April 17, 2024
DVRPC staff will be presenting during several sessions at the 2024 NJ TransAction Conference.
TransAction 2024, the annual New Jersey transportation conference and expo, is taking place April 30 - May 2, 2024, at Harrah’s Resort & Casino, Atlantic City, NJ. Look for the DVRPC table in the expo hall, and find DVRPC staff presenting at the following sessions:
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
10:00 am – 11:00 am: Uncovering Bicycle and Pedestrian Trends in DVRPC's Nine-County Region (Room: Wildwood 1-2)
To inform policy decisions and help guide infrastructure investment, DVRPC monitors and tracks travel trends in the Delaware Valley. In this presentation, we will review how we collect data for two DVRPC programs, including the Transit Survey and Cyclical Count Program, and how it is analyzed to show travel trends in the region. We will also briefly overview some key findings for these two programs.
Speakers: Leea Kelly, Traffic Data Analyst and Christopher Mulroy, MCRP, Transportation Planner
11:10 am - 12:10 pm: Making Sense of Segments: A New Bike and Pedestrian Tool for Evaluating Projects in the DVRPC Region (Room: Wildwood 4)
DVRPC is developing a new tool to enhance its LTS connectivity analysis, which will be demonstrated during this session. This upcoming tool will offer comprehensive insights into projects, enabling planning collaborators to either sketch or upload their project details. Once inputted, the tool will furnish data about the potential impact of improving or constructing a segment, specifically in terms of connecting people, jobs, services, and other relevant factors. The public launch of this tool is scheduled for June 2024.
Speaker: Mark Morley, AICP, Transportation Planner
2:10 pm - 3:10 pm: DVRPC’s Regional Coordinated Human Services Transportation Plan: Equity Through Access (Room: Wildwood 7)
DVRPC’s Coordinated Human Services Transportation Plan (CHSTP), Equity Through Access (ETA), seeks to improve economic and social opportunity in the region by expanding access to essential services for vulnerable populations across the Philadelphia region. The most recent update to the Plan focuses on bridging the user experience detailed in the 2016 plan with the experience of direct and indirect accessible transit providers post-COVID-19. This session will present the core barriers and opportunities for accessible transit services and provide strategies for leveraging interagency partnerships to identify and address persisting accessibility gaps.
Speaker: Wideleine Desir, AICP, Public Participation Planner, and Joanna Hecht, Senior Transportation Planner
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
10:45 am - 11:55 am: MPO Executive Directors’ Roundtable (Room: Wildwood 12-13)
This moderated, high-level session brings together New Jersey’s three MPOs: the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA), the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), and the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization (SJTPO). The executive directors of all three MPOs will address common issues, opportunities, and challenges regarding transportation planning in the state.
Moderator: Eric Powers, Assistant Commissioner of Statewide Planning, Safety, and Capital Investment, NJDOT
Speakers: David W. Behrend, AICP, Executive Director, NJTPA; Ariella Maron, Executive Director, DVRPC; and Jennifer Marandino, PE, Executive Director, SJTPO
1:45 pm - 2:45 pm: Browns Mills Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan (Room: Wildwood 7)
The Browns Mills Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan presents a set of bicycle and pedestrian improvements for Browns Mills, NJ - a unique community that is located within the Pinelands National Reserve, home to the Deborah Heart and Lung Center, and adjacent to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. For this project, DVRPC partnered with community members, Pemberton Township, Burlington County, and an advisory committee to develop detailed and achievable bike/ped recommendations for five locations throughout and around Browns Mills. The recommendations build on Browns Mills’ existing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure while still preserving the area's important natural resources, with the ultimate goal of creating safer and more complete roads, trails, and intersections that support better health outcomes and enhance connections to the Town Center, recreational destinations, and neighboring communities. A new DVRPC program, Supporting Communities, collaboratively aims to enhance DVRPC's responsiveness to the diverse needs and preferences of all communities, addressing barriers to implementing local transportation priorities. During the program's inaugural year, DVRPC and Pemberton Township staff are partnering to advance recommendations put forth in the Browns Mills plan. This session will discuss planning for bike/ped infrastructure in this unique community and how DVRPC is currently working with the Township to implement the proposed improvements.
Speakers: Amy Verbofsky, Manager, Healthy and Resilient Communities; Derek Lombardi, AICP, Senior Planner; and Alyson Dressman, Capital Program Planner
5:00 - 6:00 pm: DVRPC's Electric Vehicle Task Force for First Responders: Operational Complexities of Electric Vehicles (Room: Wildwood 1-2)
To keep pace with the ever-evolving fleet on the roadway, DVRPC, in partnership with first responders, DOTs, and other transportation professionals, developed an Electric Vehicle Task Force. The primary purpose of the task force is "dedicated to improving outcomes of EV-related incidents on roadways in the Delaware Valley region." This session will detail the development and evolution of the task force, as well as highlight some of the specific operational challenges EVs pose to first responders and others out on the roadways.
Speakers: Justin Neff, Manager, Traffic Management Program, and Kayla Bancone, Transportation Planner
Thursday, May 2, 2024
10:30 - 11:30 am: Travel Options Program (TOP): TDM Projects Implemented and Grant Opportunities (Room: Wildwood 6)
The Travel Options Program (TOP) is DVRPC's competitive grant program that funds innovative TDM projects in the greater Philadelphia region. TOP targets projects that aim to reduce the number of single occupancy vehicles (SOVs) on roadways and improve accessibility, equity, and freedom of choice across all modes of transportation. This session will present the overarching structure, strategies, and goals of the program as well as the outcomes of awarded TOP projects.
Speakers: Stacy Bartels, Manager, Office of TDM Strategy and Marketing
View the full 2024 TransAction schedule.