TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM

 

DATE:   March 20, 2025

TO:         Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization

FROM:   Priyanka Chapekar, Congestion Management Process Program Manager

RE:         Revised CMP Objectives

 

The Congestion Management Process (CMP) program at the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has been undergoing a holistic update since August 2024. The process began with formulating new, revised regional objectives for the program as a foundational step for the update. The objectives were discussed at length over the course of three CMP Committee meetings, between September 2024 through January 2025. MPO staff received several suggestions from Committee members on making the regional CMP objectives concise and comprehensive during these meetings.

 

This draft document includes the final, revised draft of CMP objectives after incorporating feedback from CMP committee members.

 

Revised CMP objectives

The final CMP regional objectives would provide a guideline for the ongoing CMP program update. While there are no federal requirements for frequency of updating the CMP, most MPOs tend to follow a four- or five-year update cycle. Based on this general timeline, the current CMP objectives would be a basis for program goals for the next four to five years.

 

Federal guidelines for the CMP state that the program objectives should align with the goals of the Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). Accordingly, the new objectives for the CMP were formulated in alignment with each of the six goal areas in the Boston Region’s LRTP, Destination 2050.

 

The table below illustrates the final proposed draft objectives as recommended by the CMP Committee for the Boston region along with the LRTP goal area they align most closely with.

 

 

Table 1
Proposed Draft Objectives for CMP

Proposed Objective

LRTP 2050 Goal Area
  1. To make movement of people and freight across the region safer, easier, and more reliable through improvements to multiple modes.

Mobility and Reliability, Safety
  1. To set up measures to quantify congestion patterns and formulate traffic performance monitoring systems to determine congestion mitigation strategies in the Boston region.

Mobility and Reliability, Access and Connectivity
  1. To evaluate multimodal transportation networks to enable efficient travel demand management, increase utilization of multimodal facilities, and identify and minimize connectivity gaps in various transportation modes.

Mobility and Reliability, Access and Connectivity
  1. To develop a holistic approach to congestion management by exploring multiple avenues for alleviating congestion including encouraging mode shift, demand-pricing strategies, curb use management, and land use considerations.

Access and Connectivity
  1. To promote healthy communities by reducing traffic volumes and, consequently, air and noise pollution arising from transportation, along with reducing fatal and serious injury crashes, paying special attention to vulnerable communities.

Clean Air and Healthy Communities, Equity, Safety
  1. To promote improved economic vitality, transportation access, public health and safety, and risk mitigation in the Boston region through identification of congested areas and formulation of relevant, sustainable solutions.

Equity, Resiliency

CMP = Congestion Management Process. LRTP = Long-Range Transportation Plan.

 

Requested action

To provide the basis for a comprehensive congestion management vision for the region, MPO staff request that the MPO Board votes to approve the draft regional CMP objectives listed in Table 1 as regional objectives for the Boston Region MPO’s CMP Program.

 

 

 

CIVIL RIGHTS NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

Welcome. Bem Vinda. Bienvenido. Akeyi. 欢迎. 歡迎

You are invited to participate in our transportation planning process, free from discrimination. The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is committed to nondiscrimination in all activities and complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin (including limited English proficiency). Related federal and state nondiscrimination laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of age, sex, disability, and additional protected characteristics.

 

For additional information or to file a civil rights complaint, visit www.bostonmpo.org/mpo_non_discrimination.

 

To request this information in a different language or format, please contact:

 

Boston Region MPO Title VI Specialist

10 Park Plaza, Suite 2150

Boston, MA 02116

Phone: 857.702.3700

Email: civilrights@ctps.org

 

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