COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
GREENDOT OFFICE
DATE:
SUBJECT:
March 4, 2015, 2 PM
GreenDOT Advisory Group – Joint Work Group Meeting
Data & Performance Measures Work Group and Mode Shift Work Group
Work Group Members Present:
- Ned Codd, Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), GreenDOT Office
- Melissa Dullea, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)
- Alex Epstein, Volpe, United States Department of Transportation (USDOT)
- Shannon Greenwell, MassDOT, GreenDOT Office
- Heather Hamilton, MassDOT, Highway Division
- Amalia Holub, MassDOT, GreenDOT Office
- William Hurton, MassDOT, Highway Division
- Melissa Kalicin, MassDOT, Office of Transportation Planning (OTP)
- Jeff Kellner, HNTB
- Katherine Knapp, MassDOT, GreenDOT Office
- Dustin Rhue, MassDOT, OTP
- Jamaal Schoby, MBTA
- Kristin Slaton, MassDOT, MassRIDES
- Jules Williams, MassDOT, GreenDOT Office
Work Group Members Calling in:
- Barbara Jacobson, Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike)
- David Straus, A Better City (ABC)
Meeting Notes

Welcome & Introductions

Review of MassDOT Mode Share Measurement Goal and Practices
o GreenDOT and the Office of Performance Management and Innovation (OPM&I) are
currently working together to formalize the GreenDOT performance measures. This process
includes establishing the measures and responsible reporting parties, and mending the data
collection process into other reporting efforts.
 A metadata pilot program is currently underway to develop the backbone for
reporting each of the GreenDOT metrics.

Discussion of Best Practices & Innovations in Mode Shift Measurement
o GreenDOT presented a draft version of the Bicycle Pedestrian Count Summary matrix which
included a survey of current counting methods and counting programs. The below notes
outline suggestions and talking points from the working group members. Working group
members were encouraged to continue to send in their comments and suggestions on the
draft matrix to Katherine.Knapp@dot.state.ma.us.
 Possible improvements to bike and pedestrian count matrices:


Proposed changes to the organization of the matrices:
o Methods could be separated into screen (sensor is stationary) and
probe (sensor is on the walker or bicyclists) methods.
o Automatic methods could also be separated in to “opt in” (potentially
biased) versus “passive” methods.
o App-based counting methods could be added into the matrices.
o It may be useful to include weather and temperature information when
comparing counts.
o For the agency counting programs matrix, specify when manual
counts are conducted by volunteers versus staff or consultants.
 Additional counting programs to consider adding to the matrices:
o The Brockton MPO, Franklin Regional Council of Governments
(FRCOG), and Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) have
pedestrian and bike count data.
o CTPS, of the Boston Region MPO, collects pedestrian and bicycle
counts through volunteer-based efforts. CTPS has resources on how
to best use and improve volunteer-based count data.
o It would be worth looking at how other jurisdictions with mode shift
targets are measuring mode share.
 International jurisdictions of interest include: London, Helsinki,
Paris, Copenhagen and Stockholm.
 Other states of interest include: Colorado and Washington.
 Cities of interest include: Ithaca, NY, and Boulder, CO.
o MassDOT should investigate the possible sharing of information from
the City of Boston’s collaboration with Uber.
 Matrices refinements:
o Clarify how accuracy is being measured and what it reflects.
o Simplify the relative cost to reflect a single scale for all methods.
Discussion of how information from the matrices can be used to inform the Mode
Shift goal.
 Is there potential for a set, or sets, of counting equipment to be purchased
that can be moved around the Commonwealth on a regular schedule?
o There may be opportunities for current and potential future counting
equipment hardware and software to be shared among
Massachusetts agencies.
 Existing sources of information (counts, app data, and Hubway data) might
not be able to create a bottom up estimate of bicycling and walking, but they
might be useful in calibrating a model.
o Transportation for Massachusetts and MassRIDES are working on an
app to measure emissions reductions from TDM driven mode shift.
o There is a need to think about how these technologies would fit into
the overall approach to measurement, e.g. do we need a model of the
walking and bicycling networks and then determine the number of
measurement points/times that would be required.
 Committee members expressed an interest in focusing a future working
group meeting on current MassDOT policies and data gathering practices for
mode specific travel behaviors, such as the HPMS.
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
Other Items
o ABC is currently finishing up an Emissions Factors Guidebook. The Guidebook has a
greenhouse gas calculator that employers can use to calculate GHG emissions from fleet
and commute travel for their business, which can be used to feed into mode share reporting.
ABC hopes to deliver the Guidebook into the hands of more businesses.

Next Steps
o The GreenDOT office will integrate feedback from the working group members into the draft
Bicycle Pedestrian Count Summary matrix. Additionally, the office will expand its research
scope to include the following items:
 Access existing Massachusetts count data and determine the feasibility of analyzing
the counts as a group of time series data.
 Research examples of agencies using model-based approaches to estimate
amounts of bicycle travel across a network.
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