April 30, 2026 Meeting
1:00 AM–1:40 PM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform
Sam Taylor, Chair, representing Phillip Eng, Interim Secretary of Transportation and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) Committee agreed to the following:
Materials for this meeting included the following:
Please see the attendance list on page 6.
There were none.
A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of January 29, 2026, was made by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (Travis Pollack) and seconded by the Inner Core Committee (Tom Bent). The motion carried.
A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of February 26, 2026, was made by the Inner Core Committee (Tom Bent) and seconded by the Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Tom O’Rourke). The motion carried.
O. Saccocia thanked the committee and the chair for their involvement in developing the draft FFY 2027 work plan and provided an overview of the content included in the draft document.
She reviewed the four committee meetings that occurred since the beginning of the federal fiscal year, where the committee discussed the Freight Action Plan, Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Gap Analysis, Regional Vulnerability Assessment, several Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) projects, and potential discrete studies.
O. Saccocia stated that the Boston region will receive $7.85 million in federal planning funds for FFY 2027. Of this amount, the Boston Region MPO will receive $6.4 million, and MAPC will receive $1.4 million. She explained that the region is relatively level-funded for 2027, consistent with past trends.
O. Saccocia then highlighted the budget for the MPO Support and 3C Planning subcategory, which represents $5.2 million of the MPO’s overall budget for FFY 2027. She explained that this section comprises all the MPO’s ongoing program initiatives, including programs that accomplish core MPO functions and those that support the 3C planning process. O. Saccocia also discussed the FFY 2027 budget for new discrete studies ($150,000). She explained that at the last committee meeting, the group voted to recommend the following studies be included in the FFY 2027 work plan:
O. Saccocia also noted that the draft UPWP will be reorganized for the May 7, 2026, MPO board meeting. Chapter 5, which describes agency- and grant-funded work, will be moved to the appendix of the document. This change is being made to improve the flow of the work plan, since all other work described in the main body of the UPWP is funded through federal planning funds.
O. Saccocia described the process for endorsing the UPWP. At the May 7, 2026, board meeting, the board will vote to release the draft for public review. The 21-day public comment period will begin on May 8, 2026, and conclude on May 29, 2026. The UPWP Committee will then meet on June 11, 2026, to review public comments received and vote to recommend the final UPWP. At the June 18, 2026, board meeting, the board will vote to endorse the final FFY 2027 UPWP.
Len Diggins (Town of Arlington) asked a few questions about the draft work plan. He first asked staff to consider hyperlinking previously accomplished work that is referenced in the document, especially in Chapter 3 (MPO Support and 3C Planning).
L. Diggins noted that the UPWP states that the Coordinated Public Transit–Human Services Transportation Plan (Coordinated Plan) is remaining on a four-year update cycle, yet the Long-Range Transportation Plan is now on a five-year update cycle. He asked why the timelines for updating those two plans are not synched. He also noted that the UPWP states the updated Coordinated Plan is anticipated to be complete in FFY 2026 and wondered if that was a misprint since the last update was completed in FFY 2023. Tegin Teich (Executive Director) stated that staff will follow up regarding those two questions.
L. Diggins asked if staff could share more information about the municipal engagement strategy that is listed as a deliverable under the Public Engagement Program description in Chapter 3. T. Teich stated that this refers to the newly launched region-wide municipal engagement meetings that staff host several times a year. She also stated that staff will follow up with more information.
L. Diggins stated that he appreciates how the UPWP lists discrete studies from the past two years and suggested that staff consider including program deliverables from the past two years in Chapter 3 as well.
L. Diggins also noted that the UPWP lists $50,000 for staff development. He wondered if more funds could be put towards staff development. T. Teich explained that the agency has made significant investments in professional development over the past few years. She stated that funding towards staff development can be seen in a few different places in the UPWP: staff time, direct expenses, and overhead costs. Budget allocations for staff development are remaining stable because the agency is not seeing an increase in funding, however, that is consistent with all budget items in the UPWP. T. Teich mentioned that she reports on professional development costs when presenting at the Administration and Finance Committee meetings if individuals are interested in learning more.
L. Diggins expressed support for providing compensation for participation in MPO-related events. He also stated he is happy the MPO is planning to update the Managing the Curb guidebook and work on the Freight Action Plan.
L. Diggins asked why there is a $20,000 decrease in funding for Information Technology (IT) Resource Management for FFY 2027. T. Teich stated that this line item includes work to modernize the agency’s IT equipment and plan a potential office move. She stated that this line item has been re-budgeted based on tasks that can be done more efficiently, and staff are confident this work can be achieved with the budget that is set.
L. Diggins noted that the UPWP lists a relatively small amount of funds ($10,000) for Road Safety Audits. He asked what one Road Safet Audit costs, on average. Rebecca Morgan (MPO staff) explained that these audits are typically run by MassDOT, consultants, or municipalities. MPO staff go out in the field to participate in the audit itself and review documents that are developed by consultants. R. Morgan stated that the budget for Road Safety Audits is appropriate for the role MPO staff play. She further explained that the MPO runs audits for other projects, such as the MPO’s Vision Zero initiatives. For these audits, the budget is larger since MPO staff are facilitating the process, and this work is funded through Safe Streets and Roads for All grants.
L. Diggins asked how staff determine which municipalities receive technical assistance from the MPO. R. Morgan explained that, previously, this program was operating on a first-come, first-serve basis. However, the agency recently developed an internal strategy to be more proactive about using these funds. Staff have begun conducting webinars to share more information about the type of work the MPO can support and to share examples of the technical assistance products staff produce. R. Morgan explained that this helps to generally advertise this program. She also explained that the MPO’s Vision Zero and NO-HEAT work helps identify which locations in the region are experiencing significant problems, and this allows staff to proactively offer technical support to certain municipalities.
L. Diggins asked if staff could consider sharing information about what studies are being conducted by other agencies or municipalities when the committee is considering discrete studies for the next cycle of UPWP development.
L. Diggins also suggested that the text in Appendix C could explain that a number of discrete study proposals have been incorporated into program work. L. Diggins explained that the UPWP states that three discrete studies were chosen to be funded in FFY 2027, however, the agency actually conducts more studies since many have been incorporated into program activities.
T. Teich thanked L. Diggins for engaging in the document and asking questions. She explained that one of her goals as the executive director is to engage board members with the broad range of work that is conducted at the MPO and she said that she appreciated the questions that were asked at this meeting. She welcomed all board members to share their thoughts and feedback on the way the MPO structures the work plan.
A motion to recommend that the Draft FFY 2027 UPWP be released for public review was made by the Town of Arlington (Len Diggins) and seconded by the Inner Core Committee (Tom Bent). The motion carried.
There were none.
O. Saccocia stated that the UPWP Committee will meet next on June 11, 2026, to review public comments and vote on the final version of the FFY 2027 UPWP.
A motion to adjourn was made by the Inner Core Committee (Tom Bent) and seconded by the Town of Arlington (Len Diggins). The motion carried.
Members |
Representatives and Alternates |
Massachusetts Department of Transportation (Office of Transportation Planning) |
Sam Taylor |
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Advisory Board |
Isabella MacKinnon |
Community Advisory Council |
Caitlin Allen-Connelly |
Metropolitan Area Planning Council |
Travis Pollack |
At-Large City (City of Newton) |
David Koses |
At-Large Town (Town of Arlington) |
Len Diggins |
City of Boston (Boston Transportation Department) |
Patrick Hoey |
Inner Core Committee (City of Somerville) |
Tom Bent |
Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood/Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce) |
Tom O’Rourke |
Three Rivers Interlocal Council alternate (Town of Westwood) |
Steve Olanoff |
Other Attendees |
Affiliation |
Nelson Mui |
MetroWest Regional Transit Authority |
Jon Seward |
|
Derek Shooster |
Massachusetts Department of Transportation |
Tyler Terrasi |
MetroWest Regional Transit Authority |
MPO Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff |
Tegin Teich, Executive Director |
Richard Barad Annette Demchur Hiral Gandhi David Hong Ethan Lapointe Lauren Magee Rebecca Morgan Gina Perille Ibbu Quraishi Olivia Saccocia |
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