Regional Funding - Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)

Metro Boston Region

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is responsible for conducting the federally required metropolitan transportation-planning process for the Boston metropolitan area. The MPO develops a vision for the region and then decides how to allocate federal and some state transportation funds to programs and projects that support that vision. The work of the MPO is conducted by the Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) under the direction of the MPO.

The MPO region includes 97 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts, predominantly within interstate highway 495, a radius of approximately 20 miles from the city of Boston. It encompasses approximately 1,405 square miles. More than three million people live in the MPO region and almost two million work here. Therefore, transportation solutions take into account diverse demographic, cultural, environmental, and mobility situations.

MPO Voting Members

Click here for a list of the current list of agencies and municipalities that serve as voting members on the MPO.

Advisory Council

Cambridge has a voting seat on the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (RTAC), an independent group charged with providing public input on transportation planning to the Boston Region MPO.

Click here for more information.

Long-Range Transportation Plan

The region's Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) guides investment in the transportation system of the Boston metropolitan region over at least the next 20 years. It defines an overarching vision of the future of transportation in the region, establishes principles and policies that will lead to the achievement of that vision, and allocates projected revenue to transportation programs and projects that reflect those principles and policies. A new LRTP is developed ever 4 years. Chapter 2 of the LRTP provides vision statements and policies that support the prioritization of projects that maintain and improve public transportation facilities and services, so as to increase public transportation mode share and reduce reliance on automobiles.

Click here for more information about the current four year plan.

For more information

For more information contact Andrew Reker at areker@cambridgema.gov or 617/349-6959.