Massachusetts legislation requires OPMI to:
- Evaluate the goals and measures established by MassDOT of and its divisions and monitor reported findings,
- Recommend changes to proposed goals and measures as are appropriate to align them with the strategic priorities of the Secretary, and
- Develop tools and documents that communicate the progress the Department and its divisions are making to achieve stated goals.
In practice, OPMI has three primary functions. As described above, OPMI oversees and executes MassDOT and the MBTA’s performance monitoring activities, including the annual publication of Tracker, daily updates to the MBTA Performance Dashboard, and additional external and internal performance reporting as needed. OPMI also oversees strategic research for agency stakeholders including the Secretary and the MBTA General Manager on issues as wide-ranging as the efficacy of service delivery adjustments, development of new frameworks for quantifying how residents travel, and understanding how mode choice decisions are made. The third focus of OPMI is on data strategy, which entails managing all sources of data across MassDOT and the MBTA as assets, using a systems thinking approach to ensure data is accessible to stakeholders across the agency and to the public on GeoDOT and the MBTA Open Data Portal, and ensuring that data is stored and archived appropriately.
