DVRPC News - Spring 1998

Pennsylvania and New Jersey will fare well under both the House and Senate versions of the federal legislation. The House version of the huge spending bill would increase mass transit and highway aid to Pennsylvania by 59% and New Jersey by about 46%. Under the Senate's scenario, both states would get increases of about 14%. Even so, Northeastern lawmakers have hailed the transportation package, and predicted that in the end the Delaware Valley will get a substantial boost in funding.

This immense legislation has drawn fire from President Clinton, House Budget Committee Chairman John R. Kasich (R-Ohio) and scores of congressional conservatives and moderates who are concerned that it exceeds levels outlined in last year's balanced-budget deal, that it may crowd other important domestic initiatives and that it signals a return to traditional "pork barrel" politics.

Currently, the House and Senate are working to forge a compromise spending bill somewhere in the neighborhood of $214 billion to $217 billion over six years. One focus of concessions is a statement by Representative Bud Shuster (R-Pa), the House's chief negotiator, outlining his willingness to accept the Senate's version of a new drunk driving law and acknowledging that demonstration projects in the House version could be eliminated. The trade-off for this would be an assurance that future gasoline tax revenue would be used exclusively for highway construction. Congressional aides now say that Shuster's conciliatory comments greatly enhance the prospects that Congress will impose a tough "0.08" nationwide drunk driving standard this year and that negotiators will consider scaling back the scope of spending for demonstration projects.

It has been noted by many that the 42,700-mile interstate highway system carries 2-1/2 times the traffic it did in 1975 and that congestion continues to mount. While the U.S. population has increased 10% during the past decade, vehicle miles traveled have increased by 37%.

On the other hand, environmentalists and other organizations were poised to fight the legislation if funding for bicycle and pedestrian program were cut. As it now stands, the legislation includes substantial increases for nontraditional transportation projects such as construction of bike paths and jogging trails. Overall, it looks like a win-win situation.

According to Elizabeth Schneider, Executive Director of the Southern Governors' Association, "Both bills undoubtedly represent movement in the right direction. There are steps taken to provide equity, and this is real progress."

To advance the goals outlined in the Plan, the Commission's Board went one step further by adopting Regional Indicators: Measuring Our Progress to 2020, a tracking system that examines benchmarks toward achieving recommendations in the areas of physical form, traffic congestion, environment, air quality, economic development, freight movement, mobility and housing. The indicators were chosen from a list of more than 500 potential measures, and are income-based, regional in geographic scope, measurable over the long-range and publicly available data sources. In addition, DVRPC balanced the final selection of indicators so that they would collectively represent the eight issue areas mentioned above. Twenty-seven indicators were selected and are presented in the report, which is included in this mailing.

The Commission recently chose to move expeditiously with an Update of the Year 2020 Plan because of forthcoming restrictions placed upon New Jersey as a result of the US Department of Environmental Protection's (EPA's) rejection of the state's Implementation Plan (SIP). Since the State of New Jersey's Inspection and Maintenance Program did not meet the EPA's deadline, the state's ability to advance federally assisted transportation projects were limited as of April 10, 1998.

The purpose of the Plan Update was to confirm its validity and consistency with current and forecasted transportation and land use conditions and trends. According to John J. Coscia, DVRPC Executive Director, "We have been working to keep the Plan current since its adoption. We've selected and adopted indicators that show progress in achieving the goals of the Plan, and have reviewed infrastructure changes. We can now come to the public with an update that is reasonable and timely."

Eliciting significant public input and comment is always a high priority for DVRPC. Therefore, two public hearings were held on March 5 and 9, 1998 to allow citizens to comment on the Update of the Year 2020 Plan. The public comment period for the draft update opened on February 18, 1998 and closed on March 20, 1998.

The desire for local control often conflicts with other important goals, such as improving local services while simultaneously reducing local taxes. Many elected and appointed officials now recognize the cost efficiencies and other benefits of working together with neighboring municipalities to improve service delivery.

As part of a continuing project to foster inter-municipal cooperation, /DVRPC is preparing a series of short "How-to" guides for elected and appointed officials. The purpose of these guides is to demonstrate how local officials can launch specific cooperative ventures with their neighbors in adjacent municipalities to improve services and/or reduce costs. Three key arguments in favor of cooperating with other municipalities include saving money, improving the delivery of services and gaining political clout. The first of these guides, released in July of 1997, described how to create a regional recreational commission.

The second in the series, Inter-Municipal Cooperation Alternatives for Highway and Transit Corridor Planning, describes how municipalities can save money and increase efficiency through cooperative transportation planning. The region's municipalities are faced with common issues, such as road maintenance, bridge repair and congestion. In addition, the traffic generated by a development in one community along a corridor may impact other communities along the same corridor. Municipalities therefore need to explore whether or not working and planning with adjacent and neighboring communities can help them to provide more effective and efficient transportation facilities and services while reducing costs.

At a time when the price of necessary improvements almost always exceeds limited available resources, the increased political clout gained by cooperating with other municipalities may determine whether a project succeeds or fails.

Annual estimates are available for five-year intervals from 1970 - 1985, and every year from 1986 - 1995. Employment data is tabulated for each of the 28 counties, and totals are provided for the two Delaware counties, the two Maryland counties, the fourteen New Jersey counties, the ten Pennsylvania counties, the nine-county core region, the 14-county consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA) and the 28-county data service region.

Employment data in this bulletin was compiled from estimates tabulated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The BEA data, which is released annually, are calculated for the most current year as well as previous years.

In addition to BEA data, DVRPC obtains employment statistics from other sources, including the 1990 U.S. Census of Population and Housing, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Transportation Planning Package.

Additional information about employment, population and housing can be obtained from DVRPC by calling 215-592-1800.

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is the means to reach this ideal future. In 1991, recognizing the need to address the aging transportation network in this country, Congress created the ITS program, a plan to focus on intelligent infrastructure and intelligent vehicles. Intelligent infrastructure helps send real-time data on system performance to travelers and transportation operators. Intelligent vehicles, on the other hand, complement the ITS infrastructure by focusing on safety and information systems for cars, trucks, buses and trains. Together, the "smart" infrastructure and vehicles make it possible to solve congestion problems and to give information to travelers so they can select better routes or modes.

Once in place, benefits are inherent for everyone. Metropolitan areas will see advanced traffic surveillance and signal control systems resulting in travel time improvements; electronic fare payment technologies for transit systems will mean increased revenues; and incident management programs will reduce delays associated with congestion. In rural areas, advanced collision-avoidance technology will prevent many crashes. Commercial vehicles on the nation's roadways will benefit from onboard safety systems that reduce fatalities; and freight mobility systems will mean productivity gains for private carriers.

In the Delaware Valley, the program is getting underway through a coordinating council established by DVRPC to develop policy and set priorities. This council will identify users of the transportation system and operating agencies who need to know about travel conditions and incidents; examine information flows between agencies; define agency coordination procedures; recommend methods to improve communication among agencies; and notify travelers using mostly existing equipment and off-the-shelf technology. The project will also establish a prototype incident management task force along a freeway corridor to improve communication and cooperation among local agencies that must respond to incidents.

It is easy to imagine how ITS can and will improve the concept of travel. The future holds great promise, and through this 18-month DVRPC initiative, the world of tomorrow is already in sight.

The Upper Mantua Creek Valley covers portions of Mantua Township, Pitman Borough, Glassboro Borough and Washington Township in New Jersey. Much of the land in the Upper Mantua Valley has been subdivided for residential and other uses; the remaining land is under pressure for development. Recognizing the impact of surrounding development on the creek environment, DVRPC recently completed a plan that identifies measures to protect the resources that have made the Mantua Creek Valley so appealing. If implemented, these efforts will result in a greenway that protects the natural environment, scenic vistas and recreational opportunities along the Upper Mantua Creek for generations to come.

The Upper Mantua Creek Greenway Implementation Plan has been developed as a "how-to" guide for municipalities, the county and state, the Mantua Creek Watershed Association and Gloucester County Federation of Watersheds, as well as residents interested in protecting this fragile environment. Through research, analysis and public outreach, DVRPC established five greenway objectives, along with recommended actions for achieving these goals. They include:

preserve a natural vegetative buffer along Mantua Creek and Duffield Run; manage stormwater on a watershed basis to more effectively control runoff quantity and quality; educate and involve the public on water quality issues, the importance of stream buffers and good land stewardship; provide sufficient public access, recreational and educational opportunities along the Mantua so as to instill appreciation for the creek and to discourage trespass on private property; and protect farmland, historic resources, lakes and other scenic areas to preserve the area's heritage and to boost community pride.

The Greenway Implementation Plan is a follow-up study to the Open Space Element of DVRPC's Year 2020 Comprehensive Plan for the Delaware Valley, and is similar in nature to the Rancocas Creek Greenway Plan, which was published by DVRPC in 1997. The goal of these plans is to raise public awareness for the need to preserve open space through creative and cooperative solutions. Copies of the Upper Mantua Creek Greenway Implementation Plan are available by contacting DVRPC's Regional Information Services Center.

The March Board meeting was marked by aggressive public participation, both for and against the project. The local group, STOP, turned out to protest the findings of the congestion management system (CMS) study that had been conducted by Frederick R. Harris, consultants, and presented to the Board by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). The DVRPC Board has expressed its endorsement for the CMS. STOP's representatives also insisted that this project was being "fast-tracked" by NJDOT and proceeding without sufficient public input. Support for the project, however, was evident through the voices of residents in Penns Neck, where noise and congestion are a problem that would be mitigated by the bypass, as well as by West Windsor officials, Princeton University and Mercer County.

According to John Dourgarian, an NJDOT spokesman, "We felt we should approve the programming of this funding to advance the project to the next stage. Not getting the funding will not slow the project significantly because the design work cannot proceed until a federally mandated environmental assessment has been completed." This study is due in the fall of 1998.

NJDOT has proposed the Millstone Bypass as a two-lane, 2.3 mile roadway from Route 571 (Washington Road) near the Amtrak railroad bridge in West Windsor across Route 1 and near Carnegie Lake, reconnecting with Washington Road, west of Route 1. Had it been approved, the spending schedule would have included $25 million in 2001 for right-of-way acquisition and another $25 million in 2002 for construction. This schedule would have been approved as part of DVRPC's TIP, a capital programming tool that coordinates transportation projects in the region. Projects that use federal funding must be approved by DVRPC's Board and included in the TIP.