Transportation Collage - Trains, Pedestrians and Cars

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Planning for the Future

The NJTPA, like other Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) around the country, is required by the federal government to analyze transportation trends and needs more than 20 years in the future (the current NJTPA plan has a 25-year horizon) while allocating federal funding in the near-term to needed projects and programs. To do so, the NJTPA employs sophisticated tools -- including computer modeling and mapping systems -- and coordinates its efforts with a host of other agencies and officials as well as the public. This Planning for the Future section of the website focuses on planning activities and products the NJTPA undertakes to address complex transportation issues facing the northern New Jersey region.

Nighttime traffic congestion Rt 22- photo by Dwight Hiscano

2035 Long Range Plan

The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) is a blueprint for 25 years of transportation investment. It is a critical document, because all federally funded transportation projects in the region must flow from the plan. Inclusion in the plan is the all-important first step toward making a transportation project idea into reality.
The NJTPA updates the plan every four years to reflect our region’s ever-evolving conditions and priorities

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Identifying Needs, Setting Priorities

Identifying needs and setting priorities among them is among the most important functions of the NJTPA. These needs and priorities are embodied in the agency's Regional Transportation Plan, in particular, in the plan's Capital Investment Strategy. But to arrive at needs and priorities requires extensive analysis and study. Among the efforts are: a regionwide "Strategy Evaluation" effort and studies of particular corridors. This section of the website focuses on these and other activities and includes pages relating to the next plan update, targeted for adoption in 2009.

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Plan Elements

The NJTPA's Regional Transportation Plan covers a wide range of transportation issues. Adoption of the plan every four years provides direction for on-going planning activities on these issues. They include: Safety, Mobility & Congestion, Freight, Air Quality, Environmental Justice, Intelligent Transportation, Bicycle/ Pedestrian Travel, Transit, Smart Growth, and Aviation

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Subregional Planning

"Partnership" is a key principle of the transportation planning process in northern New Jersey. The 13 counties and two major cities represented on the NJTPA Board – known as "subregions" – carry out transportation planning work that helps NJTPA identify and address regional-level transportation needs.

The NJTPA provides federal funding to support the planning work of the subregions. As vital partners in regional planning work, the subregions help bring a local perspective to all aspects of NJTPA's work to improve the northern New Jersey transportation network.

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Current Studies Overview

This Overview page includes summaries of studies and study programs currently underway. Links are provided to further information elsewhere on the website.

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