A public comment period for the Draft Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) covering the period April 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013 opens on Wednesday, January 4, 2012 and closes at 4 p.m. on Friday, February 3, 2012.  The UPWP is a federally-mandated product of NYMTC’s planning process that defines planning activities in NYMTC’s region and identifies federal planning funds to conduct these activities. NYMTC’s members will take action to adopt the draft UPWP at their Annual Meeting on March 1, 2012.  The meeting will be held from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, New York.

The Draft April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2012 UPWP document is available for download by clicking here.

Comments on the Draft April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2012 UPWP are due in writing by 4 p.m. on February 3, 2012 to:
New York Metropolitan Transportation Council
David Kletsman
199 Water Street, 22nd Floor
New York, NY 10038
dkletsman@dot.state.ny.us
(212) 383-7246

NYMTC, through the resulting contracts to be held by the New York State Department of Transportation, is releasing an RFP seeking to retain at least three but no more than five responsive, responsible and fully qualified Planning Consultants or Teams of Planning Consultants under an FHWA-funded, FTA-funded and potentially New York State-funded planning services term-type agreement for Consultant Planning Services.

Please note the following dates and deadlines:


February 2, 2012:
Deadline for the submission of proposals is 2:00 PM

To access the RFP go to http://tinyurl.com/NYMTC-PSA3-RFP

NYMTC’s Annual Listing of Obligated Transportation Improvement Projects for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2011 is now available, asrequired by federal regulations after the conclusion of a fiscal year to report on progress in implementing the five-year TIP. Although the TIP indicates planned funding for improvement projects and confers eligibility for federal funding, obligation effectively “locks in” the funding for projects and leads the way to implementation. 
The TIP documents the region’s transportation improvements that are programmed for federal funding. All federally-funded projects are required to be on the TIP in order to be eligible for funding. The FFY 2011 Annual Listing of Obligated Transportation Improvement Projects reports which of these improvement projects have had their funding obligated during FFY 2011, which began October 1, 2010 and ended September 30, 2011.

Download
	FFY 2011 Annual Listing of Obligated Transportation Improvement Projects

The travel survey data collection phase has being completed. Travel data was collected from almost 19,000 households across 28 counties in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, with a goal of 18,800 households. Currently the data is being reviewed for final acceptance. The next steps are data weighting and expansion. The survey data will provide key travel statistics for the region, and help in the planning of future transportation investments. A final report will be available in the fall 2012. For more information visit www.regionaltravelsurvey.org/.

February 23, 2012 – 1:15 p.m. | 199 Water Street, 22nd floor, NYC 
PFAC Meeting.
Agenda and details to be posted in advance of meeting.  Members will act to recommend UPWP to Council for adoption. 

Upcoming forums will allow the public to weigh in on what makes better communities, and to comment on the efforts of the New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities Initiative, a partnership between the federal government and 17 cities, counties and organizations in New York and Connecticut.  This series of town hall meetings will allow the partnership to get input for a three-year effort to improve jobs, housing, transportation and the environment.  For a full description of the initiative, go to sustainablenyct.org. NYMTC is pleased to be a part of this effort and hope that you will join us at one the following forums that will take place in December and early 2012:

The events are as follows:

Thursday, February 9, 2012
Brooklyn/East New York Town Hall Meeting, Cypress Hills School, P.S. 89, 265 Warwick Street, Brooklyn, NY 11207. 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Mt. Vernon/Westchester Town Hall Meeting, City Council Chambers, 1 Roosevelt Square, Mt. Vernon, NY 10550.Time TBD

More events are coming across the region, and we'd like you to be there. To sign up for updates on this project, or to get more information about the events and the project, please visit: http://www.sustainablenyct.org/events/

 The New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities Consortium, a partnership between the federal government and 17 cities, counties and organizations in New York and Connecticut, represents an unprecedented bi-state collaboration of cities, counties and regional planning organizations. This initiative, funded with a $3.5 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant, will integrate housing, economic development, transportation and environmental planning. The goal of the consortium is to reposition the New York-Connecticut region to fully harness its innovation capabilities in a competitive global environment, build on its strong foundation of energy efficiency, and become as equitable as it is efficient. Its primary focus is to leverage the most extensive and robust transit system in the nation by developing livable communities with mixed-income housing and employment at key nodes in the MTA Metro-North Railroad and MTA Long Island Rail Road network.

Consortium members include the cities of New York, New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwalk, Stamford, Yonkers, White Plains, New Rochelle, and Mount Vernon; Nassau and Suffolk counties; the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council; South Western Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization; Greater Bridgeport/Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization; South Central Regional Council of Governments; the Long Island Regional Planning Council; and Regional Plan Association.

More than two dozen people attended NYMTC’s November 7th Public Information Session on Freight Villages – Moving toward the next RTP.  The meeting kicked off a new series of public information sessions as NYMTC begins the development process for the next Regional Transportation Plan.

The session focused on the completion of NYMTC's Feasibility of Freight Villages in the NYMTC Region, as it relates to the Regional Freight Plan component of the next RTP.  Included in the discussion was an overview of how freight moves into, out of and within the region, along with the goals set forth in the previous Regional Freight Plan, as well as next steps for the development of the next Plan.  A lively Q&A with the audience included some suggestions for additional considerations of goals and activities as the planning process moves forward.

Due to an unfortunate technical glitch, the scheduled live webcast was not available, but can be viewed in two parts by clicking here for Part 1 and clicking here for Part 2. The presentation is available by clicking here.

For more info on Freight Villages or the Regional Freight Plan contact Howie Mann at hmann@dot.state.ny.us

NYMTC, through its host agency, NYSDOT, has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to seek proposals from responsive and responsible offerors to assist NYMTC to develop/update its 31-county regional socioeconomic and demographic (SED) forecasting model, to implement a program for allocating forecasts of population, households, employment, and labor force in the NYMTC region, and to produce the agency’s Socioeconomic and Demographic long-range forecasts beginning from base year 2012 through the year 2050 at five year intervals (2015, 2020, 2025, 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045 and 2050). The anticipated due date of the receipt of proposals is December 14, 2011. Deadline for questions about the RFP: November 29, 2011.

Click here to access the RFP documents 

The September 15th PFAC meeting included a special, and very moving, tribute to the three NYMTC staff killed in September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks – Ignatius Adanga, Charles Lesperance and See Wong Shum. In addition to several action items that were adopted during the business portion of the meeting, there was a special presentation by Alice Greenwald, Director of the September 11 Memorial Museum that included a virtual tour of the Museum, slated to open next year. 

left to right front: Rebecca Shum, Affiong Adanga, Renee Alexander back: Penny Eickemeyer, Li Chen, Cyrus Naheedy, Sandra Rothbard, Richard Barone, Peter Feroe, Judd Schechtman, Shuai Ren, Maxwell Sokol, Daysi Manzano

The meeting also included a Five Year Retrospective of the September 11th Memorial Program for Regional Transportation Planning, a living tribute to Ignatius, Charles and Shum and their passion for learning and dedication to regional planning. New York State Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald shared a letter noting the loss of NYMTC’s colleagues on September 11, 2001 and commemorating the fifth year of the September 11th Memorial Program. Family members of Charles, Ignatius and Shum spoke about their roles in helping create the Program, and how proud they are to be a part of this effort. Past and present student participants also spoke about how the Program provides opportunities they may not otherwise have had. 

For more information on the September 11th Memorial Program for Regional Transportation Planning
click here.  For more information on the individual student projects click here.

Download a copy of the
Five Year Retrospective of the September 11th Memorial Program for Regional Transportation Planning (4.42MB)

NYMTC’s Council members adopted the draft 2011- 15 TIP at a special meeting held in NYMTC’s offices on Thursday, August 4th.

The presentation on the 2011-15 TIP that was shown at the meeting can be downloaded by clicking here.

The TIP is a five-year program of projects  the prioritizes $34.5 billion of transportation improvements that are  seeking eligibility for federal transportation funding, including bridges, highways, transit services, bikeways and walkways.over the FFY 2011–2015 program period. On July 28, NYMTC’s Program, Finance and Administration Committee (PFAC) voted to adopt the draft Conformity Determination. The Conformity Determination is a regional air quality analysis of mobile source emissions required by the Clean Air Act of 1990 for designated non attainment areas. A Conformity Determination must be done for all Transportation Improvement Programs and Regional Transportation Plans in non- attainment areas. It can be viewed by clicking the link below.

Download
	Draft FFY 2011-2015 Transportation Improvement Program (narrative revised June 8, 2011)
TIP Change Log Change logs have been posted which summarize all changes made to the draft TIP and Conformity Determination since they were both posted at the start of the public comment period on June 7th. These changes resulted either from public comments or from modifications made to the FFY 11 element of the TIP. Public comments received and responses to them are also posted.
	TIP Change Log
	Public Comments and Responses

In her first appearance in New York City since being confirmed by the Senate, New York State Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald gave the keynote speech at NYMTC’s 2011 Annual Meeting, which had as its theme Planning in Times of Economic Uncertainty; the meeting was held March 10th at NYU’s Kimmel Center.  Speaking to her fellow Council members and several hundred interested public, Commissioner McDonald spoke about her vision for the agency, and the challenges of planning in times of economic uncertainty, particularly when there are significant budget deficits at the federal, state and local levels. She noted that the state’s transportation system is old, heavily used and continues to age, saying “We are doing our best to preserve the highway and transit networks, but the age and magnitude of the needs are working against us.”  She added that “To maintain this vital system, we should be investing about twice as much as we do today to bring our system to a state-of-good-repair and being to make improvements for the future.”

At the same time, the Commissioner pointed to the need to balance the needs of today while planning for the future, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between transportation, the environment and economic development. She emphasized the need for investment in high speed rail as part of a vision for modernizing the transportation network. In her remarks, Commissioner McDonald pointed out that in times of crisis there is opportunity, highlighting strategies for addressing the challenges facing the region, including the need to: integrate smart growth, sustainability, energy, climate change, livability and complete streets concepts; better integrate transportation planning with local land use planning; pursue opportunities to streamline the project delivery process to be more efficient and cost-effective; create safer transportation choices through programs such as Safe Routes to School and Safe Seniors; adapt to climate change; and together as NYMTC, further develop strategies and programs to meet increasing needs in these difficult fiscal times.

Following the keynote remarks, Council members held a roundtable discussion of steps they are taking to plan for the future despite the current economic situation. Westchester County is re-evaluating and prioritizing projects in its capital budget. Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett noted that spending money on these projects contributes to economic vitality for the county and the region. Both Westchester County and Rockland County are facing the challenges that the Tappan Zee Bridge reconstruction project will bring to the area, also recognizing that these challenges present opportunities. Rockland County Executive Scott Vanderhoef noted that there is a need to balance cash flow and necessary projects, and that the county understands that if projects are deferred for too long, costs can increase substantially.



Nassau County is also re-evaluating its capital projects, and working with towns and municipalities to better leverage resources. County Executive Mangano pointed out that economic growth in the county and the region is dependant on infrastructure. Putnam County Executive Paul Eldridge stated that as they are reviewing their capital projects, the economic downturn also means that bids are coming in lower, which is helping in the long run. Commissioner McDonald emphasized that it is important to have plans and designs ready for the future to keep the project pipeline strong. And the MTA noted that the challenge is not to hunker down, but to consider where the economic demand will be and to plan for it.

Prior to adjourning the meeting, the Council members voted to approve the 2011 – 2012 Unified Planning Work Program, and to make revisions to the Strategic Transportation Investments in the 2010 – 2035 Regional Transportation Plan.

Commissioner McDonald’s remarks (91 kb)
Council resolutions (64 kb)

The revised 2009 CMP Status Report was adopted by PFAC on Thursday, January 21, 2010. To view the 2009 CMP Status Report click here.

The CMP provides a summary description of roadway traffic congestion, including focus on seven regional performance measures. This is the first report that offers composite route maps showing levels of congestion in each borough and county, based on ratios of demand over capacity. On the same maps, bottlenecks are identified and located.

On September 24, 2009, NYMTC’s Council members adopted the 2010-2035 Regional Transportation Plan, entitled A Shared Vision for A Shared Future, which establishes a sustainable regional framework for future transportation improvements and investments for the next 25 years. It establishes a shared, long-term vision for the transportation system serving the New York metropolitan region–its roads, bridges, freight and mass transit facilities, and its bicycle and pedestrian networks. Updated every four years, the Plan is the product of a cooperative public involvement and intergovernmental planning process, and its approval by NYMTC’s members is required for Federal transportation funding.

To request a presentation of the Regional Transportation Plan at a meeting or workshop please contact Jan Khan.

click here to view the Plan

NYMTC has taken a number of actions to amend or administratively modify the 2008-2012 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) to enable possible funding for candidate transportation projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. For a potential project to be eligible for funding, it must be on the TIP. Candidate projects are provided both on lists and via geographical representation on Google maps, where feasible, by clicking on the links below.

Actions on additional candidate projects and/or changes to candidate projects already listed are possible and the information will be updated as necessary.

New York City Candidate Projects
Download (14kb) | Google Map

Lower Hudson Valley Candidate Projects
Download (14kb) | Google Map

Long Island Candidate Projects
Download (14kb) | Google Map

In addition, a comment period was held for transit projects proposed for ARRA funding. The projects, which can be viewed by clicking here, have been or will be endorsed by the MPOs in the New York metropolitan area and conform to State Implementation Plan (SIP) as required by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

On June 18, 2009, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) approved a new Coordinated Public Transit - Human Services Transportation Plan for the NYMTC Area. This effort stems in part from SAFETEA-LU, the Federal transportation act, which requires that such a plan be in place before services and transportation providers in the region may access certain specific funding programs offered by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). These funding programs involve transportation services for persons with disabilities, older adults, and persons with lower income.

One of the key components of the Plan includes improved coordination among service providers to reduce redundancies, while at the same time ensuring that the needs of the target populations are met. It is important to note that the new Plan will be the basis for decision-making for grant applications for transportation services to these three populations. The Plan can be viewed and downloaded by clicking here and is also available on a CD or as a hard copy upon request.

Contact Angelina Foster at afoster@dot.state.ny.us.

NYMTC’s Title VI Policy The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council assures that no person shall on the grounds of race, color, national origin, or gender, as provided in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes be excluded from participation in, or be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity for which NYMTC received Federal financial assistance.
Further, NYMTC incorporates the principles of environmental justice into its policies, planning and project development activities to ensure that there are no inequitable impacts on minority groups and low-income groups throughout the region.