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A diverse group of public and private digital inclusion practitioners convened for meaningful discussions toward enhancing digital equity across Cape Cod. The Cape Cod Commission and Massachusetts Broadband Institute brought these stakeholders together at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School on May 16 for an afternoon workshop to discuss challenges and brainstorm solutions to bridging the region's digital divide.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) voted to endorse the region’s annual transportation planning documents on Monday, May 20, 2024.  The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is a five-year schedule of construction projects for surface transportation in the region, including roadway, transit, and multimodal projects. The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) is a list of projects to be completed annually by Cape Cod Commission transportation staff on behalf of the MPO. It describes significant transportation planning activities over a 12-month period, beginning in October

The Cape Cod Commission is pleased to release Housing Cape Cod: The Regional Strategy. This comprehensive document identifies policies and strategies for appropriate housing development and redevelopment to address housing supply, affordability, and availability challenges while protecting the region’s sensitive resources.  

Stakeholder engagement is a critical component of planning processes, helping to build consensus on impactful recommendations and create actionable plans. Stakeholder engagement to inform the Cape Cod Freshwater Initiative continued in March, with the launch of a process to engage diverse perspectives in working groups organized by groundwater lenses.

The Cape Cod Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has released the following documents for a 21-day public review and comment period. Members of the public are invited to review these documents and provide comments.

As part of the annual transportation planning process, the Cape Cod Commission is planning several outreach events designed to inform the public about and gather comments on the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) and the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). 

The Cape Cod Freshwater Initiative is a science-based, information-driven planning process that engages stakeholders and enables action to protect and restore Cape Cod’s freshwater resources. It began in 2021 with an update to the Cape Cod Ponds Atlas. Since then, the team has been working to collect the data needed to make informed management decisions in our ponds and to better understand how they are changing from season to season and year to year.

During a meeting held on March 25, 2024, the Cape Cod Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) released the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2024-2028 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Amendment 2 for a 21-day public review and comment period. The TIP serves as a prioritized listing of roadway, bridge, and transit projects proposed for implementation during the next five (5) federal fiscal years.

During its meeting on March 22, 2024, the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund Management Board voted to adopt a new model for providing subsidies to projects listed on the Clean Water Intended Use Plan (IUP), beginning with projects listed on the 2023 IUP. Fund disbursements will shift from a principal forgiveness model to one that provides a portion of the 25% subsidy over the loan term. Subsidy payments are made when principal payments on the loan are due.

The Town of Orleans is working with the Cape Cod Commission to develop a municipal digital equity plan to assess the digital divide across the community and to identify opportunities to advance digital equity. Residents, businesses, and organizations are invited to attend a workshop on April 9, 2024 to learn about the digital equity plan and contribute to the development of the plan through group exercises and conversations.