OF THE 2005-06 UPWP
Key
Direction
Staff proposes that CDTC develop only a one-year UPWP
for 2005-06. The two-year UPWP concept
would be revisited for 2006-08 (the next off-year relative to
The past year’s work effort has emphasized the following:
Major technical effort and outreach
regarding New Visions 2030 subjects, including initiation of five new working
groups
Completion
of the New Visions 2025 amendment
Air Quality Conformity determination
of the
Certification of the CDTC planning
process by FHWA and FTA, including citation for best practice in ten subjects
Documentation and adoption of a
regional ITS architecture
Work
on more than a dozen
Participation in and tracking of
TEA-21 Reauthorization, NYSDOT Transformation and NYSDOT Master Plan
development
Successful efforts in Travel Demand
Management, including the Commuter Ca$h program in downtown
Development of the next
For the
coming year, efforts will continue and emphasis will shift slightly to:
Initiation of seven additional
Integration of working group and
task force products into draft New Visions 2030 plan material, public review
and completion of the plan update
Adoption of the new 2005-10
Participation in the TEA-21
Reauthorization, NYSDOT Transformation and Master Plan development and review
Continued effort to pursue “safety
conscious planning” and further integration operations into the planning
process
Greater detail and budgets will be provided in a draft
UPWP for
New Visions
2030
A
number of new technical reports and discussion papers have been produced by
staff, task forces and working groups.
Effort on finance will complement new products from Bike/Ped and Goods
Movement task forces and well as the work by five Working Groups.
Common
findings and implications for the CDTC long-range plan will be identified in
coming months, providing the basis for extensive public dialogue, leading to a
draft New Visions 2030 plan. The new
plan will provide clarification to the Capital District’s perspective on local
planning, the future of the expressway system and the region’s approach to
“big” projects. Coordination with the
Center for Economic Growth will continue, along with continued participation
with ARISE, the Business/Higher Education Roundtable and others. CDTC continues to work toward a 2005
completion of the 2030 plan, but has some schedule latitude due to the August
2004 adoption of the New Visions 2025 amendment.
Year Five of the
TEA-21
Reauthorization
When a new act is passed, there may be considerable
staff,
NYSDOT
Transformation, Master Plan and State Funding Program
Much of the NYSDOT Transformation material continues
to be internal in nature. As a
transition to a new organizational structure (integrator division and operator
division) takes place, changes in NYSDOT-MPO relationships are expected. An “Area Integrator” has been named, but the
effect of this has yet to play out. CDTC
staff and members will work with NYSDOT to help make the transition as
constructive as possible. It is also
possible that the Transformation effort will lead CDTC to revisit its overall
Prospectus. The Prospectus has been due
for an update for some time, but there have been few changes to participants’
roles and responsibilities to necessitate a modification to the Prospectus’
definitions. The Transformation process
may provide the reason for completing the Prospectus update.
Additionally, a draft master plan in expected shortly,
providing the basis for a new state transportation funding program. CDTC staff and members will engage NYSDOT on
these activities.
Development
of the 2005-10
The 2005-10
Safety
Initiative
The schedule for this work remains uncertain, due to
continued difficulties with timely access to crash data. CDTC staff has initiated a pilot effort at
looking at local-system crash data on a systematic basis, beginning with
Operations
Planning
CDTC is among the nation’s leading MPOs in terms of
integrating transportation operations (signal timing, incident management,
transit operations) into the MPO process.
For 2005-06, CDTC and NYSDOT will jointly explore establishment of an
ongoing regional operations committee and identify the potential scope of
CMAQ-based regional initiatives to improve the quality of operations and
inter-agency coordination.
The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) concept design study is
nearly complete. The follow-up design
study will be initiated in 2005-06. CDTA
has also completed its fare structure review and adopted the results.
The overall Transit Development Program (TDP) is well
underway with coordinated work by CDTA, CDTC, CDRPC and consultants. This should be completed in 2005-06.
STEP Model
Upgrade
The conversion from TMODEL2 to VISUM continues
successfully. A new 900-zone system
established for the 2000 Census has been coded into VISUM and 2001 NHTS and
2000 Census data are being examined to confirm trip rates and trip
lengths. Conversion to VISUM will
continue in two tracks – one as a continued refinement of the peak-hour based
STEP model and one as an exploration of a multi-hour, trip chain model. The latter will not replace the peak-hour
model until all calibration and validation is completed.
CDTC continues to gain experience with the
micro-simulation tool, VISSIM. The East
Greenbush US 4
Congressional
I-87 Corridor Study Earmark
This major effort will wrap up before April 2005 with
release of a Strategic Corridor Plan.
Thruway
Capacity Study
Technical work on this study is complete. Implications for CDTC’s long-range plan may
need to await completion of the Thruway’s system-wide study of toll
processes. The NYSDOT I-87 Corridor
Study’s “smart corridor” recommendation has additional implications for the range
of main line options that would be appropriate for the Thruway to consider in
the
Other
Contractual Elements
In 2005-06, CDTC will continue to host the statewide
MPO association staff contract at $120,000. CDTC also holds the $125,000
contract for a statewide effort to seek to educate stakeholders and demonstrate
methods of integrating community design and transportation system design. This effort is nearing completion. A second phase providing statewide training
will be initiated at its completion.
Additionally, CDTC holds the contract for a national retreat and study
regarding factors transforming travel over the next 30 years. A “by invitation only“ retreat is set for
June 1-3 at the Rensselaerville Institute and will involve CDTC staff, the
statewide association staff as well as FHWA and the USDOT Volpe Systems Center
staff.
TDM, Access Transit Support: CDTC
staff will continue to assist CDTA in both expanding the regional TDM / transit
pass program and in developing the Access Transit system. The Commuter Ca$h program in downtown
Pavement Inventory: The 2005 survey will include
the every-other-year survey of non-state, federal aid roads and examination of
trends and a 100% sample of
Clean Communities Program: CDTC is the
only MPO in
Other: Major effort will continue to be devoted to
data collection, contractual support to
SUMMARY OF
RESOURCE AVAILABILITY
The 2005-06 UPWP involves a significant commitment of financial
resources for activities by NYSDOT, CDRPC, CDTA, and the CDTC Staff.
Fund Source Federal State Local Total
FHWA % Metropolitan Planning (PL) $1,862,577 364,389 28,333 2,255,299
STP Project Development tasks in UPWP 130,000 32,500 0- 162,500
CMAQ 404,800 50,600 50,600 506,000
2004-05 FTA Section 5303 000 00 00
0,000
2005-06 FTA Section 5303 272,798 51,150 17,050 340,997
New FTA Section 5307 240,000 30,000 30,000 300,000
Municipal
Federal Aviation Administration 9,000 3,000 12,000
Total $2,919,175 $528,639 $386,733 $3,834,546
Notes
Table represents actual effort.
Financial tables (see Appendix A) use some
The nearly $400,000 in local cash participation in CDTC’s activities
demonstrates the local value of the work effort. This level of local cash participation in MPO
planning activities is unparalleled in