Message from the DVRPC Executive Director

Welcome to the first edition of FOCUS, the e-newsletter of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), with news and events for local governments within the DVRPC region. As the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the nine-county bi-state region, we work closely with a wide variety of public and private sector partners to promote a regional vision and to develop practical solutions to both regional and local issues. This newsletter gives us a chance to FOCUS on news that you can use to manage your borough, township or city, and perhaps keep you informed and connected to issues and events across the region. Please let us know how this newsletter can be most useful and feel free to forward it to others.

DVRPC Hosts "Building from Strength" Conference

On May 18, 2006, DVRPC hosted the conference “Building from Strength II:  More Strategies for Older Suburbs and Boroughs.”  This conference, held in Trevose, Pennsylvania, focused on strategies available for the private and public sector to strengthen older suburban communities.  The keynote speaker of the conference was Mayor Thomas Adams of the Village of Green Oaks, Illinois.  Mayor Adams, who is also chair of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus for greater Chicago, discussed the multi-municipal cooperation in Illinois that resulted from the work of the caucus members.  Nearly 200 municipal officials, business people, and community organization members attended presentations and workshops that focused on challenges commonly faced by older suburbs, such as aging infrastructure and declining tax bases.  Participants also discussed strategies to address these problems and revitalize local communities.  Afternoon workshops covered topics such as zoning and planning, design and development, new markets for older communities, and streets and parking.

Local Governments Encouraged to Join the Air Quality Partnership

This year is the eleventh year that the Air Quality Partnership (AQP) will be providing air quality forecasts and health advisories for the DVRPC Region.  The purpose of the forecast is twofold:
       1) to advise the region when air quality is forecast to be poor so that people can take 
           precautions to protect their health, and 
       2) to encourage the public to take positive actions to reduce air pollution, especially on 
          Air Quality Action Days.  
DVRPC's member governments play an important role in the Partnership.  County and local governments can relay the air quality message to their residents through newsletters, websites and the local press.  Member governments can also serve as model partners; reducing polluting activities on Action Days and sharing information with their employees. 

Commuters Save When They Ride with Delaware Valley TransitChek 

The Delaware Valley Planning Commission is one of several organizations that administers the TransitChek program.  TransitChek is a commuter benefit program offered by employers to help their employees pay for commuting to work by using public transit.  The program provides employees with vouchers that can be redeemed to purchase passes, tickets and tokens for every transit agency in the region: SEPTA, PATCO, NJ Transit, DART, and Amtrak (monthly commuter tickets only), as well as some vanpool providers.  TransitCheks are also accepted by several Central PA transit providers. The TransitChek program saves employers and commuters money because it takes advantage of federal legislation that allows tax-free dollars to pay for transit fares.  By taking part in TransitChek, employees can save more than $400 per year on their federal income taxes and employers can save dollars in FICA.  Since its establishment in 1991, the program has registered 670 employers, with more than $142 million in tax-free dollars going to transit.  

Emergency Ride Home Pilot Program Launched

The Emergency Ride Home (ERH) service provides a "safety net" for commuters working in southeastern Pennsylvania who share their ride to work on a regular basis.  In the event of an unexpected personal or family emergency or illness, unscheduled overtime, or if the regular ride home is not available for certain reasons, registered commuters are provided with a free ride to their home, car, or to the place of the emergency.  The program is in pilot phase from April to November 2006, with wide release expected by December 2006.  Commuters are encouraged to visit the DVRPC website for more information and to register to participate in this program.

Fiscal Year 2006/2007 JARC Grant Dollars Awarded

The Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) grant program is a federally-funded program which helps to fund transportation services and supporting activities that facilitate access to jobs for welfare and lower income persons, as well as reverse commute trips for the general population. DVRPC selects regional project applicants for funding, evaluates the consistency of proposed projects with the adopted areawide JARC Transportation Plan, and adds projects to the regional Transportation Improvement Plan, pending grant approvals.  This year, there are six New Jersey projects and forty Pennsylvania projects recommended for funding.  The New Jersey projects will receive funding totaling $1.8 million (for up to one year) and Pennsylvania projects will receive funding totaling $10.6 million (for up to two years).

Adoption of the FY 2007-2010 TIP for NJ and PA

The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is the regionally agreed upon list of priority projects, as required by federal law (ISTEA, TEA-21 and the new SAFETEA LU).  The TIP document lists all projects that intend to use federal funds, along with non-federally funded projects that are regionally significant.  In addition, other state funded capital projects are included on the list.  The projects are multi-modal, including bicycle, pedestrian, freight related projects, highway, public transit, and air quality projects.  For the New Jersey subregion, the TIP contains over 140 highway and transit projects totaling almost $1.8 billion.  For the Pennsylvania subregion, the TIP contains nearly 500 highway and transit projects totaling almost $3.3 billion. The DVRPC Board is expected to adopt the final TIP on June 22.  Once adopted, the TIPs will be incorporated into the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program of their respective states, which will be sent to US DOT for approval prior to the start of federal FY2007 on October 1, 2006.