DVRPC News - Summer 2001

BOARD FUNDS NEW JERSEY TIP PROJECTS: $909 MILLION IN IMPROVEMENTS PLANNED
As part of the July meeting, DVRPC's Board adopted the New Jersey portion of the region's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for FY 2002-2004. As mandated by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), the TIP prioritizes the region's proposed highway, public transit, intermodal, and other transportation-related activities to maximize the allocation of federal funds. The projects in the TIP represent a consensus of the regional transportation improvements that are eligible for funding, constrained to the available financial resources identified by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and negotiated for this region by DVRPC.

The TIP reflects all projects that intend to use federal funds, along with all state funded capital projects. Bicycle, pedestrian, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), and freight-related projects are included, as well as the more traditional highway and public transit projects.

More than 180 transportation projects in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Mercer counties are scheduled to receive $909 million in transportation funding under the FY 2002 - 2004 TIP. Over $486 million in projects related to the highway system and $423 million for PATCO and NJ TRANSIT projects are included in the recently adopted TIP.

PROJECTS OF SPECIAL INTEREST IN THIS TIP INCLUDE:
	NJ TRANSIT's Camden to Trenton Light Rail Transit Line
	I-295, I-195 Resurfacing
	I-295/I-76/NJ42 Interchange Improvements
	Delaware River Tram (DRPA)
	US 322 Corridor Improvements
	25 bridge replacement projects
	I-95/Scotch Rd. Interchange Improvement
	State Aid for County and municipal roads and bridges

A priority for DVRPC in developing the FY 2002-2004 New Jersey TIP has been extensive public involvement. To that end, DVRPC held two public meetings to allow citizens to pose questions about projects that may affect them. Also, prior to its 30-day public comment period, DVRPC mailed notices to 1500 individuals and groups, issued media releases and legal notices, and made the TIP document available at major public libraries in New Jersey and at the DVRPC library in Philadelphia. The draft TIP document and related materials were also available over the Internet through the DVRPC Web page. In addition, DVRPC staff contacted representatives from key community organizations throughout the region to solicit their involvement in reaching specific groups to communicate about the TIP.

Next, the TIP goes to New Jersey's Department of Transportation for incorporation into a statewide TIP, which will then be forwarded to the U.S. Department of Transportation for approval, enabling the release of federal transportation funds on a project-by-project basis, beginning October 1, 2001.

DVRPC BOARD OFFICERS ELECTED FOR FY 2002
At the June meeting, the DVRPC Board elected officers for Fiscal Year (FY) 2002. Burlington County representative to the Board, Jerald R. Cureton has been elected as Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee. The Board also elected Governor Ridge's appointee Robert Baker as Vice Chairman; Bucks County Commissioner Charles Martin as Secretary; and Camden County Freeholder Thomas Gurick as Treasurer. The Board Officers' terms will continue through June 30, 2002.

Jerald Cureton is a founding partner and President of Cureton Caplan, P.C., where he specializes in commercial litigation and chairs the firm's employment law department. He is a graduate of Temple University and the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary. Cureton is a member of the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida and American Bar Associations, as well as the Burlington County and Camden County Bar Associations. Cureton served as Vice Chair of DVRPC's Board for the term ending June 30, 2001.

Robert A. Baker is Director of Governor Tom Ridge's Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Office. Most recently, Baker worked as a consultant for HMS Success in Pittsburgh. He previously was Assistant Vice President for State and Local Affairs at Conrail's Philadelphia headquarters. Baker has worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and the Pennsylvania Department of Commerce. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh.

Charles H. Martin, Bucks County Commissioner draws from over 30 years of professional, corporate experience in customer service and public relations including media relations, consumer affairs, public policy, emergency planning and quality management. A graduate of Lebanon Valley College, Martin served 13 years as Public Affairs Officer for the Bucks County division of the Philadelphia Electric Company (now PECO Energy). Martin was appointed Bucks County Commissioner in May 1995 and won reelection in 1995 and again in 1999, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Commissioners.

Thomas Gurick is an elected member of the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders. He is a professional radio personality who began his on-air career at Camden's WCAM at the age of 16. Gurick announces and produces for KYW-News Radio in Philadelphia. A third generation resident of Gloucester City, he also serves on City Council and acts as a liaison to the Camden County Department of Public Works. He is a graduate of Camden County College.

REACHING OUT TO THE PUBLIC
Public participation has come a long way in the past fifteen years. Even though DVRPC has an extensive history of public participation, today's standard for citizen involvement is 360 degrees from this agency's first efforts in the 1970s. The Commission adopted its first Public Participation Policy Statement in 1994 as a means of documenting our intent to accomplish effective and timely public outreach. It is now time to update this document.

Published as "The Draft Public Participation Plan: A Strategy for Citizen Involvement", the new version of this document includes an agency-wide philosophy that embraces a responsive public outreach program. The publication outlines objectives; specific participation procedures; current public outreach efforts; guidance for project managers and member agencies in developing an outreach plan; and tools for public involvement. A public review period of 45 days opened on July 30 and will extend until September 12, 2001. Anyone wishing to receive a copy of the Plan or wishing to comment on it should contact Candace Snyder, Director of Communications and Public Affairs by phone 215-238-2875; fax 215-592-9125; or email csnyder@dvrpc.org.

GETTIN' THE GOODS
DVRPC has been selected by the Federal Highway Administration to host an intensive, three day freight planning workshop this fall. The workshop will attract 5-6 visiting MPO teams from across the country seeking to better integrate freight transportation into the planning process. Attendees will participate in peer exchanges, lectures by experts, intermodal facility site visits, and the October 10 meeting of the Delaware Valley Goods Movement Task Force.

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Aerial photographs are an essential tool for planning and analysis. They present a comprehensive view of regional conditions and, when coupled with historical photography, provide documentation of evolving land use. Aerial photography has also been an important component of DVRPC's planning efforts for many years. It is a popular source of information for developers, bankers, engineers, realtors, consultants and business organizations.

Beginning in 1998, DVRPC worked with member governments to modernize the imagery acquisition program. As a result, a consensus was reached to completely revise the process. A working group recommended the development of digital orthophotography, which has uniform scale, improved accuracy and most importantly, can be viewed on a computer screen. This new process represents a substantial departure from the historic format.

The modernized imagery acquisition program includes the entire DVRPC nine-county region and involves the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization (SJTPO) covering Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties. Ocean and Somerset Counties in New Jersey are also participating in the program. The entire project area is 7,300 square miles and is one of the largest projects of its type in the nation.

Digital orthophotography means that a photographic image is converted to a digital image which is adjusted to remove camera lens, vertical and other distortions. The result is a product which has scale uniformity. DVRPC's digital imagery has a positional accuracy of 5 feet, translating to objects being within 5 feet of their actual position on the earth's surface. The images are presented as tiles composed of small digital units calls pixels. The pixel size (or image resolution) is 1.5 feet. Each tile is 8745 x 5055 pixels in size, and represent a ground area of 13,177.5 ft x 7582.5 ft. Approximately 3000 tiles are required to cover the DVRPC region.

Digital aerial photographs will be available in the early Fall of 2001. They are available to the public in either digital or printed copy.

For more information about digital aerial photography or to order digital aerial photographs, contact DVRPC's Regional Information Services Center between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday thru Friday at 215-238-2828.

New Partner in Ozone Action: ecommute program "CLICK FOR CLEANER AIR"

Working with partners from the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Environmental Policy Institute, DVRPC marked the start of Ozone Action season by introducing a new program-ecommute. ecommute is a national pilot program designed to study the impacts of telecommuting in reducing harmful vehicle emissions. The program's debut in the Delaware Valley means that companies that accommodate telecommuting can earn air pollution emission credits which can be traded or sold to other companies. For more information about the ecommute program, log on to www.ecommute-nepi.org or www.dvrpc.org.

Now in its sixth year of operation, DVRPC's Ozone Action program is going strong, and getting the message out about small changes that everyone can make to ease concentrations of ground-level ozone on hot, still summer days. Through radio and TV spots, email notification and word-of-mouth, Ozone Action is changing the behaviors of people throughout the region.

DVRPC kicked-off the ecommute and this season's Ozone Action initiatives at a special event held May 15, 2001 at the Franklin Institute.

For the latest on DVRPC's Ozone Action, visit www.dvrpc.org.

DVRPC CONDUCTS PHOENIXVILLE AREA INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION STUDY

The Borough of Phoenixville in Chester County, Pennsylvania has been working to create a plan, the Phoenixville Strategic Plan for the French Creek Corridor and adjacent downtown business district. The corridor, once a manufacturing hub and site of the now defunct Phoenix Iron and Steel Works Plant, is largely vacant and presents great opportunities for recreation and economic development. It is the focal point of the area's revitalization efforts, which will result in increased growth for this subregion. Neighboring municipalities, once farmland, are being incrementally subdivided into bedroom communities, shopping centers and office parks as urbanization pushes westward.

Acting upon a recommendation of the Phoenixville Strategic Plan, DVRPC began work on the Phoenixville Area Intermodal Transportation Study last year.In November of 2000, DVRPC conducted the first multi-municipal advisory committee meeting to direct the study. Membership on the committee includes elected and appointed municipal officials, county planning personnel, regional transportation providers (PennDOT, SEPTA, and TMAs), Valley Forge National Historical Park staff, representatives from the business and development communities and representatives from those municipalities directly affected by the development of the French Creek corridor (Charlestown, East Pikeland, Schuylkill and Upper Providence Townships).

The comprehensive study is examining area-wide travel patterns and traffic conditions with the goal of developing a unified set of intermodal transportation solutions that will provide travel options throughout the study area and support the long-range growth and development visions of the community. DVRPC is bringing value to the effort by rendering its technical expertise and by integrating regional perspectives with the individual planning efforts of the constituents.

Since initiating the study, DVRPC has met formally with the Study Steering Committee four times and has made presentations to the public at large. To date, the study has produced a preliminary conceptual plan which will be subjected to future testing using DVRPC's regional travel demand forecasting model.

Prior to initiating that work, the Study Steering Committee has directed DVRPC to elicit citizen input on the study's progress and direction via a public workshop, scheduled for the evening of Thursday, September 20th, 2001. The workshop will be held at Columbia Station in Phoenixville from 6 to 9PMm.

For further information on the Phoenixville Area Intermodal Transportation Study please contact Jerry Coyne at 215- 238-2850.