Martha’s Vineyard Regional Transportation Plan 2020–2040 DRAFT FOR PUBLIC REVIEW June 23, 2019 Notes: The section on public outreach will be completed following the public review. The sections on financial constraints and proposed projects will be completed based on discussions with the Joint Transportation Committee. Underlined sections indicate information that was unavailable as of this draft. An earlier draft of this plan was approved by the Joint Transportation Committee on June 19, 2019. 1 Contents Participants and Endorsement Executive Summary (10) Transportation Planning Organizations (13) Section 1: Transportation Systems at a Glance (14) Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority Martha’s Vineyard Airport Roads and Automobiles Vineyard Transit Authority Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Section 2: RTP Guidance and Process (15) Federal Legislation MAP-21 and FAST Act Title VI and Environmental Justice State Legislation and Guidance Regional Planning weMove Massachusetts GreetDOT Policy Directive Greenhouse Gas Analysis Metropolitan Planning Organizations and the Global Warming Solutions Act Regional Greenhouse Gas Tracking and Evaluation in RTPs Planning and Outreach Performance Measures for Martha’s Vineyard Criteria for Project Prioritization Section 3: Martha’s Vineyard Overview (22) Introduction Demographics Population Age and Gender Population Projections Economy Economic Development Locations Notes on the Seasonal Economy Establishments and Employees Income and Earnings Housing and Seasonality Land Use and Transportation Estimates of Future Growth Section 4: The Regional Transportation Network (34) 2 General Objectives Transportation Demand Projections Water Transportation Freight Transportation Air Transportation Roads and Automobiles Bus and Van Service Taxis and Ride-Share Bicycles and Pedestrians Section 5: Environmental Issues (37) Overview Environmental Mitigation (General) Climate Change Overview Sea-Level Rise Mitigation and Adaptation Climate Change Legislation Local Planning Other Concerns Related to Greenhouse Gas Emissions Economic Impacts Transportation Improvement Projects and Climate Change Objectives Proposed Actions Section 6: Water Transportation (50) Overview List of Harbors Vessels Operating in Vineyard Waters Trends and Issues Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority Seasonal Passenger Ferries The Chappy Ferry Cruise Ships Recent Developments (Completed) Objectives Proposed Actions Section 7: Freight Transportation (68) Overview Trends and Issues Objectives Proposed Actions Section 8: Air Transportation (72) 3 Overview Trends and Issues Objectives Proposed Actions Section 9: Roads and Automobiles (77) Overview Trends and Issues Automobiles Parking Pavement Looking Ahead: Key Locations Five Corners Upper State Road Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road The Triangle Oak Bluffs Downtown Aquinnah Circle Menemsha Capstone Project in West Tisbury Context-Sensitive Design Objectives Proposed Actions General Traffic Mitigation Roads and Bridges Parking Section 10: Bus and Van Service (97) Overview Trends and Issues Vineyard Transit Authority Organization and Funding Electrification of the VTA Fleet Other Bus Services Other Issues Objectives Proposed Actions Short-Term Actions Other Actions Section 11: Taxis and Ride-Share (105) Overview Trends and Issues Objectives 4 Proposed Actions Section 12: Bicycles and Pedestrians (108) Overview Description and Analysis of Existing Facilities Roadways Sidewalks Shared-Use Paths Trails Trends and Issues Developments Objectives General Specific Proposed Actions Short-Term Actions Bicycles Pedestrian Facilities Section 13: Mopeds (118) Overview Trends and Issues Objectives Proposed Actions Section 14: Safety and Security (120) Section 15: Livability (125) Overview Livability in Transportation Livability in Development and TIP Projects Complete Streets Multimodal Links Objectives Proposed Actions Inter-modality Transportation Information Section 16: Financial Information and Projects (131) Financial Analysis and Constraints Highway Funding Projections Transit Funding Projections Proposed Projects, Costs, and Timeframes Summary and Conclusion (134) 5 Appendix (135) 6 Participants and Endorsement Martha’s Vineyard Committee of Signatories Alice Butler Chairman, Vineyard Transit Authority Jonathan Gulliver Administrator, MassDOT Highway Division Stephanie Pollack Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, MassDOT Douglas Sederholm Chairman, Martha’s Vineyard Commission Martha’s Vineyard Joint Transportation Committee Voting Members Leon Brathwaite County of Dukes County Richard Combra, Jr. Town of Oak Bluffs Keith Emin Town of Chilmark Angela Grant Vineyard Transit Authority Jennifer Rand Town of West Tisbury Ray Tattersall Town of Tisbury Adam Turner Martha’s Vineyard Commission Durwood Vanderhoop Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head/Aquinnah Vacant Town of Aquinnah Vacant Town of Edgartown Non-voting members Pamela Haznar, P.E. MassDOT District 5 Timothy Kochan MassDOT District 5 Jeffrey McEwen Federal Highway Administration Mary Beth Mello Federal Transit Administration Bryan Pounds MassDOT Simon Shapiro Oak Bluffs (Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee) Derek Shooster MassDOT William Veno, AICP Martha’s Vineyard Commission Vacant Steamship Authority Vacant Martha’s Vineyard Airport Martha’s Vineyard Commission Staff Adam Turner Executive Director Sheri Caseau Water Resources Planner Dan Doyle Special Projects Planner Alex Elvin General Planner Christine Flynn Economic Development and Affordable Housing Planner Michael Mauro Transportation Program Manager Lucy Morrison Executive Assistant Curt Schroeder Administrator and Chief Fiscal Officer Chris Seidel Cartographer and GIS Coordinator 7 Jo-Ann Taylor Coastal Planner and DCPC Coordinator William Veno, AICP Senior Planner 8 Endorsement [INSERT PDF WITH SIGNATURES] 9 Executive Summary This Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) for 2020–2040 comes at a time of transition for Martha’s Vineyard. As seasonal crowds continue to grow, and more and more vehicles strain the Island’s roadways and other infrastructure, transportation planning has focused more intently on alternatives to single-occupant automobile use. At the same time, state and global action in regard to climate change has helped generate Islandwide advocacy and planning efforts that aim in part to reduce fossil fuel use in the transportation sector. Building upon the previous Martha’s Vineyard RTP, issued in 2015, this update provides both general and detailed analyses of the Island transportation network, including all regular modes of travel to and within Dukes County. It also draws from the MVC’s 2019 Martha’s Vineyard Statistical Profile, which collects a large amount of data related many aspects of Island life, including transportation. Beginning with section 6, the plan examines each mode of transportation in terms of trends and issues, and for each mode we offer a series of objectives and proposed actions that were developed in collaboration with transportation system administrators, MVC staff, members of the MVC’s Joint Transportation Committee and Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and the public at large. Section 5, on environmental issues; and section 15, on the concept of livability, also include objectives and proposed actions, since both topics should figure prominently in the transportation planning process. Based on our analysis of trends and issues (and within the constraints of state and federal budget projections), this plan recommends X projects totaling $X, for the years 2020–2040. Section 16 includes a table of estimated budgets and a general timeframe for each project, although funding at this point is not guaranteed. The proposed projects will be reviewed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), and those that are approved will be included in the Island’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which is updated every year and details all funded transportation projects over a four-year period. [GRAPH: BREAKDOWN OF SPENDING RECOMMENDATIONS] The Vineyard’s isolation from the mainland, along with its tourism economy, scenic roads, and widely dispersed town centers, housing, and other destinations, create many opportunities for multimodal transportation. A summer visitor departing the ferry in Oak Bluffs, for example, may catch a taxi or ride-share at the terminal, rent a bicycle in town, take a shared-use-path to Edgartown for lunch, walk to the beach, and take a bus up-Island for the sunset. In light of the existing infrastructure and diverse modes of transportation already in use, this RTP encourages a comprehensive approach to transportation planning, focusing on intermodal travel options and creating a seamless travel experience for Island residents and visitors. Global warming and rising sea levels present by far the greatest long-term challenge to the Island’s transportation network, and should serve as the primary context for all such planning. Massachusetts has made considerable progress toward the goals of its 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), which mandates greenhouse gas reductions of 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, and at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Thanks largely to a series of state laws, regulations, and initiatives since 2008, greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts have fallen to about 20% of 1990 levels, and are on track to meet the goal for 2020, However, more work must be done to meet the goal for 2050. 10 In a major step forward for the Island,