We Move Massachusetts ­ MassDOT Multimodal Transportation Plan
Study Advisory Group Meeting Minutes
October 18, 2011 Attendees • MassDOT Secretary’s Office: Richard Davey, Thom Dugan; Board of Directors: Liz Levin; Highway Division: Dave Anderson; Planning: Steve Woelfel, Kate Fichter, Trey Wadsworth, Dave Mohler; Performance Management: Rachel Bain; Rail and Transit Division: Michael Lambert; Aeronautics Division: Denise Garcia; Registry Division: Erin Deveney; Office of Civil Rights: Heather Hamilton; • MPO Representative: Mary Ellen Blunt (Central Mass MPO) • RPA representative: Linda Dunleavey (Franklin Region Council of Governments (FRCOG) • Massport: Katie Choe • Transportation Finance Commission/MBTA Advisory Board: Paul Regan • Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (HED): Victoria Maguire • Executive Office of Administration and Finance (A&F): Rob Dolan • Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEA)/Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR): Jack Murray • Consultant Team: Marc Cutler (CS), Sam Lawton (CS), Dan Beagan (CS), Bill Schwartz (TCI), Don Cooke (VHB), Nancy Farrell (RVA) SAG members not in attendance: Martha’s Vineyard Nantucket Steamship Authority: Wayne Lamson, Executive Office of Health and Human Services representative; RTA representative Ed O’Neil (Worcester Regional Transit Authority) Introduction/Presentation After introductions, Secretary Davey welcomed everyone and emphasized that this is an outgrowth of the earlier You MoveMassachusetts effort and that it is important to have lots of voices at the table. He said that developing our strategic plan will also help customers understand the significant needs and required investments. MassDOT is going to ask for a lot of input so that we can translate what we’ve heard into reality. Marc Cutler gave a presentation on the study covering the three key elements: • Internal and External Engagement • Structured Decision Making • Strategic Planning In the upcoming meetings and interviews, the consultant team will be asking the departments and organizations represented by the SAG to: • Articulate expectations • Identify key issues • Provide available data and tools and identify any as gaps and needs tel 617­354­0167 1 0 0 C a m b r i d g e P a r k D r i v e , S u i t e 4 0 0
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MassDOT Multimodal Plan – Meeting Minutes: 10/18/11 Page 2 • Provide the list of projects for analysis and describe the current programming process Comments Denise Garcia asked if the model used in George covered aviation. Marc replied that while it is set up to cover all modes, the current use is just for highway expansion, economic development, and traffic operations projects. Mary Ellen Blunt described the challenges of comparing projects across different modes, such as a bicycle project with a major intersection improvement, and wanted to know if a prioritization tool can do this. Marc explained that different states do it differently; the path of least resistance is to rate like projects against each other and then decide overall how much money you’re going to allocate to each mode; the ultimate goal is to get to a true multimodal assessment. Liz Levin said that YMM (completed in 2009) made sense at the time and is a good framework for starting; but since things have changed, it is important not to be tied to one particular process. She stressed that the Plan needs to be something that people clearly understand; something that only “techies” can use is a big problem. The tool needs to be user friendly and can explain how multimodal projects are handled. Liz also suggested that the project should look at values and what the mission and vision really mean; this will require a longer discussion. For example, sustainability will require a modal shift. Spending some time on the values at the beginning will be very helpful. This effort could support the need to identify projects within our current financial constraints. Victoria Maguire said that HED is working in partnership with RPAs on comprehensive land use exercise with particular focus on how local plans identify areas for new growth in the state. This is what is being done in the I­495 region [through the MetroWest Regional Growth Compact]. We need to have information on land use impacts of projects. Marc explained that land use and economic development were key variables in the Georgia example, and we would be very interested in talking with them about how they plan to go about this. Linking transportation and land use planning can be an important, albeit challenging, goal of the project. Mike Lambert asked if the Georgia MPOs already had a prioritization process in place. Marc explained that the Atlanta Regional Council did but the others did not have a very sophisticated process. Paul Regan mentioned that the Boston MPO has a series of selection criteria that they have been honing over the last few years. He emphasized that we cannot fund our current needs and that everyone should understand just how bad the funding situation is right now. We should have an answer from Congress on future transportation funding by the time we’re done. He is concerned that over the last several years there has been a strong disconnect between wants and resources. Marc agreed and suggested that one outcome of this effort could be a paring down of project lists to a more reasonable (and fundable) level. MassDOT Multimodal Plan – Meeting Minutes: 10/18/11 Page 3 Thom Duggan suggested that A&F can share some of the capital budgeting work and analysis that the major capital agencies have been doing. Bill Schwartz asked SAG members to identify individuals with whom we should speak, even those no longer in government who can shed some light on the issues and opportunities. Next Steps The project team will schedule individual meetings with the SAG representatives and others in their agency. The next SAG meeting will likely be at the start of 2012 when the project team can report back results and findings of this due diligence exercise, and the directions it will point to for process and tool development.