FY 2003 - 2005 Statewide
Transportation Improvement Program

Introduction

a. Overview
This document is the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program for the state of New Jersey for federal fiscal years 2003 (beginning October 1, 2002) through 2005.

The Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) serves two purposes. First, it presents a comprehensive, one-volume guide to major transportation improvements planned in the state of New Jersey and will, therefore, provide a valuable reference for implementing agencies (such as the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Transit Corporation) and all those interested in transportation issues in this state. Second, it serves as the reference document required under federal regulations (23 CFR 450.216) for use by the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration in approving the use of federal funds for transportation projects in New Jersey.

The federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) requires that each state develop one multimodal Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) for all areas of the state. In New Jersey, the STIP consists of a listing of statewide line items, programs, and the regional Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) projects, all of which were developed by the three Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). The MPO TIPs contain local and state highway projects, statewide line items and programs, as well as proposed public transit projects.

This STIP conforms to—and in many cases exceeds—the specific requirements of the federal regulations:

1. It lists the priority projects programmed for each year of the first three years of the planning period.
2. It is fiscally constrained. A detailed discussion of fiscal constraint issues is found in subsection “j” below.
3. It contains all regionally significant projects regardless of funding source.
4. It contains all projects programmed for federal funds.
5. It contains, for information, state funded projects.
6. It contains expanded descriptive information—considerably more than required by the federal regulations—as described in subsection “l" below.

b. Public participation process
New Jersey is completely covered by three Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs): the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization (SJTPO), and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority Inc. (NJTPA). The Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) includes the three MPO Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs) without modification.

Each MPO has a public participation process for their Transportation Plan, TIP and conformity determination. The State made copies of the STIP available for each MPO public meeting and representatives from the NJDOT and NJ TRANSIT were present to answer questions and concerns raised by the public on our program. The public comment period for each MPO TIP and the STIP ran for a period of 30 days.

c. Statewide Transportation Plan
The New Jersey Department of Transportation completed updating of the multi-modal State Long Range Transportation “Living ” Plan in March 2001 with delivery of the first phase document Transportation Choices 2025 to the New Jersey State Legislature. The NJDOT engaged in this process in collaboration with NJ Transit, the state's three Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), the state's other transportation authorities and commissions, other state departments, various stakeholders and the general public. The Plan development process is a key part of the state's long range transportation planning process by providing an opportunity for input of new information from the parties mentioned above. Also, through current technology in addition to the printed medium, the plan and planning process are more available and accessible to specific modal audiences, as well as the general public, and more readily open to inquiries, recommendations and informational access and input.

Work is ongoing on the second phase of the New Jersey Long Range Transportation “Living Plan” which is a continuing process of plan development. It will continue to engage in dialogue with New Jersey residents, local officials, metropolitan planning organizations, and other entities. A high level of communications among stakeholders will insure that the priorities in the plan remain relevant and can be adapted to respond to changing circumstances. Through a mix of technical, outreach and policy, this second phase of the “Living Plan” will establish and define new strategies for the “Living Plan” as well as develop and present new challenges, opportunities and impacts that will deal with transportation choices which will effect the quality of life of everyone in New Jersey.

This second phase of developing the “Living Plan” is meant to devise innovative and effective ways of making the Long Range Plan a continuing planning process over time, rather than just the preparation of a document every 5 years. A consulting firm will be hired before the end of September 2003 to assist the Department.

d. Conformity for MPO plans and programs
Each MPO Regional Transportation Plan will go through a conformity analysis that shows the individual MPO Plans are in conformance with the State Implementation Plan (SIP). Each MPO TIP must be consistent with their conforming plan such that the regional emission analysis performed on the plan applies to their TIP. In general, this determination means that, in aggregate, the implementation of projects and programs in the MPO TIPs will have a positive impact on air quality. Since the STIP contains the three MPO TIPs without modification, the implementation of the projects and programs in the STIP, in aggregate, will also have a positive impact on air quality.

e. Advance construction projects
Advance Construction (AC) is a procedure to advance a federally funded project(s) into the current fiscal year and implement it with other than federal funds. Use of AC is subject to the availability of other than federal funds (e.g., state funds) in the year in which the project is to be implemented, and the availability of federal funds in the year in which the AC project(s) is to be converted to a regular federal-aid project. AC projects are to be listed individually in the TIP and STIP in both the year that the project is to be implemented and the year in which the conversion is to take place. Appropriate notification will be provided in the TIPs and STIP so it is clearly understood that these “other funds” are available and that future federal funds may be committed to these AC projects. Fiscal constraint must be maintained throughout this process for both the implementing and conversion years.

When AC is used in the development of the TIP/STIP, or to amend or modify the TIP/STIP, the MPO and the State will explain the procedure following the public participation procedures adopted by the MPO. The MPO and the State agree that in the development and processing of the TIP/STIP, the inclusion of an AC project in the TIP/STIP in the year the project is to be implemented signifies that the project can be converted to federal funding when federal funds become available and the decision is made to convert to those funds.

f. Multi-Year Funding
Multi-year funding is a process whereby the costs of a phase of work of a project are spread out over several STIP years. Each of these fiscal years provides sufficient funding for the anticipated cash flow needs during that fiscal year. Federal funds are only authorized after the approval of the indicated STIP annual element.

g. Development of the STIP
This Statewide Transportation Improvement Program is the product of months of staff work and deliberations involving the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), the New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT), county and municipal transportation planners and engineers, other transportation implementing agencies, and elected officials at the state, county, and municipal levels. The main decision-making forums for selecting projects for this program were the state’s three metropolitan planning organizations:

• The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA), covering Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren counties.
• The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), covering Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Mercer counties.
• The South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization (SJTPO), covering Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem counties.

The process of building the current STIP began in the fall of 2001, with intensive staff work by NJDOT, NJ TRANSIT, and the MPOs.

All projects which were identified as potential candidates for inclusion in the regional transportation improvement programs of each of the three MPOs were subjected to intensive screening to verify project scope, status, schedule, and cost. The resulting “pool” of projects was analyzed independently by NJDOT, NJ TRANSIT, and the MPOs to assign each project a priority based on the extent to which it would advance identified regional and statewide objectives, such as objectives set forth in the state and regional long-range transportation plans, the New Jersey Capital Investment Strategy, air quality objectives, and the broad social and economic goals of the State Development and Redevelopment Plan. NJDOT developed and circulated revenue projections for planning purposes to each of the MPOs, based on the best current assessment of available state, federal, and other funds. NJDOT, NJ TRANSIT and each of the three MPOs entered into intensive discussions to negotiate a list of deliverable transportation projects that best fit the composite statewide and regional priorities within a financially constrained program. These negotiated project lists were used as the basis for publishing the Proposed Fiscal Year 2003 Transportation Capital Program by NJDOT on April 1, 2002, and for preparing TIPs for further analysis by each of the MPOs.

h. Congestion Management System
All projects in this STIP result from a fully operational Congestion Management System (CMS) in place at each MPO.

i. STIP Modifications and Amendments
The STIP may be modified or amended at anytime according to the procedures set forth in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for TIP/STIP changes between the three MPOs, NJ TRANSIT, and the NJDOT. These MOUs were fully executed in November of 1999. STIP changes, once approved by the MPOs in concert with either NJ TRANSIT or the NJDOT, are forwarded to the FHWA and/or FTA for their approval, when necessary.

j. Projected revenues
Federal law and regulations require that the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) be fiscally constrained for the first three years. Specifically, “planned federal aid expenditures” cannot exceed “projected revenues.” The major sources of funding identified in this document are the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund.

NJDOT has developed an estimate of $8.3 billion in available state and federal revenues to support the state’s transportation budget during the three fiscal years from FY 2003 through FY 2005. (For planning purposes, state revenues are estimated on the basis of state fiscal

years, which begin on July 1, and federal revenues are estimated on the basis of federal fiscal years, which begin on October 1). This amount constitutes the funding expected to be available to support the whole FY 2003-FY 2005 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.

Tables 1 through 3 set out these amounts by year and by funding category and compare them to the actual amounts programmed in the TIPs and STIP. Following are the revenue assumptions used in developing this table:

1. Dollar amounts shown in federal funding categories in FY 03 are based, except as otherwise noted below, on the current federal-aid apportionment tables or equivalent data obtained from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as appropriate. Starting in FY 2004, the first year of a new Federal highway act, there is a 5% increase anticipated in Federal funds. The FY 2005 federal funding level remains consistent with FY 2004 levels.
2. Funds in the Surface Transportation Program (STP) category are broken down into the allocations and minimums required by federal law.
3. “High Priority” funds (and some remaining “demo” funds) are shown only as authorized by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) or other federal act.
4. The New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund provides $950 million in FY 2003 to support the Capital Program. For programming purposes, it is assumed that NJDOT’s share of the Transportation Trust Fund is $580 million in FY 2003 through FY 2005. NJ TRANSIT’s share of the Transportation Trust Fund is $459 million in FY 2003, and $370 million in FY 2004-2005. Included in FY 2003 is $89 million of Other State funds which will become available as a result of refinancing the original Hudson-Bergen LRT Grant Anticipation notes.
5. In FY 2003, $65 million of FHWA CMAQ funding is to be “flexed” to NJ TRANSIT; also $65 million from both FY 2004 and FY 2005 is projected to be “flexed.”

With two notable exceptions, federal and state funds are not “allocated” to—that is, required to be spent within the boundaries of—the state’s three MPOs. The first exception is STP funds, some of which are required under a formula in TEA-21 to be allocated to MPOs. These allocated funds are shown in the following tables as “STP-NJTPA,” “STP-DVRPC,” and “STP-SJTPO.” The second exception is Trust Fund state aid funds, which are allocated on a county-by-county basis under a statutory and regulatory formula.

The actual budgeting of federal and state funds for projects within the MPO areas is a product of the development of the three regional transportation improvement programs, the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, and the annual capital program. On a statewide basis, the cost of projects programmed for a particular fiscal year must equal the planned resources for that year. Each project must also be assigned to a funding category that is appropriate for the project and within which adequate funding is available. From year to year there may be significant variations in the amount of funds actually programmed within an MPO area, as needs and specific project implementation schedules dictate. These programming decisions are made on a cooperative basis with the participation of NJDOT, NJ TRANSIT, local government representatives, and other agencies (all of whom are members of the MPOs), the State Legislature, citizens’ groups, and the general public.

Table 4 shows the overall distribution of funds within the STIP by MPO.

Tables 5 through 8 provide more detailed breakdowns of expenditures by funding category for each of the three MPOs and for statewide programs

k. Financing transition projects
“Transition” projects are projects which are programmed for implementation in the current (FY 2002-04) TIP/STIP but which, for either scheduling or obligation authority limitation reasons, are not actually available for implementation until after October 1, 2002, when the planned (FY 2003-05) TIP/STIP takes effect. To provide a smooth transition between one TIP/STIP period and the next, New Jersey’s MPOs and appropriate state and federal agencies have agreed that the first 60 days after approval of the FY 2003-05 STIP will be considered a transition period, in which projects included in the FY 2002-04 STIP will be considered eligible for federal funding actions, even though they are not included in the FY 2003-05 STIP. This list of “Transition” projects will be found in Section VI of the final STIP document and will be based on current schedule information.

l. How to use this document
The individual one-page descriptions, found in Sections III and IV, provide detailed information for each project or program in the five-year plan. The top portion of each page lists the project/program name (route and section) as well as the location. The NJDOT reference number is assigned at the beginning of a project and remains with that project until its completion. The TIP reference number refers to the identification number assigned by the MPO(s). Other information contained within the one-page description includes county, municipality, Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) jurisdiction, mileposts (for state highway projects), structure number (for bridge projects), the project sponsor, a detailed description of the project, and program category. An explanation of the program categories can be found in the Glossary, located in Section VII of this document.

The columns at the bottom of each record indicate the anticipated funding schedule for each project/program. The phases of work and types of funds are further defined in the Glossary located in Section VII.