Comprehensive Regional Transit Plan Update Montachusett Regional Transit Authority Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Overview of MART Services ....................................................................................... 2 1.3 Planning Process ....................................................................................................... 2 1.3.1 Review of Transit Services and Market Conditions ......................................... 2 1.3.2 Scenario Planning ........................................................................................... 3 1.3.3 Public Outreach ............................................................................................... 3 1.4 Core Needs and Recommendations .......................................................................... 3 2. Background and 2020 Context ............................................................................................ 5 2.1 Background ................................................................................................................ 5 2.1.1 Governor’s Commission on the Future of Transportation ................................ 6 2.1.2 A Vision for the Future of Massachusetts’ Regional Transit Authorities ........... 7 2.1.3 Transportation & Climate Initiative ................................................................... 8 2.1.4 MBTA Fare Transformation .............................................................................. 9 2.2 2020 Context .............................................................................................................. 9 2.2.1 COVID-19 Pandemic ....................................................................................... 9 2.2.2 Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ........................ 10 2.3 Plan Considerations ................................................................................................. 11 2.3.1 Transit Demand and Economic Uncertainties ............................................... 11 3. Agency Overview ............................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Transit Agency Background ...................................................................................... 13 3.2 Mission ..................................................................................................................... 15 3.3 Goals and Objectives ............................................................................................... 15 4. Transit Service Overview (FY 2015–FY 2019) .................................................................. 17 4.1 Description of Existing Services ............................................................................... 17 4.2 Ridership and Service Operations ............................................................................ 22 4.3 Asset Management .................................................................................................. 29 4.4 Policies and Procedures ........................................................................................... 33 4.5 Regional Connections and Other Transit Providers ................................................. 34 4.6 Fare Rates and Structure ......................................................................................... 35 4.7 Fare Policy ............................................................................................................... 36 5. Market Evaluation .............................................................................................................. 38 5.1 Service Area Overview ............................................................................................. 38 5.2 Demographics Conditions ........................................................................................ 38 5.2.1 Age and Race ................................................................................................ 40 5.2.2 Socioeconomics ............................................................................................ 40 5.3 Employment ............................................................................................................. 47 5.4 Local and Regional Travel Patterns.......................................................................... 47 5.5 Land Use and Growth .............................................................................................. 47 5.6 Transit Score ............................................................................................................ 51 6. Performance Monitoring .................................................................................................... 53 6.1 Current Performance Measurement Practices ......................................................... 53 6.1.1 State and Federal Monitoring Requirements ................................................. 54 6.1.2 Performance Metrics and Targets from MassDOT Memorandum of Understanding ............................................................................................... 54 6.1.3 How the Transit Market Has Been Affected by COVID-19 ............................. 55 AECOM ii Comprehensive Regional Transit Plan Update Montachusett Regional Transit Authority 6.2 Considerations for the Next 5 Years: Moving to a Data-Driven, Performance- Focused Decision-Making Framework ..................................................................... 58 6.2.1 Data ............................................................................................................... 58 6.2.2 Performance Metrics ..................................................................................... 58 6.2.3 Public Transparency ...................................................................................... 61 7. Transportation Needs ........................................................................................................ 63 7.1 Needs/Opportunities Identification Process .............................................................. 63 7.2 Recovery Scenarios ................................................................................................. 63 7.2.1 High-Ridership Scenario ................................................................................ 64 7.2.2 Medium-Ridership Scenario .......................................................................... 64 7.2.3 Low-Ridership Scenario ................................................................................ 65 7.3 List of 2021–2025 Needs/Growth Opportunities....................................................... 65 8. Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 68 8.1 Guiding Principles .................................................................................................... 68 8.2 Scoring ..................................................................................................................... 68 8.3 Recommendations Overview.................................................................................... 69 8.3.1 Service Recommendations ............................................................................ 72 8.3.2 Capital Recommendations ............................................................................ 75 8.3.3 Administrative Recommendations ................................................................. 76 Appendix A Illustrative FY 2015–FY 2019 Performance Results and Peer Review .................... 78 FY 2015 to FY 2019 Performance Evaluation ................................................................... 78 Service Effectiveness ............................................................................................... 78 Customer Service and Satisfaction .......................................................................... 80 Asset Management .................................................................................................. 82 Financial Performance ............................................................................................. 85 Peer Evaluation ................................................................................................................. 87 Appendix B Commonwealth Environmental Policies .................................................................. 90 Appendix C Public Outreach Survey Summary .......................................................................... 92 MART Public Outreach Survey .......................................................................................... 92 Survey Development and Publication ................................................................................ 92 Online Survey .................................................................................................................... 92 AECOM iii Comprehensive Regional Transit Plan Update Montachusett Regional Transit Authority Figures Figure 1. Change in National Transit Ridership (April 15, 2020–October 12, 2020) ................... 10 Figure 2. Change in Annual Ridership by Year for Bus, Rail, and All Modes (1985–2020) ......... 11 Figure 3. Location Map ..............................................................................................................