Section 79 RTA Memorandum of Understanding
For fiscal year 2020 the Massachusetts department of transportation, hereinafter referred to as "the department", shall establish a system of performance metrics, including but not limited to, a fare recovery ratio, to be used to establish targets for each regional transit authority. Said targets shall be incorporated into a memorandum of understanding between each regional transit authority and the department, along with the level of performance expected of each regional transit authority pursuant to the transfer required under clause (2) of subsection (d) of section 2ZZZ of chapter 29 of the General Laws. The system of performance metrics shall be informed by the recommendations of the task force on regional transit authority performance and funding established pursuant to section 72 of chapter 154 of the acts of 2018. $4,000,000 of the amount required to be transferred to regional transit authorities under clause (2) of subsection (d) of section 2ZZZ of chapter 29 of the General Laws shall be conditioned on the execution of a memorandum of understanding by a regional transit authority and the department, provided that the department has determined that said regional transit authority: (i) provides best practice services or programs or (ii) initiates, maintains or expands service to a priority population. The memorandum of understanding shall incorporate appropriate ridership, customer service, asset management and financial performance indicators and best practices to ensure that the regional transit authority makes data-driven decisions with respect to its operation including, but not limited to, service and asset management. The memorandum of understanding shall certify that the regional transit authority did not sustain a budget deficit the prior year and that its budget for the current fiscal year is balanced. The department shall provide a copy of each memorandum of understanding upon execution to the chairs of the joint committee on transportation and the senate and house committees on ways and means
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Summary
This section conditions the transfer to each regional transit authority on a system of performance metrics to be developed by MassDOT and also directs $4M to RTAs that have executed an MOU with MassDOT.