Draft Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization
Meeting Minutes

June 18, 2026, Meeting Minutes

10:00 AM–11:45 AM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform

David Mohler, Chair, representing Phillip Eng, Interim Secretary of Transportation and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)

Decisions

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) agreed to the following:

• Approve the minutes of the meeting of May 21, 2026
• Approve the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2027 Operating Budget for the Boston Region MPO staff
• Release the Public Engagement Plan for the Boston Region MPO for a 45-day public comment period
• Endorse Federal Fiscal Years (FFYs) 2026–30 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Amendment Five
• Release FFYs 2026–30 TIP Amendment Seven for a 21-day public comment period
• Endorse the FFY 2027 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP)
• Endorse Adjustment One to the FFY 2026 UPWP

Meeting Agenda

Introductions

See attendance on page 7.

Chair’s Report

There was none.

Executive Director’s Report—Tegin Teich, Executive Director, Central Transportation Planning Staff

T. Teich shared her cautious optimism for the development of the Build America 250 Act. She then shared several staffing updates including the retirement of Annette Demchur, Director of Policy and Planning.

T. Teich reminded municipal staff that they are invited to the MPO’s Virtual Regionwide Transportation Planning Summer Meeting on June 23 from 2:00 to 3:00 PM.

She then previewed the upcoming agenda and announced that the next board meeting would be held on July 16 as the July 2 meeting is cancelled.

Public Comments

There was none.                                                                                              

Committee Chairs’ Reports

Sam Taylor, MassDOT, reported that the UPWP Committee met on June 11 and supports the two UPWP action items to endorse the FFY 2027 UPWP and Adjustment One to the FFY 2026 UPWP.

Community Advisory Council Report—Caitlin Allen-Connelly, Chair, Community Advisory Council

C. Allen-Connelly reported that the Community Advisory Council met on June 8 and learned about the MPO’s approach to scenario planning.

Action Item: Approval of May 21, 2026, MPO Meeting Minutes

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

• May 21, 2026, Minutes (pdf) (html)

Vote

A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of May 21, 2026, was made by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (Eric Bourassa) and seconded by the MBTA Advisory Board (Brian Kane). The motion carried.

Action Item: SFY 2027 Proposed Operating Budget—Brian Kane, MBTA Advisory Board, and Hiral Gandhi, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

• SFY 2027 Proposed Operating Budget (pdf) (html)

B. Kane provided the proposed SFY 2027 operating budget for the MPO staff. This $9.23 million budget represents a 12 percent increase from the SFY 2026 budget. This budget includes major funding initiatives for new programs which will contribute additional revenues beyond the core planning funds that will represent 72 percent of the total revenue.

Vote

A motion to approve the SFY 2027 Proposed Operating Budget, was made by MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the Town of Arlington (Lenard Diggins). The motion carried.

Action Item: Public Engagement Plan—Sean Rourke, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

• Public Engagement Plan (pdf) (html)
• Public Engagement Plan Executive Summary (pdf) (html)

S. Rourke presented the MPO’s revised public engagement plan, which guides public engagement policies, strategies, and practices across all MPO work; defines processes for reaching interested stakeholders, including underserved populations; and ensures compliance with federal engagement and civil rights statutes and regulations. He stated that this plan was last updated in 2021 and the focus of this set of updates is on virtual engagement, new program activities such as the Community Advisory Council, the engagement framework, and public review periods. Finally, he previewed the plan development timeline.

Discussion

Jen Rowe, City of Boston, offered to collaborate on community planning engagement as the City of Boston has recently completed a pilot on the topic.

E. Bourassa asked if there were any changes made to the policy on public comment periods. S. Rourke replied that the policy now clarifies the definitions for extreme and emergency circumstances and it is at the discretion of the board to vote to apply those exemptions.

L. Diggins asked about website metrics and S. Rourke said that these are planned for a future iteration. L. Diggins  asked how outreach demographics are tracked and S. Rourke explained that they are tracked by a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics. L. Diggins asked about financial compensation for engagement and S. Rourke replied that it is a best practice. L. Diggins asked about the board game engagement activity and S. Rourke explained that it was designed in 2024 and high-quality versions were purchased shortly after to help illustrate tradeoffs in community engagement activities. L. Diggins asked if there are repeat attendees at Community Planning Labs and S. Rourke clarified that it is designed to be a new cohort each time. L. Diggins asked if board discussions and planning documents reflect the public input received. S. Rourke responded that the Community Advisory Council has helped guide staff’s work, that connections still must be made between input and decision-making, and that those connections must be communicated back to the public.

John Strauss, Town of Burlington, voiced  his support for more municipal engagement.

Vote

A motion to release the Public Engagement Plan for the Boston Region MPO for a 45-day public comment period, was made by the Town of Arlington (L. Diggins) and seconded by the City of Boston (J. Rowe). The motion carried.

Action Item: FFYs 2026–30 TIP Amendment Five—Ethan Lapointe, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

• Amendment Five (pdf) (html)

E. Lapointe summarized Amendment Five, which includes two cost increases and one cost decrease on FFY 2026 Statewide Highway Projects and the programming of a new crosswalk installation project to improve safety for vulnerable road users.

Vote

A motion to endorse FFYs 2026–30 TIP Amendment Five, was made by MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the City of Boston (J. Rowe). The motion carried.

Action Item: FFYs 2026–30 TIP Amendment Seven —Ethan Lapointe, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

• Amendment Seven (pdf) (html)

E. Lapointe summarized Amendment Seven, which includes one cost and scope decrease on a FFY 2026 Regional Target project, and the removal of a project from the FFY 2026 Statewide Highway program due to use of nonfederal funding.

Discussion

E. Bourassa asked what the terminus of the Lynnfield Rail trail is now. Tracie Lenhardt, MassDOT, replied that it is proposed to be at Pillings Pond.

Vote

A motion to release FFYs 2026–30 TIP Amendment Seven for a 21-day public comment period, was made by MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the Town of Lexington (Meghan Roche). The motion carried.

Action Item: FFY 2027 UPWP—Olivia Saccocia, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

• UPWP (pdf) (html)

O. Saccocia shared a summary of the two comments received during the public comment period. She then summarized the revisions to the draft document.

Discussion

L. Diggins encouraged staff to survey the board on discrete study preferences. 

Vote

A motion to endorse the FFY 2027 UPWP, was made by MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the Town of Arlington (L. Diggins). The motion carried.

Action Item: FFY 2026 UPWP Adjustment One—Olivia Saccocia, MPO Staff

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

• Adjustment One (pdf) (html)

O. Saccocia explained the three types of changes that can be made to the UPWP and that this item is an adjustment as there are budget transfers between line items that are less than 25 percent of the overall task budget. She then summarized the changes, which amount to a net zero budget change.

Vote

A motion to endorse the FFY 2026 UPWP Adjustment One, was made by MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the City of Somerville (Tom Bent). The motion carried.

Members’ Items

There were none.

 Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by the Town of Arlington (L. Diggins) and seconded by the City of Somerville (T. Bent). The motion carried.

Attendance