On September 13th, after a two-year hiatus, WTS-Boston hosted their September luncheon in-person at the UMass Club. The atmosphere was electric and filled with happy faces, all excited to finally meet friends, old and new in person. A fitting start to this series was the discussion on Capital Programming with women leaders from MBTA, Massport and MassDOT. The panel included Jillian Linnell, Senior Director of Capital Program Planning at the MBTA; Sarah Dennechuk, Senior Project Manager for Horizontal Projects of Capital Programs & Environmental Affairs at Massport; and Meghan Haggerty, Chief Administrative Officer MassDOT Highway Division. The panel was moderated by Rachael Sack, Chief of the Innovative Research Program Office at the U.S. DOT/Volpe Center.

WTS-Boston President, Marie Sullivan introduced Rachel Sack and Ms. Sack in turn introduced the panel. Ms. Sack started off by asking the panel to provide the audience with a background on the size of each agency’s capital program, any specific themes or focus areas, and highlight on what’s coming up in the next year or two. The panelists each provided a breakdown of funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill, discretionary grant funding, state and municipality funding. Resiliency, infrastructure expansion, maintenance, reliability, safety, inspection, asset management and preservation, bike-ped were noted as the areas of focus. Post-pandemic ridership, congestion uncertainties were discussed. It was a good discussion with each panelist highlighting the uniqueness of their capital program.

The second round of discussion was centered around innovation or changes in capital project administration considering the recent uncertainties brought about by the pandemic. Overall, the panelists were very positive and relayed that each of their agencies have successfully adapted to this fluid environment. Ms. Haggerty revealed that MassDOT has been working on project streamlining for three over years, even before the pandemic effects began to show. She stated that efficiencies have already been achieved in environmental permitting and ROW. Ms. Dennechuck reported on the importance of lean tools, reducing backlogs, competitive grant preparation and applications for Massport projects. Ms. Linnell provided a pre-pandemic vs post-pandemic comparison of MBTA as an agency and recounted MBTA’s strategy for discretionary grant programs. Each panelist echoed the sentiment that Massachusetts has been a trail blazer for innovation and new ideas, well ahead of its peers. All panelists acknowledged that open communication amongst peer agencies is key to stay ahead on the path of innovation.

The final question revolved around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I), Accessibility, and the Federal Government’s Justice 40 initiative. Ms. Linnell stated that Equity is one of the core values for MBTA and all projects are reviewed closely for equity considerations before being implemented. Ms. Linnell also pointed out that MBTA is focusing significant efforts in understanding ridership equity.  Both Ms. Dennechuk and Ms. Haggerty agreed with Ms. Linnell that DE&I, accessibility are top priority for their respective agencies to prioritize projects that empower disadvantaged communities and contractors.

Ms. Sack and the panelists presented a lively discussion revolving around innovation, DE&I and implementation of capital programming. All panelists provided an overall positive outlook for the upcoming years and emphasized inter-agency cooperation. The discussion concluded with each panelist expressing excitement about the new workforce that the agencies are on-boarding. A workforce full of passionate, committed people who carry on the mission and vision of their respective agencies has the leaders looking at a future full of hope and positive change. Ms. Sack and Ms. Sullivan thanked the panelists and the audience concluding the event.