Section 103 Office of transportation planning
Section 103. There shall be within the executive office of transportation an office of transportation planning which shall be under the supervision and control of the secretary. The secretary shall appoint an executive director who shall be skilled and experienced in the field of transportation planning and shall not be subject to chapter 31 or to section 9A of chapter 30. Said director may be removed for cause by the secretary. Said office shall serve as the principal source of transportation planning for state-level transportation projects, and shall work in coordination with regional planning agencies in the commonwealth, which shall serve as the principal source of transportation planning for local and regional transportation projects. Said office shall conduct research, surveys, demonstration projects and studies in cooperation with the federal government, said regional planning agencies, regional transit authorities, other governmental agencies, and appropriate private organizations.
Said office shall be responsible for the preparation of a comprehensive and coordinated intermodal transportation plan for the commonwealth. Said plan shall include programs and projects to improve and maintain facilities and equipment for all modes of transportation in the commonwealth, including highways and roads, passenger rail and other public transportation, freight rail, aviation, shipping and water transportation. Said plan shall ensure an equitable allocation of investments in transportation across the regions of the commonwealth. Said plan shall include any program for the disposition of capital assets. Said plan shall include transportation improvement projects of the commonwealth and all of its constituent agencies and authorities that own or operate transportation facilities, including the department of highways, the Massachusetts turnpike authority, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the regional transit authorities, the Massachusetts Port Authority and the Massachusetts aeronautics commission. Said plan shall be developed in consultation with said agencies and authorities, the commonwealth development coordinating council, the metropolitan planning organizations, the regional planning agencies, and the transportation finance commission. Said plan shall be prepared in coordination with comprehensive urban development plans and in cooperation with the said other agencies so far as practicable.