Charles D. Baker, Governor
Karyn E. Polito, Lieutenant. Governor
Stephanie Pollack, MassDOT Secretary & CEO
July 1, 2015
Senator Thomas M. McGee
Chair, Joint Committee on Transportation
State House
Room 109C
Boston, MA 02133
Representative William M. Straus
Chair, Joint Committee on Transportation
State House
Room 134
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Chairmen McGee and Straus:
On behalf of the Project Selection Advisory Council (the Council), I am pleased to provide you with
the accompanying report Recommendations for MassDOT Project Selection Criteria, in fulfilment of
the requirements of Section 11 of Chapter 46 of the Acts of 2013. The Council has put tremendous
time and energy into developing the recommendations in this report and I would like to sincerely thank
them for their work.
The Project Selection Advisory Council was charged with developing uniform project selection criteria
to help MassDOT more effectively prioritize and select investments. The Council has worked over the
past 18 months to fulfill the requirements of the legislation and develop a uniform, transparent, and
data-driven approach to determining how limited resources are allocated to address the needs of our
transportation system.
As Secretary, I firmly believe in the importance of this task and will be adopting the recommendations
laid out in this report. We must ensure that we are strategically using the resources available to us and
maximizing our return on investment by more systematically prioritizing the investments that better
meet our goals for the Commonwealth.
While the Council has made considerable progress, there is still work to be done to refine the
recommendations and implement them into MassDOT processes. The Council members are committed
to ensuring that their work is implemented as intended and have committed to continuing to advise and
provide oversight to an internal MassDOT Implementation Committee.
The Council and I recognize that developing a perfect process in the first attempt will likely not occur.
As such, I am committed to ensuring that this process remains open and transparent as it evolves. To
that end, in addition to adopting the Council’s recommendations for improved transparency in the
project selection process, I will be establishing an external advisory group made up of experts and
stakeholders outside of the organization, including representatives from metropolitan planning
organizations, regional transit authorities, and transportation advocates. This group will ensure that the
guidance of the Implementation Committee is fully informed by the stakeholders who will be subject
to, and experience the implications of, the project selection process.
Ten Park Plaza, Suite 4160, Boston, MA 02116
Tel: 857-368-4636, TTY: 857-368-0655
www.mass.gov/massdot
Thank you again for the Legislature’s interest in and support for this process. The Council welcomes
any feedback you have pertaining to this submittal. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Pollack
Secretary and CEO
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
cc: Frank DePaola, General Manager, MBTA
Linda Dunlavy, Executive Director, Franklin Regional Council of Governments
Jim Lovejoy, Chairman, Town of Mount Washington Board of Selectmen
David Mohler, Executive Director, Office of Transportation Planning, MassDOT
Jeffrey B. Mullan, Foley Hoag LLP
John M. Pourbaix, Construction Industries of Massachusetts
Stephen Silveira, ML Strategies