Ahead of its upcoming 15-year anniversary, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is pleased to announce that the final Beyond Mobility plan document, executive summary, and appendices have been posted to the Beyond Mobility website at the following link: www.mass.gov/beyond-mobility.
Considered the Massachusetts 2050 Transportation Plan, Beyond Mobility serves as a blueprint for guiding transportation decision making and investments in Massachusetts in a way that advances MassDOT’s goals and maximizes the equity and resiliency of the transportation system. The project team, considering what the world will be like in 2050, has analyzed previous plans, public engagement responses, and results from a needs assessment and has identified six key priority areas of Massachusetts to focus on over the long term. These are: safety, destination connectivity, travel experience, reliability, supporting clean transportation, and resiliency. Within the Plan, vision statements, values, problem statements, and over 100 action items have been developed and are organized by these six priority areas.
The 60-day public comment period for Beyond Mobility began on April 1, 2024 and closed on May 31, 2024. During the public comment period, more than 500 individual comments were received and analyzed by the project team for potential incorporation into the final plan document. Comments were categorized into individual themes, and MassDOT will provide responses to each theme. The full list of comments and MassDOT responses has been posted to the plan website as Appendix E.
Appendix E has an entire section with comments and MassDOT’s responses relative to “Age-Friendly Planning.” Older adults are mentioned and considered in multiple action items across the plan, which also lists Dementia Friendly Design Considerations as an area MassDOT will explore further.
The Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative thanks MassDOT for its engagement and partnership in the development of the plan, especially the multiple appearances at MHAC’s Statewide Network and Executive Committee meetings.