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June 2024
The Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District is here to provide updates about upcoming events, ongoing projects, grant opportunities, and technical assistance opportunities throughout the year.
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The Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA)’s advisory board voted to keep Sunday buses running at its meeting on May 30, 2024. Sunday service was added at the end of January using state assistance and will require local governments to contribute more funds in order to continue the service at the end of the June budget season. According to the New Bedford Light, “New Bedford and Fall River officials said they supported the increased costs because residents are using the extra buses...SRTA has received an outpouring of positive feedback from riders since launching Sunday buses, said [ Shayne] Trimbell, the SRTA planning director. He said riders have told him that it gives them another day to live their lives — they take the bus to get to work, run errands, visit friends, and go to church.”
SRTA’s free fares were another pilot program launched this year. However, without additional state assistance, SRTA will not be able to continue to fund the program. “The Senate has included $40 million to eliminate fares for local transit authorities in its budget for fiscal year 2025, which starts in July. The measure is funded by the new so-called millionaires tax. But the House’s version of the budget doesn’t have the same line item. Legislators will decide whether to include the funding when they reconcile the two chambers’ bills in the next step of the budget process,” according to New Bedford Light.
Click to read full article on The New Bedford Light
Other recent highlights for SRPEDD-region transit authorities include:
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SRTA’s award of a MassDOT Regional Transit Innovation Grant for a pilot micro-transit service to provide first and last-mile connections to the Fall River and New Bedford South Coast Rail MBTA commuter rail stops;
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Greater Attleboro and Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA)’s award of the same grant to pilot a program for a Fall River/Brockton/Taunton Connector to fill gaps in transportation services between these communities for medical appointments, employment opportunities, and access to educational institutions;
- Riders can now view real time locations of GATRA buses using the Google Maps Transit Trip Planner and the Transit App
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The SMMPO has voted to release to public comment a 2024-2028 TIP Amendment that proposes using surplus federal funding to advance a transit project that will replace 740 existing SRTA bus stop signs with modern signs that include a decal with the bus route and QR Code specific to each route, informing customers of real time location of buses. Learn more about the Amendment and comment period on the SRPEDD website here.
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Back in May, SRPEDD's Environmental Department worked with local volunteers and the homeowner of 17 Parkhurst Drive on Long Pond to install a living buffer using live willow stakes and whips.
The fence is a restoration pilot project that will protect water quality and serve as a demonstration site for neighbors. SRPEDD collaborated with Save the Bay and Commonplace Landscape and Planning, who both have particular expertise in the buffer strategy being deployed, to install a live willow spilling fence.
Willow spilling is a restoration technique that uses woven willow whips to reduce erosion and provide critical habitat to riparian species. One of the benefits of using willow spilling is that it can also be used to engage community members in the restoration and stewardship of the water's edge.
This workshop is part of the Long Pond Friendly Living series - a partnership with SRPEDD, the Long Pond Association, Save the Bay, and the Towns of Lakeville and Freetown. The Environmental Department will be releasing a how-to video soon for others interested in replicating it on their property.
For more information please visit: srpedd.org/pond-friendly-living.
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The Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO) has released its draft FFY2025 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) to a 21-day public comment period. The UPWP lists the transportation-related projects, technical assistance, and other activities that SMMPO staff at SRPEDD will undertake during the upcoming federal fiscal year to support the goals established in the Regional Transportation Plan, Moving Forward 2050.
New projects to be undertaken in the October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025 period include:
- phase 2 of the regional evacuation route study which will utilize communities’ emergency evacuation data collected in Phase 1 to develop a regionally coordinated plan that identifies gaps, conflict points, and other needs of the region;
- a healthy food access plan that will map data on grocery stores, food pantries, farmers markets, and other food security infrastructure locations to assess gaps in transit and active transportation access to food;
- update of the region’s freight plan;
- energy transition planning to expand public knowledge of electric vehicles and related infrastructure and funding opportunities; and
- a parking lot utilization assessment that will collect and map parking usage rate data to help communities make informed, sustainable, and cost-effective parking policies and land use decisions that reduce underutilized parking spaces, incentivize fruitful land redevelopment, improve transportation access, and contribute to positive environmental impacts.
A virtual public meeting on the draft UPWP will be held on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at 4:00 pm. Input may also be provided at the June 12 Joint Transportation Planning Group meeting. Comments may be sent via e-mail at lestrela@srpedd.org; phone: 508-824-1367, ext. 236; 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.
To read the Draft FFY2025 UPWP, visit https://srpedd.org/transportation/regional-transportation-planning/upwp/.
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SRPEDD has kicked off the agency’s first every Digital Equity Planning process. SRPEDD and Freetown are developing a Municipal Digital Equity Plan to ensure all residents have the technology and internet access needed for modern life. Digital equity impacts job applications, telehealth, education, and social connections. The plan will assess Freetown's current digital landscape and recommend improvements, like device distribution and digital literacy programs.
Community input is vital; residents can complete a survey at srpedd.org/freetown-digital-equity-plan and attend a charrette at the Freetown Council on Aging on June 13th, from 1-4pm. This initiative, funded by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, aims to close internet access gaps in Freetown.
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To learn more about Digital Equity Planning services at SRPEDD visit srpedd.org/digital-equity-planning.
For more information and opportunities related to statewide broadband initiative visit broadband.masstech.org.
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The Bay State Roads program at UMass Amherst Transportation Center provides workshops and other training in Infrastructure Management, Roadway Safety, Work Zone Safety, Worker Safety, and Workforce Development typically for municipal staff and consultants who work with cities and towns. Check out their website for upcoming trainings, courses, and vast library of instructional and educational videos and for more information to request an onsite training near you. June trainings include Complete Streets, Creating ADA-Accessible Communities, and MaPIT 5.0.
Accessibility and Mobility in a Digital and Physical World – Webinar Recording
This Safe Routes to School webinar provides actionable, detailed guidance on best practices for digital, language, and physical accessibility.
Language Access Guide for Municipalities
MAPC’s Language Access Guide is a comprehensive collection of tools, ideas, and resources for designing public processes, services, and communications that utilize plain language, include multiple languages, are responsive to disability impairments, honor and celebrate diverse cultures, and allow for meaningful participation of all individuals despite the languages they use.
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The City of Fall River invites residents and visitors to experience the Spindle City by trolley! The City has a new weekend trolley service made possible by a grant from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. It makes 12 stops along Fall River’s best historic, cultural, and recreational destinations from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays starting June 1st.
Learn More
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Municipal Americans with Disabilities Act Grant
Application Opens: May 1, 2024; Application Deadline: June 14, 2024
The Massachusetts Office of Disability (MOD) wants to work with communities to realize their ADA Title ll obligations and engage in an interactive process so that municipalities can better understand and achieve increased access and opportunities for persons with disabilities. These grants support capital improvements specifically dedicated to improving programmatic access and/or removing barriers encountered by persons with disabilities in applicant facilities throughout the Commonwealth.
Contact Lizeth Gonzalez at lgonzalez@srpedd.org for more information.
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State Revolving Fund Solicitation for New Drinking Water & Clean Water Projects
Application Deadline: July 26, 2024
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is accepting Project Evaluation Forms for construction projects, asset management planning, and Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse municipal grants. MassDEP is also accepting loan/grant applications for new projects, on a rolling basis, while funding is available, for lead service lines planning, lead service lines replacement projects, planning activities for clean water and drinking water, and community septic management.
Contact the Environmental Department at enviro@srpedd.org for more information.
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Brownfields Job Training Grants
Application Deadline: August 15, 2024
This Environmental Protection Agency Grant provides up to 20 awards of $500,000 to government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and Native Tribes for programs that provide brownfield-related job training and placement to local, unemployed or under-employed individuals.
Contact the Environmental Department at enviro@srpedd.org for more information.
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Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program
Application Deadline: August 29, 2024
Safe Streets and Roads for All Planning and Demonstration Grants provide Federal funds to develop a comprehensive safety action plan, conduct supplemental safety planning to complete or enhance an Action Plan, or carry out demonstration activities to inform the development of, or an update to, an Action Plan. The funding targets initiatives that prevent death and injuries on roadways for people including drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and users of other types of transit.
Contact the Transportation Department at aduarte@srpedd.org for more information.
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Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grant
Application Deadline: November 21, 2024
The EPA is providing 150 large community-driven grants of $10 -$20 million for projects that benefit disadvantaged communities by reducing pollution, increasing community climate resilience, and building community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. An additional 20 grants of $1-$3 million each will be provided for activities that meaningfully engage disadvantaged communities in governmental processes to advance environmental and climate justice. Partnerships of community-based organizations, local governments, higher education institutions, and/or Federally-Recognized Tribes are eligible to apply.
Contact the Environmental Department at enviro@srpedd.org for more information.
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SRPEDD Homeland Security Exercise Requests
Application Deadline: Rolling
SRPEDD has a limited supply of matching funds for municipal exercises with small to medium scopes. Good candidates might include a whole-community, entry-level cybersecurity exercise, exercising a continuity of operations (COOP) plan, or a tabletop exercise detailing a public safety Active Shooter/Hostile Event response.
If your community is interested in in this service, please fill out the interest request at the following link: https://arcg.is/1nW8XG.
To learn more about exercises offered by SRPEDD’s Homeland Security Department please visit: srpedd.org/homeland-security/exercise-design-facilitation or contact Kevin Ham at kham@srpedd.org.
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Noah Soutier
Public Health and Transportation Planner
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Noah Soutier joined the Transportation Planning Department at SRPEDD after receiving his Bachelor’s degree in both Public Health and Urban Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
With an interest in the intersection of these two disciplines, Noah assists in prioritizing public health-focused transportation services for all Southeastern Massachusetts residents through innovative, evidence-based approaches.
Outside of work, Noah is a passionate runner, outdoor enthusiast, and coffeeshop explorer. He can often be found exploring new areas within the region with a coffee in hand!
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Daniel Brogan
Public Transit Specialist
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Dan joined SRPEDD in 2024 as a Public Transit Specialist. He supports agentic partnerships with community organizations, public officials, residents, and Regional Transit Authorities for inclusive co-designing of transit services.
Dan grew up in South Dennis, MA in a low income single-parent, multi-generational household, where he learned the importance of public transit at a young age to get to school, and be connected to community. Dan’s previously served as a voting member on the Massachusetts Board of Elementary & Secondary Education, where he had to leave his home at 3:00am to get to Board meetings in Malden due to limited transit availabilities leaving from the Cape. During his tenure, Dan had to make the difficult choice of affording private bus fares for meetings in lieu of having the money for school lunch.
Dan’s professional background includes service as a youth-social worker and housing specialist for unhoused QT-BIPOC youth in rural Vermont, partnering with first-generation students as a college advisor to navigate systemic barriers in college, supporting culturally responsive and affordable healthcare as an emergency room patient access representative, teaching organizational leadership at the University of Minnesota, and is a published researcher in youth voice, community engaged-leadership, and culturally responsive school leadership.
Dan is also grounded in the praxes of Disability justice, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Youth Participatory Action Research and Antiracist education. Dan has experience in grant writing, where he successfully co-designed a Queer youth space in the Northeast Kingdom, the first of its kind in the region.
Dan received his B.A. from Saint Michael’s College in Secondary Education and Political Science, and his M.A. from the University of Minnesota in Organizational Leadership & Policy Development. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership from the University of Minnesota. Dan is an ardent believer in “working with,” and not, “for” the community.
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Regional Pedestrian Plan
SRPEDD is currently updating the region’s Pedestrian Plan which lays out our existing needs, collective vision, and action steps for achieving more walkable communities and neighborhoods throughout Southeastern Massachusetts. We want to hear from you about your walking concerns and improvement priorities!
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Fall River Open Space and Recreation Plan
SRPEDD is working with the City of Fall River to support the realization of high-quality open space and recreation facilities.
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Regional Safety Action Plan
SRPEDD is working with Toole Design, VHB consultants, and a Taskforce representing diverse community perspectives to develop a Regional Safety Action Plan that identifies root causes of crashes in the region, areas of highest risk, broad strategies to improve road safety outcomes for all modes –including policies and educational efforts— and a prioritized list of projects that will be eligible for construction funding through USDOT SS4A implementation grants.
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Rochester Master Plan
Rochester is updating its Master Plan that will help guide the town moving forward. The project team recently hosted the first Advanced Topics Workshop covering Land Use, Housing, Economic Development, and Transportation.
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Middleborough Master Plan
SRPEDD has kicked off the Middleborough Master Plan! Over the next two years, we'll work with Town staff and the public to update the 2002 Master Plan.
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Freetown Municipal Digital Equity Plan
SRPEDD has kicked off the agency's first Digital Equity Plan with the Town of Freetown to address service gaps to make internet affordable, accessible and safe for all.
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We are looking for self-motivated, reliable team players committed to growing and excelling in a hybrid collaborative environment.
Please click here to view all of SRPEDD's employment opportunities.
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88 Broadway
Taunton, MA 02780
Phone: 508-824-1367
Fax: 508-823-1803
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