News and Events

NYMTC regularly holds public meetings and events to keep the public informed and involved in regional transportation planning activities.

Meetings are held as a regular course of the planning process. Public involvement is critical to ensuring that future transportation investments reflect the needs, interests and concerns of those who are most affected. In addition to in-person participation opportunities, most meetings are also offered as webinars or via webcast. 

Public Comment Period Ends for Plan 2045
 

JUNE 13, 2017

NEW YORK – The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) recently concluded its public comment period for Draft Plan 2045 and its related products.

The comment period, which began May 1 and ended May 30, offered an opportunity for the public to comment on NYMTC’s next Regional Transportation Plan. Some of Plan 2045’s major transportation system improvements and actions can be seen on the map. However, a full listing of all projects, improvements and studies are available in Appendix 1: Recommended Projects-Improvements-Studies.

All public comments recorded at public review meetings, online at NYMTC’s social media channels or www.nymtc.mysidewalk.com, through regular mail or via email are formally documented. Responses are then developed in conjunction with our member agencies, which will be incorporated into Plan 2045 and the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

You can review the comments received here.

NYMTC Hosts Public Review Meetings for Plan 2045 in Lower Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island
 

JUNE 1, 2017

NEW YORK – The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) hosted 10 public review meetings for Draft Plan 2045 across its planning area. Draft Plan 2045 – NYMTC’s next Regional Transportation Plan – and its related products recently underwent a public review, which included public comment and public presentations in Carmel N.Y. (Putnam County); White Plains, N.Y. (Westchester County); New York City; Riverhead, N.Y. (Suffolk County) and Mineola, N.Y. (Nassau County)

NYMTC Executive Director José M. Rivera said: “Hearing from the public and gathering input is imperative to our planning process. NYMTC was very happy to see the public and other key stakeholders attend our public review meetings and offer public comment – either in-person, through email or on social media – so that they can have a say in the future of our transportation system.”

The comment period, which began May 1 and concluded May 30, offered an opportunity for the public to comment on Draft Plan 2045 and the two accompanying planning processes that are required to qualify for federal transportation funding: the 2017 Congestion Management Process (CMP) Status Report and the Transportation Conformity Determination. 

All public comments recorded at public review meetings, online at NYMTC’s social media channels or www.nymtc.mysidewalk.com, through regular mail or via email are documented. Responses are then developed in conjunction with our member agencies, which will be incorporated into the Plan and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

Draft Plan 2045 will be voted on by members of NYMTC’s Program, Finance, and Administration Committee and Council on June 27 and June 29, respectively.

NYMTC Hosts Peer Exchange Meeting with MPOS, UTRC

MAY 18, 2017 
NEW YORK – With the help of the University Transportation Research Center (UTRC), the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) hosted a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Peer Exchange meeting, which included MPOs from Northern Illinois, the Greater Philadelphia Region, the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern New Jersey.

MPO Peer Exchange Participants included NYMTC, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA)

NYMTC Executive Director Jose M. Rivera, along with members of NYMTC’s Program, Finance, and Administration Committee (PFAC) participated in a lively discussion regarding MPO critical issues, funding, operations and challenges. Member agency representatives – as delegated by the Council – make up PFAC, which is responsible for overseeing NYMTC’s day-to-day activities.

The Region 2 UTRC, which served as organizer and moderator for the MPO peer exchange discussion, is one of ten original University Transportation Centers established in 1987 by the U.S. Congress. These Centers were established with the recognition that transportation plays a key role in the nation's economy and the quality of life of its citizens. The UTRC represents United States Department of Transportation Region II, including New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For Immediate Release:
May 1, 2017

Contact:
Mike Giardina, Public Information Officer
212-383-7203 | michael.giardina@dot.ny.gov

NYMTC Releases Draft Plan 2045 – Its Next Regional Transportation Plan And Shared Vision For The Future
 

NYMTC Announces Public Comment Period and Various Public Review Meetings for Plan 2045
 

NEW YORK – With a focus on sustainability and innovation for the future of its transportation network, New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) Executive Director José M. Rivera announced the release of Draft Plan 2045 – the next Regional Transportation Plan for NYMTC’s planning area, which is now available for public review.

Themed “Maintaining the Vision for a Sustainable Region,” Draft Plan 2045 covers overall transportation planning in NYMTC’s planning area over the next quarter century. Plan 2045 builds on the progress made in the past Regional Transportation Plan, Plan 2040, and covers all facets of transportation - including roads, bridges, mass transit facilities, bicycle and pedestrian networks, goods movement and transportation for those with special needs.

“Plan 2045 is our future roadmap for focused investments in overall infrastructure that will maintain and improve our regional transportation system,” said NYMTC Executive Director Rivera. “Our next Regional Transportation Plan is the collective vision of the NYMTC Council and our Advisory Members that will achieve sustainability for our transportation network. Plan 2045 covers the long-range goals, objectives and needs for the transportation system that connects us across New York City, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley.”

The comment period, which begins May 1 and concludes May 30, will offer an opportunity for the public to comment on Draft Plan 2045 and the two accompanying planning processes that are required to qualify for federal transportation funding. The first, the 2017 Congestion Management Process (CMP) Status Report, forecasts future traffic congestion and considers strategies that reduce overall congestion in the region going forward. Also, the Transportation Conformity Determination quantitatively demonstrates how Plan 2045 and the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which helps to define specific transportation projects over a five-year period, can impact future mobile source emissions. Please click here to review Draft Plan 2045, the 2017 Congestion Management Process Status Report and the Transportation Conformity Determination

Also, NYMTC will host 10 public review meetings across its planning area - including Putnam County, Westchester County, New York City, Suffolk County and Nassau County. The New York City meetings will be available as webinars. For more information on the public comment period and public review meeting schedule, please click here.

Draft Plan 2045 will be voted on by members of NYMTC’s Program, Finance, and Administration Committee and Council on June 27 and June 29, respectively.

NYMTC Press Releases →

NYMTC Program, Finance and Administration Committee Hears Moynihan Station Presentation, Adopts Various Resolutions

Draft Plan 2045 - NYMTC's new regional transportation plan - begins public comment on May 1

News from NYMTC
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NEW YORK - During its April 20 meeting, members of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council's (NYMTC) Program, Finance, and Administration Committee (PFAC) heard a special presentation from Michael Evans, president of the Moynihan Station Development Project.

The presentation discussed the future of Moynihan Station - including upcoming improvement plans to connect the historic James A. Farley Post Office with Penn Station, one of the busiest transit hubs in the country. The project can be traced back to first conception more than 25 years earlier and is named after late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick "Pat" Moynihan. It is a multi-phase plan to transform the landmarked Post Office building into the new Manhattan home for Amtrak.

Mr. Evans highlighted to PFAC members and the general public that real construction has already started in creating the great Train Hall. Because Penn Station is currently at full capacity, with over 700,000 plus daily riders and 1,200 trains daily, Mr. Evans noted that "it is the busiest transportation node in the Western Hemisphere," with two of the busiest commuter railroads (Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit) and two of the busiest subway stations.

"What is so incredible about this project is we are going to take 100-year-old infrastructure, a beautiful historic gem and adaptably reuse it to solve a 21st century problem and create a 21st century transportation facility," Mr. Evan said during the April 20 PFAC meeting. He added that this new Farley solution will help to alleviate the congestion at Penn Station and address the incredible surge in growth of the Far West Side of Manhattan.

Other highlights of presentation included:

• Both Amtrak and LIRR will utilize the Moynihan Station - including plans by Amtrak to move all passenger facing to the new facility (i.e. ticket information, baggage handling, etc.) that will connect Midtown to the Far West Side.
• The Farley building will increase concourse space by 50 percent and increase vertical circulation of passengers.
• Moynihan Station Project - Phase 1: Expanded West End Concourse, Vertical Circulation, new entrances/connections.
• Moynihan Station Project - Phase 2: Taking courtyard of original Farley building - initially used for all mail sort of the Post Office building, and build a three-story atrium space for LIRR and Amtrak. Also, the Grand Train Hall will maintain prior historic trusses and incorporate a skylight system for added natural light to the transportation facility.
• Projected timeline for the project, valued at appropriately $1.594 billion, includes an expected completion by 2020.

In other action items, PFAC members adopted various resolutions, which included:

• Amendments to the State Fiscal Years (SFYs) 2016-2018 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) passed, which included a motion for adjustments to various projects NYMTC staff and its member agencies are currently carrying out in their SFY 2017-2018 UPWP. The modification included a project sponsored by the New York City Department of Transportation and projects sponsored by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that do not require any new funding for completion. The UPWP helps to determine how federal funding for planning activities will be spent over the course of a program year.
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• Adopted amendments to the Vision and Pedestrian Elements-Bicycle Elements of the Fiscal Years 2014-2040 Regional Transportation Plan: adding four project concepts - the Replacement of the Grand Street Bridge over the Newtown Creek; the Arthur E. Sheridan Expressway Enhancement Project; the Expansion of the Weigh-in-Motion Program; and the Expansion of the Clean Vehicle Program will be included to the vision element of Plan 2040, NYMTC's prior regional transportation plan. Also, the South Bronx Greenway along the Bruckner Boulevard project will be added the Pedestrian-Bicycle Element of Plan 2040 to show the New York City Department of Transportation as a co-sponsor, along with the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
• Adopted resolution for the Arthur E. Sheridan Expressway, currently classified as an inter-state, to be classified as a principal arterial roadway due to the fact than an arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road whose primary function is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways or expressways.

Also, NYMTC Staff offered a recap of the planned Public Review of Plan 2045 - Federal regulations require that NYMTC update its regional transportation plan (RTP) every four years. As a result, a new plan is required by Oct. 1 2017. Following the hard work of members and staff, and input from the public, NYMTC is close to having a draft plan to be presented.

"Plan 2045, which we are labeling as 'Maintaining the Vision for a Sustainable Region,' covers the Federal Fiscal Years 2018-2045 and builds on the progress made in the past Regional Transportation Plan 2040. Our Regional Transportation Plan covers all facets of transportation - including roadways, public transportation, bicycles, pedestrians and transportation for those with special needs," said NYMTC Executive Director Jose M. Rivera.

"NYMTC's planning area is slated to grow to 14.3 million by 2045; it is essential that the programs and projects in Plan 2045 continue to move forward in order to maintain our existing infrastructure in a state of good repair and address long-range transportation needs," Executive Director Rivera continued.

Starting in May, there will be a 30-day mandatory public comment for the draft Plan 2045, the Congestion Management Process and Transportation Conformity. In total 10 in-person meetings are planned across the NYMTC planning area - including Putnam County, Westchester County, New York City, Suffolk County and Nassau County. The New York City meetings will be available as webinars as well. Public comment will also be available at https://nymtc.mysidewalk.com/.

The final Draft Plan 2045 will come to a vote to the PFAC and Council Members on June 27 and June 29, respectively.

NYMTC's Freight Transportation Working Group Meeting

NYMTC’s Freight Transportation Working Group meeting on March 21st featured a presentation on the Metropolitan Resilience Network, which is hosted by the International Center for Enterprise Awareness . The Network’s mission is to advance resilience by bringing together public and private stakeholders to collaborate on shared operational risks to their organizations and to the wider region. In pursuit of this mission, the Network connects existing risk, security, continuity and crisis efforts; provides a platform for on-going risk communications; and offers both joint exercises and a best practice knowledge base. Bill Raisch, the Network’s Director, provided an overview presentation on the Network and its activities.

The meeting also featured a discussion of the drafting of NYMTC’s new Regional Freight Plan and updates on related freight planning activities in the region, including New York State DOT’s new Freight Plan, New York City DOT’s Smart Truck Management Plan, and New York City Emergency Management’s Regional Resiliency Assessment Program. Lastly, Alycia Gilde of CALSTART announced the start of the New York Truck-Voucher Incentive Program, which provides voucher incentives for the purchase of all electric, hybrid and CNG vehicles and diesel emissions control technologies.

Download
The Metropolitan Resilience Network presentation
NYMTC's New Regional Freight Plan presentation
New York Truck-Voucher Incentive Program Fact Sheet

NYMTC’s Annual Meeting and Annual Report

NYMTC’s Annual Meeting was held on Wednesday February 22nd at the Kimmel Center at New York University. Keynote speaker Carlo Scissura, President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Building Congress, spoke on the theme of the meeting and the Annual Report: Making the Case for Infrastructure Investment.

The Annual Report not only recaps NYMTC’s organizational accomplishments and those of its member agencies over the past year, it also previews relevant information on infrastructure investment from NYMTC’s next Regional Transportation Plan, which is scheduled to be adopted this coming summer.

The region’s economic prowess and livability are related to its far reaching and relatively efficient transportation network. Preserving the existing transportation network to meet current needs, and expanding it to meet future demand, requires substantial resources.

The NYMTC members adopted a $44 million annual work program for State Fiscal Year 2017-18 and amended NYMTC’s fiscally-constrained Regional Transportation Plan to add two bus rapid transit projects in Suffolk County, an important first step toward receiving federal funding for the projects. The members also confirmed Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell as co-chair for a second one year term.

Download
SFY 2017-2018 UPWP
2017 NYMTC Annual Report

Delegation from Department of Land and Resource of Chinese Henan Province visits NYMTC

On January 17, 2017, NYMTC, along with two of its member agencies: NYC Department of City Planning, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority, hosted a delegation of governmental officials from the Department of Land and Resource of Chinese Henan Province. The discussions/presentations to the delegation covered global planning issues and it was quite beneficial to be able to share best practices as we continue to address specific issues such as urban and transportation planning, sustainable land use, collection, processing and dissemination of socioeconomic data.

NYMTC hosts delegation from City of Tokyo

NYMTC hosted a peer exchange meeting with Japanese delegation on January 17, 2017, to discuss technical issues. The members represented the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and Urban and Research Planning Division from the city of Tokyo.

Members of NYMTC’s Technical Group facilitated discussions that were geared towards designing travel surveys and developing activity based travel demand models for transportation planning and analysis.

New Executive Director Appointed

NYMTC’s new Executive Director, Jose Rivera, brings more than 30 years of progressively responsible management positions within the New York State Department of Transportation to his new role. He has significant experience in Program and Project Management; Project Development; Dispute Resolution; and Risk Management. Most recently, he served as the Acting Director of the Office of Construction. Prior to that, he served as the Deputy Project Director/Construction Manager for the Route 9A Project, a part of the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment efforts subsequent to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the City College of New York with leadership training from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, as well as the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations. Welcome Jose!

Announcement and Press Release

Did You Know That Town Planning Used to be an Olympic Category?

Did you know that the Olympics weren’t always only for sports, but included competitions in fine arts as well? Believe it or not, town planning used to be a competitive category in the Olympics! From 1928-1948, competitors from all over the world competed in subcategories of five primary categories: Music, Painting, Literature, Sculpture, and Architecture. It was in this way that Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee, brought arts onto the international stage with sports, giving people around the world yet another way to come together peacefully instead of violently. In the 1936 Olympic Games, American competitor Charles Downing Lay took home a silver medal in the Town Planning subcategory of Architecture for his redesign plan for Marine Park in Brooklyn, NY. John Russell Pope in the 1932 Olympic Games was the only other American to win a medal under the Architecture category. His design plans of the Payne Whitney Gymnasium at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut earned him a silver medal.

NYMTC’s Language Access Program Launched

As a step toward a more inclusive planning process, NYMTC’s Language Access Program provides translation services for people who are not fluent in English. The Language Access Program is a further enhancement to NYMTC’s public involvement efforts to increase the accessibility of information about and input into the regional transportation planning process. According to a Census-based review, just over 70% of the total Limited English Proficiency (LEP) population speaks one of three languages ‒ Spanish, Chinese and Russian ‒ and therefore these three languages are considered as primary LEP languages in NYMTC’s planning area. An additional thirty one languages are considered secondary LEP languages. If you need information in another language or have questions, please call 212-383-7200 and someone will be able to assist you.

Program Details and Translated Documents

Executive Summary Translations of NYMTC’s core regional planning products and analyses:

• Regional Transportation Plan
• Transportation Improvement Program and related Annual Listing of Obligated Projects
• Unified Planning Work Program
• Congestion Management Process Status Report
• Transportation Conformity Determination
• Public Involvement Plan

Oral Translation Services: Real-time oral and American Sign Language translation services for public meetings and workshops at locations in the project/study area will be available for the primary LEP languages upon request made verbally or in writing 72 hours prior to the meeting in question. Real-time oral language assistance will be provided through an on-call translation service by calling 212-383-7200 or email NYMTC-Web@dot.ny.gov.