Commission endorses MassDOT safety performance targets for PM1

The Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission on Feb. 24 unanimously endorsed Massachusetts Department of Transportation targets for federally required safety performance measure PM1, which covers roadway fatalities, serious injuries and non‑motorized fatalities and serious injuries.

Transportation staff presented MassDOT’s methodology and the statewide targets the department requested metropolitan planning organizations to accept. Staff explained targets are set on a five‑year rolling average (2021–2025) and that MassDOT used year‑to‑date data, historical trends and assumed annual reductions to estimate final values. Presenters noted the statewide target examples: a 2021–2025 five‑year average target of 365 roadway fatalities (with a 2027 projection of 315 if trends continue) and a five‑year average target of 2,622 serious injuries for 2021–2025; staff also described rate projections expressed per 100,000,000 vehicle miles traveled (for example, a 2025 projected fatality rate of 0.58 per 100,000,000 VMT). Presenters emphasized MassDOT’s long‑term goal of Vision Zero (zero fatalities) while noting federal reporting requires numeric targets.

Commissioners asked questions about local vehicle‑miles‑traveled trends and were told Nantucket’s VMT per registered vehicle has trended upward, in contrast with statewide flattening. Staff said the commission will incorporate the state targets into local safety planning and the commission’s SS4A (Safe Streets and Roads for All) safety action planning work with neighboring regional partners.

A motion to accept or endorse MassDOT’s PM1 targets was moved, seconded, and approved by roll call. Commissioners stressed that endorsement does not replace local safety projects but aligns the MPO with state reporting and supports regional grant applications.