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October 2026
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) sought to provide towns and cities within the region with an understanding of pedestrian lighting and implementation strategies to enhance safety. This report includes five sections:
- Technical Foundations of Pedestrian Lighting: An overview of the science and technical meaning behind pedestrian lighting.
- Literature Review—Scales of Intervention: This section evaluates pedestrian lighting strategies deployed by municipalities nationwide and across the Boston MPO region.
- Funding Identification and Alignment: Provides an overview of the benefits of municipal ownership and funding strategies and grants that towns and cities may use for the development of plans and installation of pedestrian lighting.
- Municipal Engagement: Expanding on Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)’s initial prioritization, the Boston Region MPO assigned additional metrics to determine locations for further study. This was followed by a series of interviews with municipalities to help understand how lighting is approached within local operations.
- Next Steps and Implementation Roadmap: This section outlines the next steps the Boston Region MPO plans to take and an implementation roadmap that towns and cities can use to identify and implement lighting.
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