MassDOT Goal: Triple Bicycling, Transit, Walking

Secretary and CEO Richard Davey in October announced MassDOTs mode shift goal to triple the distance traveled by our customers through bicycling, transit and walking.  That goal now joins other goals incorporated into MassDOT's GreenDOT Implementation Plan with tasks and indicators.   

MassDOT established the goal to build a more efficient transportation system where fewer of our customers depend on driving alone to get where they are going.  We want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation system and support better public health outcomes by working to give our customers more healthy travel options.

MassDOT will measure our progress on this ambitious mode shift goal using Personal Miles Traveled-distances traveled by all our customers for bicycling, driving, transit and walking in a one year period.  It also measures all the trips taken by our customers, not just work trips which are often the focus in transportation planning.  Measuring the distance traveled by each mode allows MassDOT to see strategic opportunities to improve the travel options for our customers, strengthen the relationship between land use and transportation planning, and draw a link to greenhouse gas emissions.  Goal numbers are listed below.

Year                    Bicycling PMT    Transit PMT    Walking PMT    Total
2010 (baseline)         150.4m                1.83b                101.1m            2.08b
2020 (benchmark)    330.0m                3.99b                223.9m            4.55b
2030 (goal year)        516.m                 5.93b                333.6m            6.78b

Personal Miles Traveled as the goal measurement is effective and maximizes resources available to MassDOT by using data that is already collected from the Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Performance Management System, Federal Transit Administration’s National Transit Database, and an estimation of bicycling and walking using data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. 
Check out MassDOT’s GreenDOT web page for the Implementation Plan and more information.

Comments

[boblothrope]

How does MassDOT intend to acheive this goal?

I'd suggest the following:

1) Get the capital debt service off the MBTA's operating budget. Instead, use that money to increase bus frequencies and create new routes, especially to employment centers that currently have no transit.

2) Run shorter commuter rail trains more frequently. When new equipment is purchased, choose self-propelled DMUs that can be operated by a single employee.

[Jane Winn, Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT)]

Does tele-commuting and video conferencing figure into MassDOT plans to reduce PMT in single occupancy vehicles? And is there a role for MassDOT to help make these technologies more pervasive? Could MPO meetings video conference with two locations - one in Boston and one in the county? Could Regional Planning Agencies make quality video conferencing available to small business and organizations for a small fee?
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Thank you for the questions. Tele-commuting and video conferencing will be helpful for MassDOT’s mode shift goal because they are trips that do not have any “miles moved” associated with them. This is especially helpful if that person would have attended a meeting by taking a single occupancy vehicle trip. Tele-commuting and video conferencing has been identified in the GreenDOT Implementation Plan for MassDOT to pursue. (http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/0/docs/GreenDOT/finalImplementation/FinalGreenDOTImplementationPlan12.12.12.pdf page 16, and 19).