As Greater Philadelphia's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), DVRPC is federally mandated to produce a Long-Range Plan and a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) to ensure the orderly growth and development of the region in concert with multiple planning partners. These products work together to form a unified financial plan to fund transportation infrastructure, where the Plan provides a vision for regional growth and development, and the TIP supports near-term implementation. DVRPC uses performance-based planning to guide both the TIP and the Plan as part of a continuing, comprehensive, and cooperative transportation planning, programming, and decision-making process.
Long-Range Plan
The Long-Range Plan (Plan) serves as a blueprint for prioritizing funding for capital transportation investment in the region over a minimum 20-year horizon. Recognizing the integrated and holistic relationship between transportation and the built environment, the Plan also considers land use, the environment, economic development, equity, and quality of life issues, and offers comprehensive policy guidance for the region. The Plan outlines the vision, goals, and strategies established for the region as part of the update process, and contains a fiscally constrained financial plan for funding transportation infrastructure. DVRPC updates the Plan every four years in close collaboration with its planning partners.
Transportation Improvement Program
The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is the regionally agreed upon list of priority transportation projects over a four-year period, as required by federal law. The TIP document contains a multimodal list of all projects that intend to use federal funds, along with all non-federally funded projects that are regionally significant, with estimated costs and schedules. For planning purposes, DVRPC’s TIPs show a full 10 years of funding in New Jersey and 12 years in Pennsylvania for highway and public transit projects.
Performance-Based Planning and Programming
DVRPC uses performance-based planning and programming (PBPP) to ensure efficient use of the region’s resources; increase transparency and accountability, better connect investments to outcomes; and inform decision-making that supports the Plan’s vision and goals, as well as federal Transportation Performance Management targets
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Federal legislation directs the development of the region’s Plan and TIPs based on a performance-based planning and programming approach to transportation decision making, and authorizes federal funding for multimodal investments in roads and transit. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), is the current federal surface transportation legislation.