MassDOT Releases Special Commission on Micromobility Final Report

03:02PM / Sunday, March 01, 2026Print Story | Email Story

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is announcing the Special Commission on Micromobility Final Report has been filed with the Massachusetts Legislature and is now posted online.

Review the report by clicking here to access the document. The report follows a series of five public meetings held in 2025.

The Special Commission on Micromobility was responsible for studying current state and local regulations and developing recommendations to expand micromobility use to help achieve shared goals for increasing mobility options, emission reductions, and economic vitality. Micromobility vehicles include (e-)bicycles, (e-)scooters, (e-)skateboards, (e-)unicycles, and other small, personal travel devices. The commission was established by the Legislature as part of the economic development bill, the Mass Leads Act.

The Commission included leadership from MassDOT, the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS), Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), members of the Legislature, municipal leadership and law enforcement, representatives of the electric bicycle and scooter industries, and mobility advocates.

"Micromobility device use has grown and offers alternative transit solutions. Given the multitude of manufacturers and the differing capabilities and functionality that they all offer, I applaud Governor Healey for her guidance of this Micromobility commission, and I want to thank the Legislature for their support through the Mass Leads Act," said Interim MassDOT Secretary and MBTA General Manager Phil Eng. "I want to thank the Commission, whose membership included the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, Department of Conservation and Recreation, local leaders and law enforcement officials, transit advocates, and academic experts for a road map of recommendations that strives to clarify legal classification, ensure safety, and establish driver's education requirements. Their efforts build upon our efforts to strengthen safety across all mode to deliver that well balanced transportation network that the public deserves and expects. We are optimistic that these recommendations will lead to a safe and well-regulated adoption of micromobility devices in the Commonwealth."

The Commission's Report was filed with the Legislature, with the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1: Legislative and Regulatory Changes: The legislature should add the necessary legal definitions to Massachusetts General Law and update all existing relevant definitions or remove those that are no longer relevant.
Recommendation 2: Speed-Based Classification Schema: The Commission recommends that the legislature adopt a methodology to classify micromobility devices; define requirements for operating a device based on its classification; place restrictions on where a given device can be operated; define what standards a device should be manufactured to; and devise a way to identify an individual device.
Recommendation 3: Micro ID: The legislature should establish a time-limited working group with funding to design a statewide Micro ID Decal pilot. This will convene a multi-agency working group to develop a light-touch micromobility identification framework using a tamper-evident decal that links to a record confirming device tier, basic safety compliance, and limited, opt-in personally identifiable information for authorized parties.
Recommendation 4: Police Training: The Massachusetts State Police?Academy and the Massachusetts Police?Training Committee should develop?and deliver training for law?enforcement officers, consistent with?new and current micromobility laws, regulations?and guidelines.
Recommendation 5: Crash Report and Vulnerable User Data: The legislature should amend state law to enable the inclusion within MassDOT's crash data system of micromobility-involved crashes that don't also involve an operated motor vehicle.
Recommendation 6: Default Maximum Speed on Paths: The legislature should establish a default maximum speed of 20 MPH on shared use paths, applicable statewide, unless otherwise posted. Path-operating entities retain the authority to lower the limit based on context-specific factors such as user volume, path width, crossings, geometry, adjacent land uses.?
Recommendation 7: Education Campaign: Law enforcement and state and local?stakeholders, such as Safe Routes to Schools, should collaborate with relevant community partners, such as local bike shops, to develop and deliver an?educational campaign to inform?micromobility users about laws,?regulations, local ordinances, & safety practices.?
Recommendation 8: Automated Enforcement: The legislature should authorize?automated enforcement on infractions?that impact vulnerable users, such as speeding,?the improper use of bus and bike lanes, and?red light running.
Recommendation 9: Model Municipal Traffic Control Ordinance: MassDOT should include model micromobility?traffic control regulations and?prohibitions on obstructing bicycle?lanes in its Sample Regulation for?a?Standard Municipal Traffic Code.??
Recommendation 10: Design Guidance: MassDOT and DCR should develop context-sensitive design guidance for state and municipal trails and shared-use paths that establishes recommended design parameters: addressing the separation of pedestrian and wheeled modes, design speed, signage, and emerging-micromobility, incorporating variations appropriate to urban, suburban, and rural contexts.?
Recommendation 11: Micromobility Integration: The MBTA and other RTAs should adopt and implement a micromobility integration plan.
Recommendation 12: Funding for Upgrades: The legislature should increase appropriations for?existing state programs, particularly the?Complete?Streets Funding Program?and the?Shared Streets &?Spaces Program,?to further assist municipalities in expanding their networks and?transitioning from interim infrastructure treatments.
Recommendation 13: Expand Bikeshare: The legislature should establish a reliable and sustainable funding mechanism to support publicly owned, docked micromobility share systems. A combination of formula-based operating support and competitive grants for system expansion should be explored.
Recommendation 14: Fund More E-bike Subsidies: The legislature should fund, and?MassCEC?should expand, the statewide?e-bike rebate program.
Recommendation 15: Commercial Use Micromobility Study: The legislature should allocate funds for MassDOT to commission a study from an academic partner to understand how micromobility is used in commercial settings, particularly in the package delivery and food delivery industries.
Recommendation 16: Presumed Liability Study: MassDOT should work with an academic partner to?study the hierarchy of responsibility in a crash and the potential effects of?introducing a "Presumed Liability" law.

The Special Commission on Micromobility's recommendations will be used going forward as a resource for future legislation, regulations, and program development to support safety and encourage growth and expansion of micromobility.

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BRPC Exec Search Panel Picks Brennan

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:11AM / Thursday, March 12, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Executive Director Search Committee voted Wednesday to move both finalists to the full Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, with a recommendation that Laura Brennan was the preferred candidate.

Brennan, BRPC's assistant director, and Jason Zogg were interviewed by the committee on Saturday.

Brennan is also the economic development program manager for the BRPC. She has been in the role since July 2023 but has been with BRPC since 2017, first serving as the senior planner of economic development.

She earned her bachelor's degree from Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania and earned a graduate-level certificate in local government leadership and management from Suffolk University.

Zogg is vice president of place and transportation for Tysons Community Alliance, a nonprofit that is committed to transforming Tysons, Va., into a more attractive urban center.

He previously was the director of planning, design, and construction at Georgetown Heritage in Virginia, where he directed the reimagining of Georgetown's C&O Canal National Historic Park.

They each had 45 minutes to answer a series of questions on Saturday, and the search committee said they were both great candidates. Meeting virtually on Wednesday, the members discussed which they preferred.

"In my own personal opinion, I think both candidates could do the job and actually had different skills. But I do favor Laura, because she can hit the ground running and with the time we have now, I think she is very familiar with the organization and its strengths and weaknesses and where we go from here," said Malcolm Fick.

"I would concur with Malcolm, especially because she was the only candidate who could speak directly to what's currently going on in the Berkshires, and really had a handle on every aspect of what BRPC does, could use examples, and showed that she actually understood the demographic information when that information was clearly available on the BRPC website, and through other means, and she was the only candidate who was able to integrate our regional data, our regional demographics, into her answers, and so I find her more highly qualified," said Marybeth Mitts.

Brennan was able to discus the comprehensive regional strategy the BRPC has worked on for Berkshire County and said she made sure they included voices from all over the region instead of what she referred to as the "usual suspects."

"That was an enormous priority of ours to make sure that the outreach that we did and the input that we gathered was not from only the usual suspects, but community groups that were emerging in a lot of different corners of the region and with a lot of different missions of their own, and try to encompass and embrace as many voices as we could in that," Brennan said in her interview.

Member Sheila Irvin said she liked Brennan’s knowledge of Berkshires Tomorrow Inc.

"I think that her knowledge of the BTI, for example, was important, because that's going to play a role in the questioning that we did on funding. And she had some interesting insights, I think on how to use that," said Irvin. "And in addition, I just thought her style was important.

"She didn't need to rush into an answer. She was willing to take a minute to think about how she wanted to move on and she did."

In her interview, Brennan was asked her plans to help expand funding opportunities since the financial structure is mainly grants and the government has recently been withdrawing some interest.

"With Berkshires Tomorrow already established, I would like to see us take a closer look at that and find ways to refine its statement of purpose, to develop a mission statement, to look at ways that that mechanism can help to diversify revenue," she said. "I think, that we have over the last several years, particularly with pandemic response efforts, had our movement to the potential of Berkshire's Tomorrow as a tool that we should be using more, and so I would like to see that be a big part of how we handle the volatility of government funding."

Member John Duval said she has excelled in her role over the years.

"Laura just rose above every other candidate through her preliminary interview and her final interview, she's been the assistant executive director for maybe a couple of years and definitely had that experience, and also being part of this BRPC, over several years, have seen what she's capable of doing, what she's accomplished, and embedded in meetings and settings where I've seen how she's responded to questions, presented information, and also had to deal with some tough customers sometimes when she came up to Adams," said Duval.

"She's done an excellent job, and then in the interviews she's just calm and thought through her answers and just rose above everyone else."

Buck Donovan said he respected all those who applied and said Zogg is a strong candidate.

"I think both and all candidates were very strong, two we ended up were extremely strong," he said. "Jason, I liked his charisma and his way. I really could tell that there was some goals and targets and that's kind of my life."

The full commission will meet on Thursday, March 19, to vote on the replacement of retiring Executive Director Thomas Matuszko.

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