JTC recommends MPO adopt MassDOT safety targets for 2026; PVTA outlines draft transit safety goals

Kiati Parmar, PVPC staff, explained federal PM1 safety performance measures required under MAP‑21 and the practice of adopting MassDOT statewide targets for the region. She said the state uses an assumption of roughly a 3% annual reduction for fatalities and serious injuries and a 5% annual reduction for non‑motorized fatalities and serious injuries when setting 2026 targets.

"These are targets which are different from goals that MPOs will establish per SS4A," Parmar said, stressing the distinction between SS4A Vision Zero goals and federally required PM1 targets. She noted recent anomalies in pandemic-era travel and that some 2023–25 data were not yet finalized.

The JTC voted unanimously to recommend that the MPO adopt MassDOT’s 2026 PM1 safety performance targets (motion moved Paul Burns; second Ben Murphy).

Paul Burns presented draft PVTA safety targets required under federal transit safety rules for calendar year 2026. PVTA’s draft targets include zero fatalities for riders and transit workers, numerical targets for collisions and injuries, and system-reliability measures (for example, miles between breakdowns of 20,500 for fixed route and 40,000 for paratransit). Burns said the targets are draft and expected to go before the PVTA advisory board for approval the following week; the JTC recommended the MPO adopt the PVTA targets pending that local board approval.

What happens next: the MPO will be asked to adopt MassDOT targets for PM1 in January; PVTA targets will proceed to the PBTA advisory board and then be finalized for MPO coordination once approved.