MPO Meeting Minutes

Draft Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization

Congestion Management Process Committee Meeting

December 2, 2021, Meeting

9:00 AM–10:00 AM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform

Chairperson

Jay Monty (City of Everett), Chair

Decisions

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Congestion Management Process Committee (CMP) agreed to the following: 

• Approve the minutes of the meeting of December 17, 2020

Materials

Materials for this meeting included the following:

1.    December 17, 2020, meeting minutes

2.    2017–18 Inventory and Utilization of Bicycle Parking Spaces at MBTA Stations Memorandum

Meeting Agenda

1.    Introductions

See attendance on page 5.

2.    Approval of Minutes from December 17, 2020, CMP Committee Meeting

The meeting minutes were approved by the CMP Committee.

3.    Discussion on CMP Committee membership

The CMP Committee meets one to two times per year. Staff encourages more participation and more feedback from the CMP. Typically, the committee will meet at different times than the Unified Planning Work Program or Administration and Finance committees.

4.    Presentation of the 2017–18 Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Bicycle Parking study

Ryan Hicks presented the 2017–18 MBTA Bicycle Parking Study. In addition to the presentation, he provided a detailed memorandum to attendees that describes the bicycle inventory for every MBTA station. Highlights of the presentation included the following:

·       The most common bicycle racks are inverted u-racks, triangle racks, and ribbon racks.

·       Detailed station bicycle parking recommendations were presented in four categories: Security, Visibility and Coverage, Aesthetics, and Capacity.

·       Commuter rail use is unchanged while rapid transit use decreased seven percent.

·       Zero rapid transit stations are 100 percent full in the 2017–18 inventory. Four rapid transit stations were 100 percent full in the 2012–13 inventory.

·       The plans are to send this memorandum to the MBTA, conduct outreach, and add datasets from previous inventories to the park and ride dashboard.

Discussion and questions

Jay Monty asked if the recommendations were general recommendations or specific recommendations for each station.

R. Hicks replied that there are specific recommendations that will be sent to the MBTA.

J. Monty asked about the definition of bicycles parked at other locations.

R. Hicks replied that the data collectors are told to use their judgement to see if bicycles are parked at objects near stations and determine if they are using the MBTA services. Data collectors look to see if the bicycle is parked at items such as trees or street signs. This could be the reason why data at some stations were inconsistent between the 2012–13 and 2017–18 inventories.

Jen Rowe asked whether staff break down the counts based on whether bicycle parking is covered from weather elements.

R. Hicks replied that the MPO indicates if stations that have bicycle racks are covered when the data is collected, but a detailed analysis has not been conducted specifically as to the number of covered bicycle racks at each station. The MPO combines covered and uncovered racks at an entire station. However, some information is available regarding whether individual stations offer covered bicycle parking. The MPO has data that was not presented in the memorandum, which indicates if there is a bicycle cage at the station.

Lenard Diggins asked why we no longer have bicycle theft data.

R. Hicks replied that the data were previously provided by the MBTA Transit Police through a dashboard. Boston MPO staff searched for these data again but could not find them. Staff called the MBTA transit police, and were notified that the data were no longer available in the previous format. The data were collected but they are no longer processed to represent each individual station.

L. Diggins mentioned that a study should be proposed that will look at bicycle racks at the end of bus lines. This study should also look at adding blue bikes at the end of bus lines.

L. Diggins asked whether staff felt that increasing bicycle use could have a meaningful impact on congestion.

R. Hicks replied that it would reduce congestion. He added that he used to take dockless bicycles to the MBTA stations when he had opportunities to drive.

D. Amstutz expressed surprise that no stations have 100 percent use. He indicated that at Alewife, the station is full to the point where bicycles are parked at objects on certain days. He recommended increasing signage to direct bicyclists to bicycle racks. He also suggested comparing bicycle parking and automobile parking at MBTA stations.

R. Hicks responded that if automobile parking is being used for other uses than using the MBTA, they are excluded from the inventory. In addition, there have been stations with only a couple of bicycles parked at the bike racks but then dozens of bicycles parked at other objects. Signage will help with these issues. At Alewife, it is very concerning that on some days the bicycle racks are overfilled. Staff can investigate this more.

5.    Other Business

There was none.

6.    Members’ Items

There were none.

7.    Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 AM

Attendance

Members	Representatives and Alternates
At-Large City (City of Everett)	Jay Monty
MassDOT Office of Transportation Planning	Derek Krevat
Regional Transportation Advisory Council	Lenard Diggins
MassDOT	John Romano

 

Other Attendees	Affiliation
Steve Olanoff	TRIC/Town of Norwood
Daniel Amstutz	Arlington
Jen Rowe	City of Boston
Sheila Page	Town of Lexington

 

MPO Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff
Tegin Teich, Executive Director
Mark Abbott
Jonathan Church
Ryan Hicks
Sandy Johnston
Anne McGahan
Rebecca Morgan