Performance-based Planning and Programming

The Boston Region MPO envisions a modern, well-maintained transportation system that supports a sustainable, healthy, livable, and economically vibrant region. To achieve this vision, the transportation system must be safe and resilient; incorporate emerging technologies; and provide equitable access, excellent mobility, and varied transportation options.

-Destination 2040 Vision 
 

The MPO uses a performance-based planning and programming (PBPP) process to assess how its spending decisions support progress toward this vision. PBPP processes include three phases:

• Plan: Establish the goals and objectives, performance measures, and targets that will guide MPO decision-making, and identify and acquire necessary data. 
   
• Invest: Use the framework established in the planning phase to create a strategy for investing MPO funds. 
   
• Monitor and Evaluate: Review and report on the outcomes of MPO investment decisions with respect to performance measures and targets, and determine what framework or strategy adjustments are needed.  

PBPP activities help the MPO make informed decisions in accountable, transparent ways. PBPP shapes the MPO’s Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). PBPP is also integrated into the MPO’s decision-making on planning emphasis areas and studies conducted via the Unified Planning Work Program. Data and analyses from the Congestion Management Process support the PBPP process.

Please refer to Boston Region MPO Performance-based Planning and Programming (PDF) Boston Region MPO Performance-based Planning and Programming (HTML) for additional information about PBPP concepts, related federal requirements, and the MPO’s PBPP process.

For the MPO’s most recent LRTP systems performance report, which describes the MPO’s baseline values and targets for its performance measures, see the Systems Performance Report chapter (PDF) Systems Performance Report chapter (HTML) of the Destination 2040 plan. For a performance analysis of the MPO’s current TIP, which describes the MPO’s performance targets and how projects in the TIP may improve performance, see the Performance Analysis chapter (PDF) Performance Analysis chapter (HTML) in the federal fiscal years 2023–27 TIP.