Charting Progress to 2040 – Results of Mini-Surveys

A series of mini-surveys was released between May 15 and July 15, 2015 to collect input on investment strategies for Charting Progress to 2040, the Boston Region’s long-range transportation plan (LRTP). Seven different surveys were released; these surveys asked for the respondents’ views on

The surveys were publicized through MPOInfo, Twitter, and the release of an MPO NewsFlash. Each survey had either one or two questions. The MPO received a total of 1,100 responses from the seven surveys. A summary of the responses is shown below.

 

Survey 1: Transportation Needs

 

Question 1 – What personal need of yours is not being met by the regional transportation system? (212 respondents)

 

 Survey 1- question 1 is a pie chart showing that out of 212 respondents, 132 said transit, 63 said bicycle pedestrian, 36 said mobility, 32 said roadways didn’t meet their needs. 35 responded that they didn’t have unmet needs.

Transit had the most responses; the issues included

Bicycle/Pedestrian had the second highest number of responses; the issues included

Mobility had the third highest number of responses; the issues included

Roadways had the fourth highest number of responses; the issues included

Question 2 – Which of the following investment programs include projects that would best address this need? (227 respondents)

 

Survey 1 - question 2 is a pie chart showing that out of 227 respondents asked which investment program had projects that best met the need, 65 said major infrastructure, 53 said flex to transit, 48 said bicycle network and pedestrian connections, 28 said community transportation and parking, 23 said complete streets, and 10 said intersection improvements. 

Major infrastructure had the most responses. This includes both transit and highway infrastructure; transit received two-thirds of the responses and highway received one-third of the responses.

 

Survey 2: Types of Projects to Serve Your Needs

 

Question 1 – During the next 25 years, would you focus funding on a few large-scale projects or multiple small-scale projects? (223 respondents)

 

Survey 2 is a pie chart that shows 161 people would focus their funding on multiple small scale projects while 62 responded that they would rather fund a few large scale projects.

The majority of respondents wanted multiple small-scale projects. This coincides with the MPO’s new Operations and Management (O&M) approach to funding projects.

 

Survey 3: Condition of the Transportation Infrastructure

 

Question 1 – Rate the physical condition of the following facilities or services (1 = poor and 5 = excellent). (160 respondents)

 


Survey 3 - question 1 is a bar chart rating facilities from poor (1) to excellent (5).
out of 160 respondents:
roads - 13=1, 33=2, 82=3, 35=4
sidewalks - 25=1, 46=2, 64=3, 25=4, 3=5
bicycle lanes/paths - 25=1, 46=2, 64=3, 25=4, 3=5
traffic lights - 10=1, 30=2, 59=3, 58=4, 5=5
public transit - 29=1, 65=2, 45=3, 18=4, 4=5
access to transit - 29=1, 43=2, 54=3, 26=4, 7=5

 

Question 2 – Rate how well the regional transportation facilities or services meet your travel needs for these same categories (1 = not very well and 5 = very well). (160 respondents)

 

Survey 3 - question 2 is a bar chart rating how well the facilities meet your needs from not very well (1) to very well (5).
out of 160 respondents:
roads - 8=1, 23=2, 45=3, 60=4, 24=5
sidewalks - 17=1, 39=2, 44=3, 44=4, 14=5
bicycle lanes/paths - 41=1, 53=2, 28=3, 22=4, 13=5
traffic lights - 13=1, 33=2, 48=3, 48=4, 15=5
public transit - 26=1, 39=2, 61=3, 23=4, 11=5
access to transit - 27=1, 37=2, 51=3, 25=4, 19=5

 

Survey 4: Investment Priorities

 

Question 1 – How do you think the MPO should allocate its funds among the following six investment programs to best meet the region’s needs? (91 respondents)

 

Survey 4 - question1 is a barchart  showing how 91 respondents think the MPO should allocate their funds among the following 6 investment programs:
intersection improvements - 19=no allocation, 8=less than 10%, 54=10% to 30%, 5=31% to 50%, 1=51% to 70%, 1=71% to 90%, 3=greater than 90%
complete streets - 22=no allocation, 10=less than 10%, 46=10% to 30%, 13=31% to 50%
bicycle network and pedestrian connections - 26=no allocation, 18=less than 10%, 43=10% to 30%, 4=31% to 50%
major infrastructure - 24=no allocation, 1=less than 10%, 28=10% to 30%, 18=31% to 50%, 8=51% to 70%, 8=71% to 90%, 5=greater than 90%
community transportation and parking - 28=no allocation, 19=less than 10%, 38=10% to 30%, 5=31% to 50%, 1=51% to 70%
flex to transit - 29=no allocation, 14=less than 10%, 35=10% to 30%, 10=31% to 50%, 2=51% to 70%, 1=71% to 90%

 

This question asked about the six different investment programs that the MPO considered in programming the LRTP. It shows how the respondents would allocate funding to each of these programs. For example, for the Complete Streets Program, 46 of 91 people think that 10% to 30% of the funds should be allocated to this program.

 

For all programs, some felt that there should be no allocation to that particular program, but many felt that there should be some allocation across all of the programs. This reinforces the MPO’s O&M approach across the various programs.

 

Survey 5: Expanding the Region’s Bike Network

 

Question 1 – How well would expanding the off-road bike-path network improve your ability to travel around the region (1 = not very well and 5 = very well)? (182 respondents)

 

Survey 5 - question 1 is a pie chart rating how well would expanding the bike path network improve your ability to travel the region from not very well (1) to very well (5).
out of 182 respondents:
18=1, 3=2, 8=3, 19=4, 52=5

 

Survey 6: Expanding Public Transportation

 

Question 1 – What types of transit improvements likely would increase your use of public transportation? (123 respondents)

 

Survey 6 - question 1 is a pie chart rating what types of transit improvements would increase your use of public transportation. Out of 123 respondents 54 said more frequent transit service, 19 said a community shuttle to/from a transit station, 20 said better access to transit stops/stations by walking or biking,
14 said more motor vehicle parking at transit stations, and 16 said other.

 

Survey 7: Funding Public Transportation

 

Question 1 – In addition to keeping the existing system well maintained, how important is it to expand the public transportation system (1 = not very important and 5 = very important)? (92 respondents)

 

 Survey 7 - question 1 is a pie chart rating how important is it to expand public transportation while maintaining it from not very important (1) to very important (5).
out of 92 respondents:
6=1, 3=2, 8=3, 18=4, 57=5

 

Question 2 – If the MPO spends a portion of its highway funding for transit improvements or expansion, what projects do you think it should fund? (92 respondents)

 

 Survey 7 - question 2 is a pie chart showing that out of 92 respondents asked which projects should be funded if the MPO spent some of it’s transit money on highway or expansion projects, 52 said quality of service, 30 said subway, 16 said access, 11 said bus services, 5 said roadways, 3 said commuter rail, 3 said regional connections, 1 said ferry service, and 3 were against it.

 

The majority of the responses requested an improvement to the quality of service; the issues included

Expansion of the subway system had the second highest number of responses.

Access to transit had the third highest number of responses; the issues included

Bus service had the fourth highest number of responses; the issues included

Even though the question asked specifically about transit, roadway is another category. The responses to this category requested