PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jackie Jones at jjones@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period with a Virtual Public Meeting on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on addition of Rehoboth bridge project and Steamship Authority projects and earlier construction year for Norton intersection project on the region’s 2026-2030 TIP.

March 17, 2026 – The Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO)’s FFY2026-2030 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is being amended to program two additional projects and move up one project’s construction year. These proposed changes are being released for a 21-day public comment period and are not yet being endorsed, allowing time for review and feedback before any final decisions are made. FFY2026-2030 TIP Amendment #4 proposes the following changes:

More detailed information on the amendment can be found on SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following link:  FFY2026-2030 TIP Amendment #4. The TIP is the programming document listing all federally funded road and bridge projects in the region and all transit projects for both the Greater Attleboro and Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) over five years. Each year, the SMMPO decides how to allocate about $30 million in federal funding for the region, which supplements state and local transportation infrastructure investments in Southeastern Massachusetts. The SMMPO conducts the federally required metropolitan transportation planning process for 27 Southeastern Massachusetts communities and is one of Massachusetts’ thirteen Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

All of this work helps support the region’s 27 communities toward building a safer, and more accessible, connected, reliable, and resilient transportation system for all mode users.

Proposed FFY2026-2030 TIP Amendment #4 will have a 21-day public comment period and will be endorsed at the next SMMPO meeting on April 21st. A public meeting to discuss these topics will be held virtually on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below. 

The meetings will be conducted through ZOOM. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone, or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.                                                     

Register in advance for the virtual meeting at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cPnCCh9hSJyC-HkOsQQtRQ

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including:

  • By phone call to 508-824-1367;

The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

         # # #

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jackie Jones at jjones@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period with a Virtual Public Meeting on January 12, 2026, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on proposed significant cost and construction year changes for major transportation projects on the region’s TIP and on release of proposed additional freight corridors for the Southeast Massachusetts region.

December 18, 2025 – The Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO)’s FFY2026-2030 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is being amended to program several proposed significant changes to major transportation projects in the region. MassDOT recently conducted an internal analysis of its projects and programs and proposed some changes to ensure they are programmed for the most up to date cost estimates in the appropriate federal fiscal years (FFYs) in advance of its TIP readiness days to reduce confusion. These proposed adjustments are part of the recent annual State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) maintenance. They are being released for a 21-day public comment period and are not yet being endorsed, allowing time for review and feedback before any final decisions are made. TIP Amendment #3 proposes the following changes:

More detailed information on the document can be found on SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following link:  FFY2026-2030 TIP Amendment #3. The TIP is the programming document listing all federally funded road and bridge projects in the region and all transit projects for both GATRA and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) over five years. Each year, the SMMPO decides how to allocate about $30 million in federal funding for the region, which supplements state and local transportation infrastructure investments in Southeastern Massachusetts. The SMMPO conducts the federally required metropolitan transportation planning process for 27 Southeastern Massachusetts communities and is one of Massachusetts’ thirteen Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

Additionally, as part of MassDOT’s statewide freight planning efforts, MPOs across the state were asked to identify critical areas for freight movement throughout their regions. MassDOT designated about 17.4 miles of roadway to be included as critical urban freight corridors, and 7.16 miles of roadway to be included as rural freight corridors throughout the SRPEDD region. Roads were designated as urban or rural based on existing urbanized areas (UZAs) as designated by the US Census Bureau.

SRPEDD identified new critical urban and rural freight corridors in the Southeast Massachusetts region using existing freight planning and traffic count data, including truck volumes, connections to industrial parks and major highways, and known truck travel time issues. The work occurred between August and November, after which proposed, corridors were sent to MassDOT for review. The SMMPO voted to release the proposed designations to a 21-day public comment period at its December 16 meeting, with a vote anticipated to officially designate the new corridors at its January  20th meeting. MassDOT certification of the new freight corridors is expected in March 2026, and by August 2026, pending Federal Highway Administration approval the corridors would be incorporated into the Massachusetts Freight Plan, making projects on these corridors eligible for National Highway Freight Program funding.

New rural freight corridors are being proposed in Middleborough, Berkley, and Carver, while new urban freight corridors are being proposed in Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, North Attleboro, Freetown, Swansea, Mansfield, Middleborough, Carver, Wareham, Rochester, Norton, Dartmouth, Seekonk, Plainville, and Somerset. The proposed corridors can be viewed on a map at https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/f8c5306da42343b89aafcba56625647f.

All of this work helps support the region’s 27 communities toward building a safer, and more accessible, connected, reliable, and resilient transportation system for all mode users.

FFY2026-2030 TIP Amendment #3 and proposed additional freight corridor designations will have a 21-day public comment period and will be endorsed at the next SMMPO meeting on January 20th. A public meeting to discuss these topics will be held virtually on Thursday, January 12, 2026, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meetings will be conducted through ZOOM. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone, or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.                                                     

Register in advance for the virtual meeting at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ERtJHbRpTvuZpBPZwyG7pw

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including:

  • By phone call to 508-824-1367;

The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

# # #

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jackie Jones at jjones@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period with a Virtual Public Meeting on January 12, 2026, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on proposed significant cost and construction year changes for major transportation projects on the region’s TIP and on release of proposed additional freight corridors for the Southeast Massachusetts region.

December 18, 2025 – The Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO)’s FFY2026-2030 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is being amended to program several proposed significant changes to major transportation projects in the region. MassDOT recently conducted an internal analysis of its projects and programs and proposed some changes to ensure they are programmed for the most up to date cost estimates in the appropriate federal fiscal years (FFYs) in advance of its TIP readiness days to reduce confusion. These proposed adjustments are part of the recent annual State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) maintenance. They are being released for a 21-day public comment period and are not yet being endorsed, allowing time for review and feedback before any final decisions are made. TIP Amendment #3 proposes the following changes:

More detailed information on the document can be found on SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following link:  FFY2026-2030 TIP Amendment #3. The TIP is the programming document listing all federally funded road and bridge projects in the region and all transit projects for both GATRA and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) over five years. Each year, the SMMPO decides how to allocate about $30 million in federal funding for the region, which supplements state and local transportation infrastructure investments in Southeastern Massachusetts. The SMMPO conducts the federally required metropolitan transportation planning process for 27 Southeastern Massachusetts communities and is one of Massachusetts’ thirteen Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

Additionally, as part of MassDOT’s statewide freight planning efforts, MPOs across the state were asked to identify critical areas for freight movement throughout their regions. MassDOT designated about 17.4 miles of roadway to be included as critical urban freight corridors, and 7.16 miles of roadway to be included as rural freight corridors throughout the SRPEDD region. Roads were designated as urban or rural based on existing urbanized areas (UZAs) as designated by the US Census Bureau.

SRPEDD identified new critical urban and rural freight corridors in the Southeast Massachusetts region using existing freight planning and traffic count data, including truck volumes, connections to industrial parks and major highways, and known truck travel time issues. The work occurred between August and November, after which proposed, corridors were sent to MassDOT for review. The SMMPO voted to release the proposed designations to a 21-day public comment period at its December 16 meeting, with a vote anticipated to officially designate the new corridors at its January  20th meeting. MassDOT certification of the new freight corridors is expected in March 2026, and by August 2026, pending Federal Highway Administration approval the corridors would be incorporated into the Massachusetts Freight Plan, making projects on these corridors eligible for National Highway Freight Program funding.

New rural freight corridors are being proposed in Middleborough, Berkley, and Carver, while new urban freight corridors are being proposed in Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, North Attleboro, Freetown, Swansea, Mansfield, Middleborough, Carver, Wareham, Rochester, Norton, Dartmouth, Seekonk, Plainville, and Somerset. The proposed corridors can be viewed on a map at https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/f8c5306da42343b89aafcba56625647f.

All of this work helps support the region’s 27 communities toward building a safer, and more accessible, connected, reliable, and resilient transportation system for all mode users.

FFY2026-2030 TIP Amendment #3 and proposed additional freight corridor designations will have a 21-day public comment period and will be endorsed at the next SMMPO meeting on January 20th. A public meeting to discuss these topics will be held virtually on Thursday, January 12, 2026, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meetings will be conducted through ZOOM. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone, or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.                                                     

Register in advance for the virtual meeting at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ERtJHbRpTvuZpBPZwyG7pw

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including:

  • By phone call to 508-824-1367;

The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

# # #

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Daniel Brogan at dbrogan@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period with a Virtual Public Meeting on December 4, 2025, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on the release of Proposed Amendment #2 of the FFY2026-2030 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) that includes cost changes for various GATRA and SRTA Regional Transit Authority items.

November 20, 2025 – The Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO)’s FFY2026-2030 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is being amended to program cost changes for various Greater Attleboro and Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) and Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) expenses. The Amendment includes one GATRA item and several SRTA items. GATRA’s Wareham East Maintenance Facility previously had $3.9 million in 5307 funds in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2026, but this has been reduced to $0 due to shifting construction timelines. Approximately $5.6 million in RTA capital funds remains committed to this project, which recently broke ground. For SRTA, the replacement of two vans is being shifted from FFY 2026 to 2027 because the match source has changed from RTA capital funds to statewide toll credits. Other SRTA items involve large cost variances related to the planned Fall River maintenance facility. These changes are primarily caused by delays associated with securing and obtaining approval for an environmentally resilient site that will support growing ridership driven by South Coast Rail, the Gateway Link, and fare-free bus service. The new facility is needed to serve Fall River and surrounding communities and to accommodate SRTA’s continued system growth.

The TIP is the programming document listing all federally funded road and bridge projects in the region and all transit projects for both GATRA and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) over five years. Each year, the Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO) decides how to allocate about $30 million in federal funding for the region, which supplements state and local transportation infrastructure investments in Southeastern Massachusetts. The SMMPO conducts the federally required metropolitan transportation planning process for 27 Southeastern Massachusetts communities and is one of Massachusetts’ thirteen Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

All of this work helps support the region’s 27 communities toward building a safer, and more accessible, connected, reliable, and resilient transportation system for all mode users.

The public meeting for FFY26-30 TIP Amendment #2 will be held virtually on Thursday, December 4th, 2025, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meetings will be conducted through ZOOM. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone, or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.                                                     

Register in advance for the virtual meeting at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87524982447?pwd=tfclbKbSnzmN00xU5hss1kbbZbAMtb.1

FFY2026-2030 TIP Amendment #2 will have a 21-day public comment period and will be endorsed at the next SMMPO meeting on December 16th. More detailed information on the document can be found on SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following link:  FFY2026-2030 TIP Amendment #2.

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including:

  • By phone call to 508-824-1367;
  • Attending the monthly Joint Transportation Planning Group meeting on December 10. For more info visit: srpedd.org/transportation/jtpg.

The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

         # # #

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Lisa Estrela-Pedro at lestrela@srpedd.org or Andrea Duarte-Campos at aduarte@srpedd.org  for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 45-day Public Comment Period and Virtual Public Meeting – Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on the release of the SMMPO’s Draft Public Participation Plan and Draft Language Assistance Plan.

 

October 22, 2025 – The Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO)’s Public Participation Plan (PPP) and Language Assistance Plan (LAP) are being updated and the draft documents are being released to a 45-day public comment period. The PPP guides SMMPO staff’s public outreach and engagement activities during development of SMMPO plans, projects, and services and explains all components of the metropolitan or regional transportation planning process. It is developed with the ultimate goal of allowing every person in the region ample meaningful opportunities to become active participants in the Continuous, Cooperative and Comprehensive (3C) metropolitan transportation planning and decision-making process guiding the SMMPO’s work toward building a transportation system that meets the needs of all residents and stakeholders in the region. The Plan was last updated in 2022, and this year’s update has been informed by recent policy changes, federal certification requirements, and insights from recent public engagement efforts. This year’s update includes the following changes:

  • Addition of public engagement goals and principles
  • Addition of public engagement evaluation metrics
  • Explanation of the SMMPO and Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District’s (SRPEDD) alternate meeting notice process adopted in 2024
  • Explanation of changes to SMMPO’s virtual public meeting procedures
  • Clarified, step-by-step explanation of public participation opportunities in each of the SMMPO’s work products
  • Addition of menu with explanations of SMMPO staff’s various outreach and engagement methods and how they are used
  • Addition of glossary, maps of the region’s Title VI populations, document and meeting accessibility checklists
  • Updated Limited English Proficient demographic data
  • Restructuring of the document for easier readability and use

The LAP guides SMMPO’s staff’s methods for reaching and engaging the region’s Limited English Proficient (LEP) communities, ensuring LEP individuals have equal access to meaningfully participate in the SMMPO’s programs, activities, and services. The LAP outlines how SMMPO staff assess language needs in the region, implement language services that ensure meaningful access to transportation planning, and communicate information about these services. Developed in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and U.S. DOT and FTA guidance, the LAP applies a four-factor analysis to determine regional language needs: (1) the number and proportion of LEP individuals, (2) frequency of contact with LEP individuals, (3) importance of MPO services to LEP individuals, and (4) resources available and overall cost.

7% of individuals and 5% of households in the SMMPO’s Southeast Massachusetts region are currently LEP. Using American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample, and Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education data, the MPO identified Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole as the region’s primary languages currently meeting/exceeding the US DOT’s “Safe Harbor” threshold, with Chinese and Vietnamese also noted as significant. LEP populations are concentrated in Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton, where Portuguese and Spanish are most common.

Previous Language Assistance Plans used American Community Survey (ACS) data to identify the languages spoken by individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) in the SMMPO region. Beginning with the 2016 ACS, however, the U.S. Census Bureau revised how non-English languages spoken at home are reported. As a result of changes to data coding and privacy protections, new languages are listed, while others have been grouped into broader language categories. These broader language categories pose a challenge in the SMMPO region, where languages such as Portuguese are now aggregated under the “Other Indo-European Languages” category. This change is especially significant given that Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton are home to some of the largest Portuguese-speaking communities in the country. To address these constraints, staff supplemented ACS data by gathering language information from additional sources to gain a more comprehensive understanding of language needs in the SMMPO region.

The MPO frequently interacts with LEP residents at community events, focus groups, and through partnerships with local organizations. It provides interpretation and translation services—either proactively or upon request—for all public meetings and outreach. MPO staff includes bilingual personnel fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, and French, and SRPEDD maintains a contract with Language Line for phone interpretation in over 170 languages. SRPEDD website features a built-in translation tool. SMMPO staff will review U.S. Census data every two years and Massachusetts DESE data annually to adapt to demographic changes and ensure effective language access in the region.

The public meeting on the draft Public Participation Plan and Language Assistance Plan will be held virtually, on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meeting will be conducted through ZOOM. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone, or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.

Register in advance for the online meeting at this link:                                                  

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_to-LPB-iTqesPwafG86JWQ       

The Draft Public Participation Plan and Language Assistance Plan will have a 45-day public comment period, with final versions to be endorsed at the December 16 SMMPO meeting. More detailed information on the documents can be found on SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following links: Draft Public Participation Plan, Draft Language Assistance Plan.

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including:

 The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

All of this work helps support the region’s 27 communities toward building a safer, and more accessible, connected, reliable, and resilient transportation system for all mode users.

                                                         # # #

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Lisa Estrela-Pedro at lestrela@srpedd.org or Andrea Duarte-Campos at aduarte@srpedd.org  for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 45-day Public Comment Period and Virtual Public Meeting – Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on the release of the SMMPO’s Draft Public Participation Plan and Draft Language Assistance Plan.

 

October 22, 2025 – The Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO)’s Public Participation Plan (PPP) and Language Assistance Plan (LAP) are being updated and the draft documents are being released to a 45-day public comment period. The PPP guides SMMPO staff’s public outreach and engagement activities during development of SMMPO plans, projects, and services and explains all components of the metropolitan or regional transportation planning process. It is developed with the ultimate goal of allowing every person in the region ample meaningful opportunities to become active participants in the Continuous, Cooperative and Comprehensive (3C) metropolitan transportation planning and decision-making process guiding the SMMPO’s work toward building a transportation system that meets the needs of all residents and stakeholders in the region. The Plan was last updated in 2022, and this year’s update has been informed by recent policy changes, federal certification requirements, and insights from recent public engagement efforts. This year’s update includes the following changes:

  • Addition of public engagement goals and principles
  • Addition of public engagement evaluation metrics
  • Explanation of the SMMPO and Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District’s (SRPEDD) alternate meeting notice process adopted in 2024
  • Explanation of changes to SMMPO’s virtual public meeting procedures
  • Clarified, step-by-step explanation of public participation opportunities in each of the SMMPO’s work products
  • Addition of menu with explanations of SMMPO staff’s various outreach and engagement methods and how they are used
  • Addition of glossary, maps of the region’s Title VI populations, document and meeting accessibility checklists
  • Updated Limited English Proficient demographic data
  • Restructuring of the document for easier readability and use

The LAP guides SMMPO’s staff’s methods for reaching and engaging the region’s Limited English Proficient (LEP) communities, ensuring LEP individuals have equal access to meaningfully participate in the SMMPO’s programs, activities, and services. The LAP outlines how SMMPO staff assess language needs in the region, implement language services that ensure meaningful access to transportation planning, and communicate information about these services. Developed in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and U.S. DOT and FTA guidance, the LAP applies a four-factor analysis to determine regional language needs: (1) the number and proportion of LEP individuals, (2) frequency of contact with LEP individuals, (3) importance of MPO services to LEP individuals, and (4) resources available and overall cost.

7% of individuals and 5% of households in the SMMPO’s Southeast Massachusetts region are currently LEP. Using American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample, and Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education data, the MPO identified Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole as the region’s primary languages currently meeting/exceeding the US DOT’s “Safe Harbor” threshold, with Chinese and Vietnamese also noted as significant. LEP populations are concentrated in Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton, where Portuguese and Spanish are most common.

Previous Language Assistance Plans used American Community Survey (ACS) data to identify the languages spoken by individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) in the SMMPO region. Beginning with the 2016 ACS, however, the U.S. Census Bureau revised how non-English languages spoken at home are reported. As a result of changes to data coding and privacy protections, new languages are listed, while others have been grouped into broader language categories. These broader language categories pose a challenge in the SMMPO region, where languages such as Portuguese are now aggregated under the “Other Indo-European Languages” category. This change is especially significant given that Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton are home to some of the largest Portuguese-speaking communities in the country. To address these constraints, staff supplemented ACS data by gathering language information from additional sources to gain a more comprehensive understanding of language needs in the SMMPO region.

The MPO frequently interacts with LEP residents at community events, focus groups, and through partnerships with local organizations. It provides interpretation and translation services—either proactively or upon request—for all public meetings and outreach. MPO staff includes bilingual personnel fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, and French, and SRPEDD maintains a contract with Language Line for phone interpretation in over 170 languages. SRPEDD website features a built-in translation tool. SMMPO staff will review U.S. Census data every two years and Massachusetts DESE data annually to adapt to demographic changes and ensure effective language access in the region.

The public meeting on the draft Public Participation Plan and Language Assistance Plan will be held virtually, on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meeting will be conducted through ZOOM. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone, or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.

Register in advance for the online meeting at this link:                                                  

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_to-LPB-iTqesPwafG86JWQ       

The Draft Public Participation Plan and Language Assistance Plan will have a 45-day public comment period, with final versions to be endorsed at the December 16 SMMPO meeting. More detailed information on the documents can be found on SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following links: Draft Public Participation Plan, Draft Language Assistance Plan.

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including:

 The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

All of this work helps support the region’s 27 communities toward building a safer, and more accessible, connected, reliable, and resilient transportation system for all mode users.

                                                         # # #

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Lisa Estrela-Pedro at lestrela@srpedd.org or Jackie Jones at jjones@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period and Two Virtual Public Meeting Options – Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at 2:00 pm or Monday October 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on the release of the Draft Regional Evacuation Plan for Southeastern Massachusetts.

September 17, 2025 – The Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO)’s draft Regional Evacuation Plan is being released to a 21-day public comment period. The Southeastern Massachusetts region is at risk from a variety of natural and man-made disasters that can result in the need for evacuation. While individual communities in the region have done significant work to be prepared for disasters, there is a significant planning gap at the regional level. Most community level planning does not provide instruction for evacuation outside community borders, leading to conflicting routing between communities.  In order to provide and improve regional coordination, SRPEDD staff from the Homeland Security, Transportation, and Environmental departments completed a regional evacuation plan.

The study was largely informed by meetings with representatives from every municipality in the SRPEDD region, small, targeted focus groups, and meetings with statewide partners. To gain a comprehensive understanding of municipal resources for emergency situations and potential challenges, SRPEDD staff met with representatives from town administrator offices, police and fire departments, councils on aging, school departments, departments of public works, health departments, conservation agents, and other emergency management or human services staff.

This study examines the potential triggers for evacuation, clearly defines regional evacuation routes, and provides a plan to coordinate regional resources. The study also contains recommendations for improving routing and coordination and a resource list of best practices, which include:

  • Re-entry Permitting: Controlling the flow of residents back into disaster impacted areas through a permitting system administered away from the disaster area in order to make for an orderly re-entry only for those with homes in impacted areas.
  • Regional CERT: There has been a decrease in the number of active Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) after Communities may not be able to maintain a CERT if only one or two individuals are interested. However, if several municipalities band together with interested individuals, regional teams may be formed. Regionalization lets municipalities pool their budgets and share assets, and in some cases, can open grant opportunities not available to single municipalities.
  • Regional Public Info and Warning: It has been said that for a message to get across to the public they need to see it three times, e.g., on the municipal Facebook page, on a variable traffic message board, and a text from their local alert system. Building a robust database of people opted into emergency alerts, and wide-scale, unified messaging from municipal websites, leaders, and community groups to get individuals opting into this system, will be crucial to spreading the word in an emergency.
  • Regional Sheltering: For some municipalities, capacity for resourcing, staffing, and operating an emergency shelter for 72 hours before help arrives is now more limited. Regionalizing shelters spreads the burden of resourcing and operating across regional partners and makes it easier to send one-two personnel every other shift than fully staff a shelter with just one municipality’s resources. Centralizing clients in one shelter also facilitates provision of wraparound services.

The Plan will help tie identified needs to potential funding sources and proposes next steps. SRPEDD staff will be doing tabletop exercises with community stakeholders to test evacuation scenarios and will distribute best practice information to local stakeholders and the public, which will include updated routing and TIP project evaluation criteria that prioritizes TIP funding towards projects that help strengthen evacuation routing.

All of this work helps support the region’s 27 communities toward building a safer, and more accessible, connected, reliable, and resilient transportation system for all mode users.

Two virtual public meetings on the draft Regional Evacuation Plan will be held remotely, one on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at 2:00 pm and one on Monday October 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm. The same information will be presented at both meetings; there is no need to attend both. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meetings will be conducted through ZOOM. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone, or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.

Register in advance for the September 30, 2025 (2 pm) webinar at this link:                                              https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_z3Jomt7rS2OaynGMll0KYw                                     

Register in advance for the October 6, 2025 (4 pm) webinar at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZjlZlfT6RDaTVDmpp9WQgg

The Draft Evacuation Plan will have a 21-day public comment period, and a final version will be endorsed at the next SMMPO meeting which is scheduled for October 21st. More detailed information on the document can be found on SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following link: Draft Regional Evacuation Plan.

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including: via e-mail at kham@srpedd.org; our website at https://srpedd.org/contact-us/; our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SRPEDD/; or Instagram @SRPEDD https://www.instagram.com/srpedd/

 The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

         # # #

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Lisa Estrela-Pedro at lestrela@srpedd.org or Jackie Jones at jjones@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period and Two Virtual Public Meeting Options – Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at 2:00 pm or Monday October 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on the release of the Draft Regional Evacuation Plan for Southeastern Massachusetts.

September 17, 2025 – The Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO)’s draft Regional Evacuation Plan is being released to a 21-day public comment period. The Southeastern Massachusetts region is at risk from a variety of natural and man-made disasters that can result in the need for evacuation. While individual communities in the region have done significant work to be prepared for disasters, there is a significant planning gap at the regional level. Most community level planning does not provide instruction for evacuation outside community borders, leading to conflicting routing between communities.  In order to provide and improve regional coordination, SRPEDD staff from the Homeland Security, Transportation, and Environmental departments completed a regional evacuation plan.

The study was largely informed by meetings with representatives from every municipality in the SRPEDD region, small, targeted focus groups, and meetings with statewide partners. To gain a comprehensive understanding of municipal resources for emergency situations and potential challenges, SRPEDD staff met with representatives from town administrator offices, police and fire departments, councils on aging, school departments, departments of public works, health departments, conservation agents, and other emergency management or human services staff.

This study examines the potential triggers for evacuation, clearly defines regional evacuation routes, and provides a plan to coordinate regional resources. The study also contains recommendations for improving routing and coordination and a resource list of best practices, which include:

  • Re-entry Permitting: Controlling the flow of residents back into disaster impacted areas through a permitting system administered away from the disaster area in order to make for an orderly re-entry only for those with homes in impacted areas.
  • Regional CERT: There has been a decrease in the number of active Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) after Communities may not be able to maintain a CERT if only one or two individuals are interested. However, if several municipalities band together with interested individuals, regional teams may be formed. Regionalization lets municipalities pool their budgets and share assets, and in some cases, can open grant opportunities not available to single municipalities.
  • Regional Public Info and Warning: It has been said that for a message to get across to the public they need to see it three times, e.g., on the municipal Facebook page, on a variable traffic message board, and a text from their local alert system. Building a robust database of people opted into emergency alerts, and wide-scale, unified messaging from municipal websites, leaders, and community groups to get individuals opting into this system, will be crucial to spreading the word in an emergency.
  • Regional Sheltering: For some municipalities, capacity for resourcing, staffing, and operating an emergency shelter for 72 hours before help arrives is now more limited. Regionalizing shelters spreads the burden of resourcing and operating across regional partners and makes it easier to send one-two personnel every other shift than fully staff a shelter with just one municipality’s resources. Centralizing clients in one shelter also facilitates provision of wraparound services.

The Plan will help tie identified needs to potential funding sources and proposes next steps. SRPEDD staff will be doing tabletop exercises with community stakeholders to test evacuation scenarios and will distribute best practice information to local stakeholders and the public, which will include updated routing and TIP project evaluation criteria that prioritizes TIP funding towards projects that help strengthen evacuation routing.

All of this work helps support the region’s 27 communities toward building a safer, and more accessible, connected, reliable, and resilient transportation system for all mode users.

Two virtual public meetings on the draft Regional Evacuation Plan will be held remotely, one on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at 2:00 pm and one on Monday October 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm. The same information will be presented at both meetings; there is no need to attend both. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meetings will be conducted through ZOOM. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone, or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.

Register in advance for the September 30, 2025 (2 pm) webinar at this link:                                                   https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_z3Jomt7rS2OaynGMll0KYw                                   

Register in advance for the October 6, 2025 (4 pm) webinar at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZjlZlfT6RDaTVDmpp9WQgg

The Draft Evacuation Plan will have a 21-day public comment period, and a final version will be endorsed at the next SMMPO meeting which is scheduled for October 21st. More detailed information on the document can be found on SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following link: Draft Regional Evacuation Plan.

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including: via e-mail at kham@srpedd.org; our website at https://srpedd.org/contact-us/; our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SRPEDD/; or Instagram @SRPEDD https://www.instagram.com/srpedd/

 The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

         # # #

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Lisa Estrela-Pedro at lestrela@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period and Virtual Public Meeting on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on the release of Proposed Amendment #4 of the FFY2025-2029 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) that includes a cost increase and change in program year for a Wareham project and inclusion of an additional transit project.

June 17, 2025 – The FFY2025-2029 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for Southeastern Massachusetts is being amended in federal fiscal years (FFYs) 2025 and 2026 to program a change in program year and cost increase for Wareham’s Project 606352 Culvert and Dam Replacement on Cranberry Highway at Route 28 and Route 6, Mill Pond Dam Over Agawam River and program inclusion of Project S13319 Airport Bus Service from the Mansfield MBTA Station to Logan Airport in FFY 2025. The year of advertisement for construction of Wareham’s culvert and dam replacement project is being moved from FFY 2025 to FFY 2026 and increased in cost from $8,637,988 to $16,653,073 because its Right of Way process was paused earlier this year and will require an additional 6 to 9 months to complete. It is being funded with statewide Highway Resiliency Improvement Program funds. The total cost for this project is now $38.5 million which will be programmed over 4 years from 2026 to 2029. The 2025 – 2029 TIP will also program operating costs of year 3 of the Mansfield Blue Apple Bus Service to Logan Airport in year 2025. $660,000 will be programmed in FFY 2025 for this service continuation. Funds for the continuation have been flexed from the statewide Office of Transportation Planning funding source to the Federal Transit Administration funding source.

The TIP is the programming document listing all federally funded road and bridge projects in the region and all transit projects for both GATRA and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) over five years. Each year, the Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO) decides how to allocate about $30 million in federal funding for the region, which supplements state and local transportation infrastructure investments in Southeastern Massachusetts. The SMMPO conducts the federally required metropolitan transportation planning process for 27 Southeastern Massachusetts communities and is one of Massachusetts’ thirteen Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

A virtual public meeting on this amendment will be held remotely on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meeting will be conducted through ZOOM. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.

The direct link to the public meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84396210312?pwd=BB6dmUw8BidrpaliK2oaLOV9lVES3r.1
Meeting ID: 843 9621 0312
Meeting Password: 796423

FFY25-29 TIP Amendment #4 will have a 21-day public comment period and will be endorsed on July 9th  on the condition that there are no adverse comments received. More detailed information on FFY25-29 TIP Amendment #4 can be found on SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following links: FFY2025-2029 TIP Amendment #4.

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including: via e-mail at lestrela@srpedd.org; our website at https://srpedd.org/contact-us/; our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SRPEDD/; or Twitter @SRPEDD_NEWS at https://twitter.com/SRPEDD_NEWS

The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

         # # #

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Lisa Estrela-Pedro at lestrela@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period and Virtual Public Meeting on Thursday, March 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on the release of Amendment #2 of the FFY2025-2029 TIP that includes various transit project fund reallocations and Amendment #1 of the FY2025 UPWP that will add development of a Regional Age- and Dementia-Friendly Plan.

February 19, 2025 – The FFY2025-2029 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for Southeastern Massachusetts is being amended in federal fiscal years (FFYs) 2025 and 2026 to program cost and timeline changes for various Greater Attleboro-Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) projects. A bus purchase project will be added to FFY2025 and construction of the Wareham East Maintenance Facility is being pushed out to FFY2026. These modifications will lead to the proposed fund reallocation or downsizing of several projects, including GATRA’s parcel 6A solar project, purchase of support vehicles, rehabilitation of bus facilities, miscellaneous support equipment, and other vehicle replacements.

The TIP is the programming document listing all federally funded road and bridge projects in the region and all transit projects for both GATRA and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) over five years. Each year, the Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO) decides how to allocate about $26 million in federal funding for the region, which supplements state and local transportation infrastructure investments in Southeastern Massachusetts. The SMMPO conducts the federally required metropolitan transportation planning process for 27 Southeastern Massachusetts communities and is one of Massachusetts’ thirteen Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

The region’s FFY2025 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) is also being amended to include tasks for the development of a Regional Age- and Dementia-Friendly Plan. In the coming decades, no population in the Southeastern Massachusetts region is projected to experience as much growth as older adults over 65 years of age. SMMPO staff are responding to older adult needs identified in previous work and collaborating with various local partners to create a work plan of action items staff will take to support SMMPO communities toward creating physical and social environments that are inclusive and accessible for people of all ages, with a focus on helping older people live well. The focus will be on highlighting deficiencies and recommendations relating to older adult transportation and mobility infrastructure and will also draw connections to housing, food access, and open spaces. The UPWP identifies all the transportation planning activities to be undertaken by SMMPO staff in the SRPEDD region over the federal fiscal year. Planning activities include transportation studies, data collection, technical assistance to communities and other projects.

All of this work helps support the region’s 27 communities toward building a safer, and more equitable, connected, reliable, and resilient transportation system for all mode users.

A virtual public meeting on the proposed amendment will be held on Thursday, March 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meeting will be conducted through ZOOM. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.

To register for the public meeting visit:          https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hx91n0GwSxiXAqHDUYZOyg

Meeting ID: 886 3799 3326

Meeting Password: 083246

Proposed FFY25-29 TIP Amendment #2 and FFY2025 UPWP Amendment #1 will have a 21-day public comment period and will be endorsed at the next SMMPO meeting which is scheduled for March 18th. For more information about the proposed amendment, visit SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following link: FFY2025-2029 TIP Amendment #1 and FFY2026 UPWP Amendment #2.

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including: via e-mail at lestrela@srpedd.org; our website at https://srpedd.org/contact-us/; our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SRPEDD/ or Twitter @SRPEDD_NEWS at https:// https://x.com/SRPEDD_NEWS.

The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

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