Schedule Presentations to the MPO

Please follow the steps outlined below to prepare for and schedule your presentation at an MPO board meeting. This process requires a significant amount of coordination, both internally and with our partner agencies, that you must factor into planning for your desired MPO meeting date. Some general guidelines for the time to allow for the various steps in this process are provided below—the actual time it will take depends upon the length and complexity of your document and the time reviewers have available. Please consult with your reviewers early and often.

You may refer to the calendar  on the MPO Meeting Document Submission Timeline page when planning your presentation to the board. Many of us either save this file on our desktops or print it out for reference. Also, you can consult the CTPS Project Manager’s Guide on the Document Templates page for a complete overview of the project management process.

Consult with the Manager of MPO Activities at least 20 to 30 business days prior to the MPO meeting

The Manager of MPO Activities, in consultation with the Director of Policy and Planning, manages the list of potential agenda items for MPO meetings. MPO meeting agendas are determined at an agenda-setting meeting between staff and the MPO chair and vice chair, usually eight business days prior to an MPO meeting. After the agenda-setting meeting, the Manager of MPO Activities will contact you to inform you whether your item has been approved for an upcoming meeting and to schedule a dry run of your presentation. Dry runs are generally scheduled to take place the Thursday before the MPO meeting, beginning at 10:00 AM. Should you plan to use a slide deck for your presentation, refer to the Slide Deck Production Process instructions.

The Manager of MPO Activities regularly reaches out to group managers and staff to identify potential agenda items for upcoming meetings. Should you want to present any materials (generally work scopes, study presentations, and program updates) at an MPO meeting, you should notify the Manager of MPO Activities at least 20 to 30 business days prior to the scheduled MPO meeting at which you would like to present. Refer to the next section for guidance on how to determine the MPO meeting at which you will be ready to present your work.

Note: Work scopes for UPWP discrete studies for the new federal fiscal year are generally presented in September and October. Completed UPWP discrete studies are generally presented toward the end of the federal fiscal year in which they are funded, ideally by September 30.

Plan the preferred date of your presentation

Documents presented at MPO board meetings must be reviewed by our MPO liaison in MassDOT’s Office of Transportation Planning (OTP) (and the client, if non-MPO work) prior to the topic being placed on a list of proposed meeting agenda items. The length of time it will take to prepare your document for presentation at an MPO meeting depends upon the length and complexity of your document, the time your internal technical and editorial reviewers have available, and the time your external reviewers (MPO liaison and client) have available. When planning the date of your presentation, consider the time required for both internal and external reviews and for preparing a final document to be posted on our website the Thursday (five business days) prior to the meeting.

Complete internal reviews and produce a client review draft 14 business days prior to the MPO meeting

Prior to submitting your document for external reviews, you must complete all internal technical reviews, then work with Editorial to produce a client review draft. Consult with your internal technical reviewers and Editorial to determine the time needed to complete the review process and produce a client review draft. It generally takes from one to ten business days for each reviewer to provide their feedback—specific circumstances may affect the time required. Be sure to incorporate the total review time for all reviewers in your estimated time to produce a client review draft 14 business days prior to the MPO meeting.

Complete internal reviews and produce a client review draft 14 business days prior to the MPO meeting

Prior to submitting your document for external reviews, you must complete all internal technical reviews, then work with Editorial to produce a client review draft. Consult with your internal technical reviewers and Editorial to determine the time needed to complete the review process and produce a client review draft. It generally takes from one to ten business days for each reviewer to provide their feedback—specific circumstances may affect the time required. Be sure to incorporate the total review time for all reviewers in your estimated time to produce a client review draft 14 business days prior to the MPO meeting.

Complete external reviews nine business days prior to the MPO Meeting

External reviews of your document should be completed prior to the agenda-setting meeting. Plan on submitting the client review draft of your document to our MPO liaison the Monday (14 business days) prior to the meeting at which you would like to present. Shorter documents and work scopes may be accommodated in a shorter timeframe by request.

If your document is for non-MPO work, it is best to send the client review draft of your document to the client prior to sending it to our MPO liaison for review. This means that your target for getting feedback from the client should consider the timeline for submitting the document to our MPO liaison. Consult with your client to determine the time they will need to complete their review.

Work with Editorial to produce a final document seven business days before the MPO meeting

Address feedback from our MPO liaison and the client, then return your document to Editorial with all changes visible in tracked changes. Work with Editorial to produce a final document to be sent to Graphics by Tuesday of the week before the MPO meeting.

Send your final document to Graphics seven business days before the MPO meeting

Graphics will create accessible PDF and HTML versions of your document for posting on the MPO meeting calendar. Your final document should be sent to the MPO Activities Assistant Planner by 4:00 PM on the Thursday before the MPO meeting (five business days prior to the meeting). Please consult the Tentative MPO-Meeting and Document-Review Schedule (PDF)

for information about the specific deadlines for

• submitting your document to a member of the Graphics team to be made accessible for posting (generally Tuesday, the week before the MPO meeting) and
• other related deadlines.

Graphics will send the accessible versions of the document to you and the person responsible for posting the documents to the calendar.

Click here to download the How to scheduling MPO presentations PDF

Follow the MPO Memo and Report Production Process

Follow the steps in this illustrated flow chart to understand the MPO Memo and Report Production Process.

Follow the MPO Work Scope Production Process

Follow the steps in this illustrated flow chart to understand the MPO Work Scope Production Process.

Follow the MPO Meeting Document Submission Timeline

If your document will be presented at an MPO board meeting, it needs to be reviewed by MassDOT’s Office of Transportation Planning (OTP) staff (who represent the Secretary of Transportation as the chair of the MPO board) prior to being placed on an agenda. In addition, the final document should be posted on the MPO meeting calendar by 5:00 PM on the Thursday before the MPO meeting (one week prior to the meeting). Please consult the Tentative MPO-Meeting and Document-Review Schedule (PDF) for information about the deadlines for

• sending your document to MassDOT’s OTP staff for review,
• submitting your document to a member of the Graphics team to be made accessible for posting, and
• other related deadlines.

 

Meeting and Document Review Schedule