange Line operates between Oak Grove Station, in Malden, and the Forest Hills Station in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Boston. All of its 20 stations are accessible. It directly serves the municipalities of Boston, Malden, Medford, and Somerville.
• Blue Line—The Blue Line operates between Wonderland Station in Revere and Bowdoin Station in downtown Boston. It serves 12 stations, 11 of which are accessible. It directly serves the municipalities of Revere and Boston.
• Green Line—The Green Line is a light rail line that consists of four branches, the B, C, D, and E. Combined, there are 70 stops and stations on the Green Line. Forty-one of them are accessible. The Green Line serves Cambridge, Boston, Brookline, Somerville, Medford, and Newton.

Several accessibility projects are in progress. On the Green Line, accessibility improvements are being made to Hynes, Newton Highlands, and Symphony Stations.

            Bus Rapid Transit

The Silver Line (SL) consists of five bus rapid transit routes. SL1 serves downtown Boston, the Seaport, and Boston Logan International Airport. SL2 connects South Station and the Seaport. SL3 connects South Station to the Airport, East Boston, and Chelsea. SL4 and SL5 both serve downtown Boston, the South End, and Roxbury. MBTA is currently exploring Silver Line extension alternatives that would extend SL3 service to Everett, Kendall Square, and North Station.

            Bus

The MBTA has more than 145 bus routes and extends from Boston to just beyond Interstate 95. Three municipalities that are served by MBTA buses are not in the MPO region—Avon, Billerica, and Brockton. Forty-seven municipalities are in the MPO region but are not served by MBTA buses—many are served instead by other regional transit authorities. All MBTA buses are accessible. Close to the urban core, buses provide crosstown service and feeder service to rapid transit stations. Buses operating outside of the urban core provide local service, feeder service to rapid transit and some commuter rail branches, and express service to Boston.

The MBTA is redesigning its bus network through the Bus Network Redesign process. The project is currently in its planning phase, and many bus routes are expected to change as the project is implemented in the coming years.

            Commuter Rail

The MBTA’s commuter rail system extends beyond the MPO’s boundary. It consists of 12 radial lines, which serve municipalities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. There is also seasonal service to Foxborough for special events, to Wachusett Mountain via the Fitchburg Line in the winter, and weekend service to Hyannis on the Middleborough/Lakeville Line during the summer. Forty-nine municipalities in the MPO region have a commuter rail station. There are 141 commuter rail stations, 111 of which are accessible. Several accessibility improvements are under construction, including Auburndale, West Newton, Newtonville, Lynn, Natick Center, South Attleboro, Winchester Center, and Worcester Union stations. South Coast Rail Phase 1 is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in late 2023—it will connect Fall River, Taunton, and New Bedford to Boston.

            Commuter Ferry

Ferry services link downtown Boston to Charlestown, East Boston, Quincy, Logan Airport, Lynn, Winthrop, Hingham, and Hull. The East Boston ferry is currently a seasonal pilot service. The Lynn ferry service is seasonal as well.

            Paratransit

The RIDE is MBTA’s door-to-door, shared-ride, paratransit service for people who have a disability that prevents them from using the agency’s fixed-route services. The RIDE is an advance-request service that operates vans and sedans in 58 municipalities, generally between 5:00 AM and 1:00 AM. The MBTA also offers The RIDE Flex, which is provided by Uber and Lyft. This program provides more flexible booking options, including same-day trips.

            Regional Transit Authorities

            Cape Ann Transit Authority (CATA)

CATA serves the towns of Gloucester and Rockport, and provides additional service to Danvers, Essex, and Ipswich. CATA’s fixed-route service consists of nine routes. CATA’s dial-a-ride service provides door-to-door transportation for people 60 years of age and older and adults who have a disability. This service is available in Gloucester and Rockport, and for organized trips outside of the Cape Ann region. CATA service operates entirely within the MPO region.

            Greater Attleboro-Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA)

GATRA operates fixed-route service in Attleboro, Taunton, Bellingham, Berkley, Carver, Dighton, Duxbury, Foxborough, Franklin, Hanover, Kingston, Lakeville, Mansfield, Marshfield, Medway, Middleborough, Norfolk, North Attleboro, Norton, Pembroke, Plainville, Plymouth, Plympton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Scituate, Seekonk, Wareham, and Wrentham. Bellingham, Foxborough, Medway, Marshfield, Norfolk, Scituate, Wareham, and Wrentham are in the MPO region. The agency operates 35 routes (not including route variations). GATRA provides dial-a-ride service for people with disabilities, and for seniors ages 60 years and older.

            MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA)

MWRTA operates 17 fixed-route services, five commuter shuttles, and CatchConnect, an on-demand micro-transit service in Wellesley, Hudson, and Framingham/Natick. It also provides demand response services for seniors and people with disabilities, which includes American with Disabilities Act (ADA) paratransit service, in Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, and Dover. MWRTA serves the municipalities of Ashland, Dover, Framingham, Holliston, Hopedale, Hopkinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Milford, Natick, Sherborn, Southborough, Sudbury, Wayland, Wellesley, and Weston.

            Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART)

MART provides public transportation to 24 municipalities in north-central Massachusetts; included in those municipalities are Stow, Bolton, Boxborough, and Littleton, which are also within the MPO region. It operates 13 local bus routes, five regional bus routes, and shuttles that provide connections to Boston, Worcester, and on-demand to Devens. ADA-eligible paratransit service is available in the same area served by fixed-route service. MART also provides councils on aging (COA) services in all its member communities.

            Brockton Area Transit (BAT)

BAT provides service to the South Shore and Greater Brockton area. Of the 11 municipalities that are served by BAT, one is in the MPO region (Rockland). BAT also runs a fixed-route bus service from Brockton to Ashmont Station on the Red Line.

            Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA)

LRTA serves 19 routes in 14 municipalities, three of which are in the MPO region—Acton, Maynard, and Carlisle. LRTA also provides curb-to-curb ADA paratransit service to people with disabilities and to seniors within the LRTA service area who are 60 years of age or older.

            Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Agency (MVRTA)

MVRTA serves 13 municipalities. Although none of them are in the Boston region, it does provide medical transportation from the MVRTA services area to the Lahey Clinic in Peabody and Boston medical facilities.  

            Massachusets Port Authority (Massport)

Massport operates several transit services to the port and airport facilities that the agency operates. Within the Boston region, these include the following services:

• Logan Express Bus: Provides service between Boston Logan International Airport and five locations—Back Bay in Boston, Braintree, Framingham, Peabody, and Woburn. All buses are accessible.
• Logan Shuttle: Complimentary shuttle bus service between airline terminals, the Blue Line’s Airport Station, the Water Transportation Dock, Rental Car Center, and parking garages. All buses are accessible.

            Transportation Management Associations (TMA)

A TMA is a membership-based coalition of businesses, universities and other institutions, and municipalities that work together to provide transportation solutions for commuters. The transit services listed below are funded by each TMA and provide transportation for employees of the TMA membership and sometimes for members of the public. Only TMAs that provide their own transit services are listed below.

            Alewife TMA

The Alewife TMA serves the area around Alewife Station in Cambridge. The TMA operates two shuttles—the Alewife Station Loop Shuttle, which connects area businesses and residences with Alewife Station and a shuttle between Alewife Station and The Royal Belmont and Discovery Park.

            Charles River TMA

The Charles River TMA serves Cambridge-area residents and businesses. The TMA operates the EZRide Shuttle, which connects North Station to the Cambridgeport and Kendall Square neighborhoods in Cambridge.

            Crosstown Connect (CTC)

CTC serves the municipalities of Westford, Littleton, Acton, Concord, Maynard, Sudbury, and Westford. CTC provides the following transit services:

• Commuter Rail Shuttles: Two services connect to the South Acton Commuter Rail Station. One service connects several employers with the South Acton Commuter Rail Stations (temporarily out of service as of summer 2023), and one service connects downtown Maynard and Acton with the South Acton Commuter Rail Station.
• COA Vans: CTC operates COA vans for Acton, Littleton, and Maynard. They are open to people 60 years of age and older.
• MinuteVan Dial-A-Ride: Serves Acton, Boxborough, Littleton, Maynard, medical facilities in Concord, and other select locations and is open to all riders ages 12 years and older. The MinuteVan may be requested for any purpose. All vehicles are accessible.
• Road Runner: A curb-to-curb shared van open to all people ages 60 and older and people with disabilities within Acton, Littleton, and Maynard.

            Longwood Collective (formerly known as Medical Academic and Scientific Community Organization)

Longwood Collective serves medical and science-related businesses and their employees in the Longwood Medical Area (LMA) of Boston. Longwood Collective operates seven shuttles that serve employees who work in the LMA. Most require passengers to be employees of Longwood Collective member institutions. Two are park-and-ride shuttles (Fenway and Renaissance Garage), three connect to transit stations (JFK/UMass Station, Midday and Evening Ruggles-JFK combo, and Ruggles Station), and two operate between employers (Landmark and M2 Cambridge-Boston).

            Middlesex 3 TMA

Middlesex 3 TMA serves nine municipalities; Lexington, Bedford, and Burlington are within the Boston MPO region. One shuttle provides reverse-commute commuter service from Alewife and Haymarket stations with employers in Bedford and Billerica.

            Neponset Valley TMA

The Neponset Valley TMA serves the municipalities of Canton, Dedham, Foxborough, Norwood, and Westwood. It operates the following services:

• Royall Street Shuttle—Commuter Rail: Serves the Route 128 commuter rail station and employees of Boston Mutual, Goodbaby, Point32Health, and tenant of 250 Royall Street.
• Royall Street Shuttle—Red Line: Serves the Red Line Stations of Quincy Adams, Mattapan, and Ashmont, and the employees of Boston Mutual, Goodbaby, Point32Health, and tenants of 250 Royall.
• Point32Health Shuttle: Serves the MBTA Red Line Stations of Quincy Adams, Mattapan, and Ashmont and employees of Point32Health.
• University Avenue Shuttle: Serves only employees of Eversource and the tenants of 690 Canton Street and 101 Station Drive, connecting them to the 128 Commuter Rail Station.

            Route 128 Business Council

The Route 128 Business Council provides employee shuttles for member businesses. They serve municipalities along the Route 128 corridor. Seven shuttles connect businesses with the Alewife Station on the Red Line, two shuttles connect residents with Waltham Center, and one shuttle connects Needham Crossing to the Newton Highlands Station on the Green Line.

            Watertown TMA

Watertown TMA operates two shuttles, the WATConnector—Arsenal Street, which connects Harvard Square Station on the Red Line to employers in Watertown, and WATConnector—Pleasant Street, which connects Watertown Square and Harvard Square.

            Private Nonprofit services

Some nonprofit organizations and local private institutions, such as universities and hospitals, also operate transit services in the region. They typically operate shuttles specifically for their employees and/or patients or students between their various campuses and/or nearby neighborhoods. Smaller services also provide local transportation for seniors or people with disabilities. Private for-profit senior care companies and taxi companies may also provide transportation around the region. While these are too numerous to list here, http://www.massridematch.org provides information about these and other transportation providers.

Medical Transportation for Patients or Employees

• Boston Medical Center (BMC)
• For its patients, BMC provides the HealthNet Shuttle, which connects the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center with BMC.
• For faculty, staff, and students, BMC operates the following shuttles
• Albany Street Shuttle runs between the 610 Albany Street Garage and the 710 Albany Street Garage, as well as to Crosstown Center and 801 Albany Street by request
• Ruggles Station Shuttle connects BMC with Ruggles Station on the Orange Line
• Andrew Station Shuttle connects BMC with Andrew Station on the Red Line and the Newmarket Commuter Rail Station on the Fairmount Line.
• Boston University Shuttle Bus: the 1BU route connects the BU Charles River and Medical Campuses
• Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA): CHA provides free shuttles between Cambridge and Sommerville Hospital Campuses and several CHA primary care locations. As of September 2023, only staff were permitted to use the shuttles due to COVID-19 restrictions.
• Lemuel Shattuck Hospital: The Lemuel Shattuck Hospital operates a shuttle from Forest Hills Station on the Orange Line to the hospital.
• McLean Hospital: McLean Hospital operates a shuttle for patients between its campus in Belmont and the commuter rail station at Waverly Square in Belmont.
• Partners Healthcare: Partners Healthcare operates 20 shuttles for visitors, patients, and employees of its medical facilities in and around Boston. Some shuttles serve visitors and patients, while others only serve employees. The shuttles serve Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and affiliated community health centers, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

            Higher Education Shuttles Services

• Babson College: Babson operates a shuttle that runs between Babson, Wellesley, and Olin Colleges.
• Bentley College: Bentley operates a shuttle that runs between Bentley, Waverly Square, and Harvard Square.
• Boston College: Boston College operates several shuttles, connecting the main campus to Cleveland Circle Station on the Green Line, the Boston College Newton Campus, and Brighton.
• Boston University: Boston University operates four shuttles: 1BU (connects the Charles River and Medical Campuses), Comm Ave (serves the Commonwealth Avenue Corridor on the Charles River Campus), Night (provides evening and late-night service on the Charles River and Fenway Campuses), and Fenway (connects the Fenway Campus to the Charles River Campus).
• Brandeis University: Brandeis University operates four shuttles connecting the university to various neighborhoods in Waltham, the Waltham Commuter Rail Station, and Harvard Square in Cambridge.
• Bunker Hill Community College: Bunker Hill Community College operates a shuttle connecting its Charlestown and Chelsea Campus locations.
• Curry College: Curry College operates two shuttles, one from campus to University Avenue in Westwood, and one from the main campus in Milton to Mattapan station.
• Endicott College: Endicott College operates a shuttle from the main campus to Beverly.
• Harvard University: Harvard University runs 11 intercampus shuttles, an on-demand evening van service, and an on-demand van service for people with disabilities.
• Lasell University: Lasell University operates a shuttle from the campus in Newton to Riverside station.
• Lesley University: Lesley University operates intercampus shuttle services.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): MIT operates one campus shuttle; one that connects the campus to Boston; one that connects the campus to North Station and Lechmere Station on the Green Line; a shuttle to and from Boston Logan International Airport; weekend shuttles to several major grocery stores; a shuttle to MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington; a shuttle to Wellesley Colleges; and one that connects the Harvard Medical School in the LMA to Harvard Square.
• Middlesex Community College: Middlesex Community College operates a shuttle connecting its Lowell and Bedford campuses.
• Regis College: Regis College operates a shuttle from the campus to the Natick mall and Riverside Station.
• Salem State University: Salem State University operates an intra-campus shuttle and a shuttle to downtown Salem.
• Tufts University: Tufts University operates a shuttle between the Medford Campus and School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and a shuttle between the Medford Campus and Davis Square in Somerville.
• University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston): UMass Boston operates a shuttle between the campus and the JFK/UMass Station on the Red Line.
• Wellesley College: Wellesley operates the Exchange Bus service to MIT; a shuttle that connects Wellesley and Cambridge; and the Natick Movie-Mall Shuttle.

            Long-Distance Transit Providers

Many private, for-profit transit operators serve the Boston region. The following carriers make stops in the Boston region:

• Amtrak: Provides daily rail service to Framingham, Springfield, and points west from Boston’s South Station on its Lake Shore Limited line. The Downeaster line runs multiple times a day to Woburn, Haverhill, and points north from Boston’s North Station.
• Boston Express: Provides commuter bus service to South Station and Boston Logan International Airport, from Concord, NH, with stops in Manchester, NH, North Londonderry, NH, and Salem, NH. It also provides service to South Station and Boston Logan International Airport from Manchester, NH, with stops in Nashua, NH, and Tyngsborough, MA.
• C&J: C&J offers bus service to Boston Logan International Airport from Portsmouth, NH, with stops in Seabrook, NH. It also offers bus service to Boston’s South Station from Portsmouth, NH, with stops in Seabrook, NH, and Dover, NH.
• Concord Coach Lines: Provides bus service from Boston’s Logan Airport and South Station to points in New Hampshire and Maine.
• Dartmouth Coach: Provides commuter bus service from Hanover, NH, to South Station and Boston Logan International Airport, with stops in Lebanon, NH, and New London, NH.
• Greyhound Lines: Offers long-distance bus service between Boston’s South Station and Logan Airport and many points north, south, and west.
• Peter Pan Bus Lines: Provides long-distance bus service between Boston and many cities, including Hartford, CT, Fall River, Hyannis, New Bedford, Springfield, and Woods Hole. It also provides service to Boston Logan International Airport.
• Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Company: Provides commuter bus service from Boston’s Logan Airport and South Station to Hyannis, with stops in Barnstable, Sagamore, Plymouth, and Rockland. There is also service from Woods Hole with stops in Falmouth.
• Yankee Line: Provides commuter bus service from Acton and Concord to Copley Square in Boston.

            Municipal Services

Many municipalities offer transportation services for seniors and/or people with disabilities. Municipal COAs provide support services to seniors, families, and caregivers, and some offer transportation services for these populations. The Massachusetts COA maintains an online COA directory. Some municipalities and/or RTAs also offer non-age restricted shuttle services, such as those funded through the MPO’s Community Connections Program. These include

• Newton’s NewMo is an on-demand service that serves Newton, as well as several nearby medical destinations, regardless of trip purpose.
• Canton’s Royall Street Shuttle is a fixed-route shuttle that serves Route 138 employment centers and major transit hubs between the Ashmont MBTA station and Royall Street in Canton.
• CATA On Demand provides on-demand shuttle services within the CATA region, regardless of trip purpose.
• MWTRA CATCH Connect is a curb-to-curb microtransit shuttle that serves Wellesley, downtown Framingham, downtown Natick, the Golden Triangle retail area, and areas of Hudson and Marlborough that connect to MWRTA bus route 15, regardless of trip purpose.
• Pleasant Street Shuttle is a fixed-route shuttle that provides peak-hour shuttle services in Watertown to transit hubs in Watertown and Cambridge.

            Volunteer Driver Programs

Some COAs and nonprofit human service organizations also operate volunteer driver programs, such as those listed below.

• Municipal Volunteer Programs: Some municipalities coordinate programs for volunteers to provide transportation for seniors and people with disabilities. Find your local COA for more information.
• Mystic Valley Elder Services: Operates TRIP Metro North, a free passenger-controlled program for seniors and people with disabilities. Passengers make driving arrangements with whomever they choose; those drivers are reimbursed monthly for mileage. The program serves residents of Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, North Reading, Reading, Revere, Stoneham, Wakefield, and Winthrop.
• RSVP Rides for Veterans: Volunteers provide rides for veterans to medical appointments and other trips. In the MPO region, it serves Suffolk, Norfolk, and Middlesex, among other counties in Massachusetts.
• SeniorCare: volunteer medical transportation for people ages 60 and older within Beverly, Essex, Gloucester, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Rockport, Topsfield, and Wenham.

Public transit in the Boston region—both human service transportation and transit that serves the general population—is run by many different providers and because of that can often be fragmented, especially outside of the immediate Boston area. Each transit provider has its own fares, eligibility requirements, and service areas. These may or may not be coordinated with other providers with adjacent services, sometimes leading to long wait times, high fares, or simply the inability to reach a particular part of the region at all by public transit. These challenges are magnified in towns further from Boston, as the public transit network is more limited in these areas, despite the many seniors and people with disabilities who live in these areas.

Meanwhile, since the 2019 Coordinated Plan, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected transit services throughout the region. Some services, such as volunteer programs, were suspended, while others, such as some fixed-r services, were reduced. Ridership on many services has yet to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, and many transit providers are struggling to make up for the lost income.

Improved coordination of services between providers and closing the gaps in existing services, through funding such as the CTGP, is a critical strategy for both reducing costs by resource sharing between providers and reducing route duplication, and for addressing the many challenges riders face due to a fragmented transit network. This will be increasingly important as the population ages over the coming years, which is described in the next chapter. The CTGP is one resource to help transit providers improve coordination; chapter four describes strategies to meet these and other human service transportation challenges, as well as other resources to support human service transportation in the Boston region.

Chapter 3—Demographic Analyses

This chapter provides demographic data about seniors and people with disabilities in the Boston region using data from the US Census Bureau, as well demographic projections developed by the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Donahue Institute and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC).

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) guidance for the 5310 Program defines a senior as an individual who is 65 years old or older. In the Boston region, 546,334 people are seniors, about 16 percent of the population. Figure 3-1 shows the population ages 65 years and older, by municipality. Essex has the fewest number of seniors, while Boston has the most. Figure 3-2 shows the percent of the population in each municipality who are seniors. Rockport has the most with 35.2 percent and Somerville has the least with 9.9 percent.

Figure 3-1
Population Ages 65 and Older, by Municipality

Figure 3-2
Percent of the Population Ages 65 and Older, by Municipality

For Placement Only.

In the Boston Region, about 337,688 people, or 10 percent of the population, reported having a disability on the 2017–21 American Community Survey.1 Figure 3-3 shows the estimated number of people in each municipality who report having a disability. Sherborn has the fewest number of people with disabilities and Boston has the most. Sherborn also has the lowest percentage, with three percent, while Lynn and Peabody have the highest, with 15 percent. Figure 3-4 shows the percent of the population in each municipality that has a disability.

Figure 3-3
Population with Disabilities, by Municipality

For Placement Only.

Figure 3-4
Percent of the Population with Disabilities, by Municipality

For Placement Only.

Seniors in the Boston region are more likely than the rest of the population to have a disability. About 45 percent of seniors have a disability, the highest of any age cohort. Table 3-1 shows the MPO population with disabilities broken out by age cohort.

Table 3-1
Boston Region MPO Population with Disabilities by Age Cohort

For Placement Only.

* Disability status is determined for the noninstitutionalized population.

MPO = metropolitan planning organization.

Source: 2017–21 American Community Survey and 2020 Decennial Census.

Demographic projections completed for Destination 2050, the MPO’s Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) by the UMass Donahue Institute and MAPC, show that the percentage of the population 65 years and older is projected to increase about 37 percent between 2020 and 2050. That compares with about nine percent for the population overall. Figure 3-5 shows the projected change in population for each age cohort.

Figure 3-5
Population Projections by Age Cohort, 2020 through 2050

Source: University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.

Demographic projections are not available for people with disabilities. However, as shown in Table 3-1, nearly one-half of seniors have a disability. With a projected increase in the percent of the population in this age cohort, the share of the population with disabilities will likely increase as well. These data suggest that human service transportation must continue to expand in the Boston region and address existing gaps and needs to meet the demand of the region’s aging population.

Chapter 4—Identifying Unmet Transportation Needs, Strategies to Address Them, and Priorities for Implementation

Throughout the development of the Coordinated Plan, Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staff engaged stakeholders and members of the public, including seniors and people with disabilities, nonprofit human service organizations, and transportation providers, to gather feedback about the transportation needs of seniors and people with disabilities and discuss potential strategies to address those needs. This chapter describes the public engagement activities conducted and the key findings that led to the identification of unmet needs, strategies, and priorities for mobility improvements for seniors and people with disabilities in the Boston region.

            Purpose and Approach to Public Engagement

Public engagement was conducted concurrently with engagement for the development of the MPO’s 2023 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), Destination 2050, during which staff collected input about transportation needs and priorities in the region. Most engagement activities during the development of the LRTP and the Coordinated Plan between 2019 and 2023 were conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.² This included meetings with subregional councils that are coordinated by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) that bring interested parties together to discuss planning issues in their subregion;³ meetings of the MPO’s Transit Working Group⁴ and Regional Transportation Advisory Council (Advisory Council),⁵ independent forums that bring together varied perspectives on transportation from throughout the region to inform the MPO’s work; and scenario planning focus groups with stakeholders representing advocacy and community-based organizations as well as academic and business institutions.⁶ Staff also conducted several surveys during the development of the LRTP and Coordinated Plan, including a visioning survey that assessed public priorities for the future of the region’s transportation system.

Staff also conducted several engagement activities focused directly on the Coordinated Plan, seeking additional perspectives from seniors and people with disabilities, and transit providers and institutions who serve them. Staff visited several Regional Coordinating Councils’ (RCC) meetings during the development of the Coordinated Plan, including meetings of the Boston North RCC, the Blue Hills RCC, and the Neponset Valley RCC. ⁷ Staff also held discussions focused specifically on the Coordinated Plan and human services transportation needs with the Transit Working Group and the Advisory Council, and hosted a human services transportation coordination workshop with municipal Councils on Aging (COA), Disability Commissions, and other transit providers, with breakout sessions that focused on various coordination topics and transportation challenges specific to different geographic regions within the MPO area.

To supplement these targeted engagement activities and gather a broader range of input from members of the public, staff also deployed a survey that asked about transportation needs, and strategies to meet those needs, for seniors and people with disabilities, with several questions focused on which strategies to prioritize. The survey was distributed broadly through the MPO’s email and social media channels, and partner organizations distributed it to their contacts.⁸

In addition to the survey, staff received 293 comments related to human services transportation throughout the public engagement process. Table 4-1 provides a comprehensive list of engagement activities and input sources that informed the development of the Coordinated Plan.

Table 4-1
Coordinated Plan Feedback Sources

LRTP = Long-Range Transportation Plan. MAPC = Metropolitan Area Planning Council. RCC = Regional Coordinating Council. TIP = Transportation Improvement Program. UPWP = Unified Planning Work Program.

            Transportation Needs Survey

In spring of 2023, MPO staff conducted a survey to better understand the transportation needs of seniors and people with disabilities and to identify strategies and actions that could address these needs. (See Appendix A for the survey questionnaire.) Staff received more than 300 responses.

            Respondent Demographics

Most survey responses came from the general public. Figure 4-1 shows the affiliation of survey respondents. Approximately 47 percent of the respondents were members of the general public, followed by 17 percent affiliated with a COA, and 11 percent affiliated with another form of municipal government.

Figure 4-1
Affiliation of Survey Respondents

Approximately 31 percent of respondents self-identified as having a disability, while 44 percent of respondents said they are 65 years of age or older. Both response rates are greater than the MPO region population average of 10 and 16 percent, respectively.

Twenty percent of respondents said they identify as a race or ethnicity other than white. Women accounted for 63 percent of survey respondents, while men represented 25 percent, non-binary people represented one percent of respondents, and 12 percent of respondents chose not to answer. Furthermore, approximately eight percent of respondents indicated having an income level that falls below the MPO’s low-income threshold.

            Survey Results

Survey respondents were asked to select two strategies that would improve mobility most effectively from four categories: infrastructure, public transit, coordination, and education improvements. Figures 4-2 through 4-5 show the distribution of respondents’ selections in each of the four categories. The size of each box in the figures represents the number of times it was selected as a strategy to prioritize by survey respondents.

Figure 4-2
Priorities for Infrastructure Improvements

Figure 4-3
Priorities for Public Transit Improvements

Figure 4-4
Priorities for Coordination Improvements

Figure 4-5
Priorities for Education Improvements

Across the four categories, the four most commonly selected strategies were

1. Provide training opportunities for older adults and people with disabilities to learn which transportation services are available and how to use them (32.7 percent)
2. Improve accessibility and comfort at transit stations and stops (with features such as high-level platforms, elevators, escalators, benches, and bus stop shelters) (31.5 percent)
3. Ensure that sidewalks and street crossings adjacent to public transit stations and stops are safe and ADA-compliant (30.0 percent)
4. Develop collaborations and partnerships between transit service providers, including rideshare companies, to more efficiently meet common needs (29.0 percent)

Respondents were asked to rank their selected strategies from highest to lowest priority. The two most frequently selected strategies from each category are shown in Figure 4-6—the darkest blue indicates when a strategy was most frequently ranked in that category.

Figure 4-6
Ranking of Strategies to Improve Human Services Transportation

Respondents consistently ranked improving accessibility and comfort at transit stations and stops as their top priority, with 47 percent of respondents indicating this as their top priority. Figure 4-7 shows the self-reported zip code of survey respondents who indicated access and comfort as their top priority. Trends show that access and comfort is particularly notable in municipalities near the Inner Core that are along commuter rail lines. There are minimal geographic trends that arise from the remaining priority areas. Improvements to ensure sidewalk and street crossings comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, expanding existing transit service schedules throughout the day and on weekends, and providing new services for municipalities with limited to no transit service were frequently noted as other top priorities. While some people indicated that advertising and education are important strategies, these strategies were ranked low compared to infrastructure and public transportation improvements.

Figure 4-7
Zip Code of Respondents with “Improve Access and Comfort” as Top Priority

Findings from Public Engagement: Needs and Strategies

This section summarizes the transportation needs of seniors and people with disabilities identified through public engagement efforts, in addition to strategies and actions that were identified to address those needs. They were grouped into the following topic areas:

• Transportation Service Improvements: expansion, maintenance, and overall improvements of public transit services (including new routes, increased frequency, and expanded operating hours)
• Infrastructure Improvements: maintaining existing or constructing new transportation infrastructure
• Vehicle Improvements: improving vehicle accessibility
• Public Engagement and Education: engaging seniors and people with disabilities in transportation decision-making and education of members of the public on transportation services
• Inter-Agency Coordination: coordination between transportation providers
• Housing: consideration of coordinating housing with transportation improvements to provide greater access to human services transportation
• Operating Challenges: improvements in the operation of human service transportation, including customer service, funding, and scheduling
• Eligibility: eligibility requirements for human service transportation
• Affordability: out-of-pocket costs of human service transportation

Table 4-2 shows the needs, strategies, actions, and resources to support them by topic area. 

Table 4-2
Unmet Human Service Transportation Needs and Strategies for Improvement

ADA = Americans with Disabilities Act. COA = councils on aging. LEP = limited English proficiency. RTA = regional transit agency. TNC = transportation network company.

¹ While funding of benches and shelters are allowed under federal 5310 guidelines, as a practice, it is not part of the state Community Transit Grant Program. Other funding opportunities that may support these are listed in table 4-3 or may seek support from their regional transit authority.

Findings from Public Engagement: Priorities for Implementation

There is a wide variety of unmet transportation needs for seniors and people with disabilities. Funding is limited, and therefore it’s necessary to prioritize investments thoughtfully. This Coordinated Plan does not attempt to dictate which strategies and actions should receive funding. Rather, it describes priorities for the Boston region based on how frequently needs were identified during the public engagement process as a way for transportation providers to develop Community Transit Grant Program (CTGP) applications. Public feedback indicated an ongoing need to improve infrastructure and general operations of human service transportation, while also improving the customer experience.

Figure 4-7 shows distribution of comment topics submitted to MPO staff. More than one-half of all comments received spoke of transportation service improvements, with the next most common topic areas being infrastructure improvements and inter-agency coordination.     

Figure 4-8
Public Engagement Comment Topic Area

The priorities listed below could help improve the coordination and implementation of transportation services for seniors and people with disabilities in a cost-effective manner, while expanding transportation options.

• Coordinating public transit services. A recurring theme was the need to coordinate available transportation services across municipal and regional transit agency boundaries. human service transportation users report challenges of long, inconvenient transfer times. This is particularly evident in municipalities outside of the Inner Core, where public transit services are limited. In addition, current services have a variety of eligibility requirements and service areas, which result in the creation of unknown service gaps, both in who qualifies and geographically. Feedback indicated a desire for a regional approach to human service transportation to be explored, including a comprehensive mapping of transit services in the region and dispatch service.
• Improving and maintaining transportation accessibility. Many respondents noted inaccessible sidewalks near transit stations, blocked pedestrian facilities during inclement weather events, and limited accessible space on vehicles. Increasing the accessibility of general public transit can help to alleviate the demand for paratransit and other human service transportation-specific offerings.
• Expanding service. Respondents indicated a desire for human service transportation services to operate throughout the evening and weekends. In addition, respondents spoke of difficulty accessing medical services in municipalities other than the one they reside in. This indicates a need to prioritize the creation of new transit routes throughout the region.
• Improving the customer experience. A recurring theme from engagement is the need to improve driver training and retention strategies, include human service transportation users in the planning process, and create a centralized roster of available services. Respondents spoke of the vulnerability of human service transportation users and advocated expanding driver training to best support seniors and people with disabilities. Commenters noted that many users of human service transportation are immunocompromised and encourage the continued implementation of masking and surface disinfection policies. Other commenters shared anecdotes of moments of conflict when attempting to use the reserved priority seating on fixed-route services. One comment suggested connecting drivers with the MBTA’s Riders’ Transportation Access Group to begin this dialogue.

There are many resources in the Boston region that can help transportation providers implement these strategies. Table 4-3 presents a list of some of the state and federal funding sources available from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the MPO, and MAPC that could support the implementation of the strategies and actions listed in this chapter, in addition to the CTGP. Although not a comprehensive list, it provides a resource for transportation providers, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations. Some sources provide funding directly for capital, operating, and/or mobility management costs, while others provide technical assistance for the development of project ideas.

Table 4-3
Funding Resources

ADA = Americas with Disabilities Act. CIP = Capital Investment Program. MAPC = Metropolitan Area Planning Council. MassDOT = Massachusetts Department of Transportation. MPO = metropolitan planning organization. RTA = regional transit agency. SOV = single-occupancy vehicle. TMA = transportation management association.

Chapter 5—Conclusion

The Coordinated Plan provides information about existing transportation options in the region, transportation needs of seniors and people with disabilities, and strategies to address these needs and support applications for Federal Transit Administration’s Section 5310 program, known in Massachusetts as the Community Transit Grant Program (CTGP). Overall, the public engagement undertaken to support the development of the Coordinated Plan highlighted a need for improved coordination of transit services to expand service for seniors and people with disabilities, especially as the population of the region ages, as well as reducing redundant services in the region and improving transportation infrastructure as key priorities.

This 2023 update to the Coordinated Plan replaces the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) 2019 Coordinated Plan starting with the state fiscal year 2025 CTGP grant cycle. This document will be updated again in four years in concert with the Boston MPO’s next planned Long-Range Transportation Plan update, per federal guidance.

Appendix A—Coordinated Plan Survey Instrument