§ 33 — Healthy transportation compact

Section 33. There shall be established within the department a healthy transportation compact. The secretary and the secretary of health and human services shall work cooperatively to adopt best practices to increase efficiency to achieve positive health outcomes through the coordination of land use, transportation and public health policy. The compact shall consist of the secretary or his designee, the secretary of health and human services or his designee, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs or his designee, the administrator of transportation for highways or his designee, the administrator of transportation for mass transit or his designee, and the commissioner of public health or his designee.The secretary and the secretary of health and human services, or their designees, shall serve as co-chairpersons of the compact. The chairpersons shall convene and preside at meetings of the compact, determine the agenda of the compact, direct its work and, as appropriate to particular subject matters, establish and direct subgroups of the compact, which shall consist exclusively of the compact's members. The compact shall: (i) promote inter-secretariat cooperation and the establishment of a healthy transportation policy, including appropriate mechanisms to minimize duplication and overlap of state and federal programs and services; (ii) develop a healthy transportation framework that increases access to healthy transportation alternatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improves access to services for persons with mobility limitations and increases opportunities for physical activities; (iii) develop methods to increase bicycle and pedestrian travel, incorporate the principles, findings and recommendations of the Massachusetts bicycle transportation plan and establish a framework for implementation of the Bay State Greenway Network; (iv) develop and implement, in consultation with the bicycle and pedestrian advisory board established in section 11A of chapter 21A, administrative and procedural mechanisms, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, consistent with the most current edition of the Project Development and Design Guide, or its successor, to encourage the construction of complete streets, designed and operated to enable safe access for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and bus riders of all ages to safely move along and across roadways in urban and suburban areas; (v) establish methods to implement the use of health impact assessments to determine the effect of transportation projects on public health and vulnerable populations; (vi) facilitate access to the most appropriate, cost-effective transportation services within existing resources for persons with mobility challenges; (vii) expand service offerings for the Safe Routes to Schools program; (viii) explore opportunities and encourage the use of public-private partnerships with private and nonprofit institutions; (ix) seek to establish an advisory council with private and nonprofit advocacy groups as the compact sees fit; (x) institute a health impact assessment for use by planners, transportation administrators, public health administrators and developers; and (xi) develop and implement a method for monitoring progress on achieving the goals of this section and provide any other recommendations that would, in the judgment of the compact, advance the principles set forth in this section.