Partnerships
and Programs
NJFIT is
helping to build a better
New Jersey through partnerships
that advance strategic
state objectives, support
regional and local safety
and travel and quality
of life objectives. Public-private
partnerships help businesses
and volunteer service organizations
meet travel needs and reduce
social and environmental
costs. Some of our partners
and related programs available
under the NJFIT program
are listed below.
Partnership
opportunities:
Working together to create
a healthier New Jersey
Programs:
Grants and planning assistance
NJFIT will
maximize community benefits
of transportation programs
that meet the needs of
the traveling public. Several
New Jersey Department of
Transportation (NJDOT)
programs support this effort
including the Transportation
Enhancements Program.
This program provides funding
for bicycle, pedestrian,
rails-to-trails, scenic
byways and other community-enhancing
transportation projects.
The Congestion Mitigation
and Air Quality Program
(CMAQ) funds transportation
projects that improve air
quality in areas that don't
meet national air quality
standards. The Local Bicycle/Pedestrian
Planning Assistance helps
implement the Statewide
Bicycle/Pedestrian Master
Plan.
NJFIT helps
improve transportation
planning capacity at the
local level through its
Local Technical Assistance
Program (LTAP). Through
LTAP, the NJDOT Systems
Development and Analysis
Bureau provides planning
assistance to communities,
including an on-call team
of consultants available
to municipalities that
are working to improve
their transportation planning.
NJFIT will
help link LTAP programs
with local land use planning
initiatives to integrate
Transportation and Land
Use planning at the local
and county levels.
Local planning and community
development
Transportation influences
land use by improving access
to adjacent properties
and is controlled by new
land development that creates
new travel demands. NJFIT encourages
this transportation/land
use connection (T/LU)
by becoming involved in
partnerships with all levels
of government and the private
sector to promote cooperative
transportation and land
use decision-making. NJFIT fully
supports the New Jersey
Department of Community
Affairs, Office of Smart
Growth cross-acceptance
program that aims to coordinate
state, regional and local
land development decisions
to reduce the total burden
of travel on our transportation
network. NJFIT encourages
local zoning, master planning
and site development and
redevelopment planning
as a core element of all
transportation project
planning.
NJDOT also provides significant
municipal and county transportation
assistance under the Local
Aid and Economic Development
Program. In addition,
the
Centers
of Place program
assists municipalities
that participate in implementation
of the New Jersey State
Development and Redevelopment
Plan (SDRP). Grants of
$750,000 to $3 million
are awarded under this
program to encourage development
where infrastructure exists
to accommodate that growth.
A special Park
and Ride initiative
seeks to promote smart
growth by providing more
than 20,000 additional
parking spaces close to
mass-transit facilities
in order to relieve congestion
and provide new transportation
choices to New Jersey communities.
Since the inception of
this program in January
2002, more than 14,000
commuter parking spaces
have been constructed throughout
the State.
Local scoping program
NJFIT is
about community
fitness and health - social,
environmental and economic.
It is about meeting the
travel needs of a community
in a manner that promotes
community development and
quality of life through
projects that "fit" into
the community. This includes
support for initiatives
such as Context
Sensitive Design (including
flexibility in project
design), transit-oriented
development and main
street revitalization projects.
However, these projects
are successful only through
intense community involvement
in their conception, scoping and
development. NJFIT encourages
participation in early
project decision-making,
either directly or through
the social and organizational
networks of the community.
Get involved through
the regional planning agency
or Metropolitan Planning
Organization (MPO), which
has numerous opportunities
for community involvement
in transportation decisions
that determine the shape
and livability for your
community.
Mobility management
Reliable employees are
crucial to the success
of any business. However,
sometimes employees will
have a situation that
requires providing transportation
services to a friend
or family member during
the work day. NJFIT encourages
the creation of public-private
mobility services, some
of which are subsidized
through tax breaks or
program funding such
as employer-provided
para-transit vans, carpool and rideshare
programs,
transportation
management associations, guaranteed
ride home programs, and
the commuter choice program
which allows transit
trips to be funded from
pre-tax income. These
mobility services provide
transportation choices
to employees that improve
employee reliability,
increase employee job
satisfaction and help
relieve peak hour traffic
demand.
Personal travel and safety
NJFIT will
help you meet travel needs safely through
walking and cycling,
including helping make
trip choices that include
walking links. On average,
a household makes about
12 automobile trips per
day (both leaving home
and returning), all of
which involve at least
some walking. If just one
of those trips was converted
from a car trip to a walking
or cycling trip, the
total burden on our transportation
system would be reduced
by almost 10 percent. NJFIT helps
expand the range of travel
choices through its Pedestrian
Safety and Bike
Grant Programs
and Safe
Routes to School Program so
that trips to work, shopping
and social activities are
easy, enjoyable and partly
walkable.
New Jersey seniors: a
driving force for health
and safety
NJDOT
and the New Jersey
Department of Health
and Senior Services
(NJDHSS) have joined
forces in an
| interdepartmental
effort to improve senior
mobility, safety and
health. A key element
in this initiative
is a health and safety
pilot program at three
locations across New
Jersey. The pilot program
identifies location-specific
3-E (engineering, education
and enforcement) safety
improvements. This
effort is a prototype
to allow for testing
the effectiveness and
public acceptance of
the identified measures
for potential replication
on a wider basis. |
Safety
Impact Team members
brainstorm solutions
for engineering,
education and enforcement
improvements. |
Three program locations
have been selected:
- Grand
Avenue (Route 93) and
West Central Boulevard
(County Route 501) in
Palisades Park Borough,
Bergen County - based on a high rate
of pedestrian crashes over
the past several years.
- Route
22 and Washington Avenue
in Green Brook Township,
Somerset County - based on a high rate
of motor vehicle crashes
over the past several
years.
- Route
71 Corridor, Asbury
Park, Monmouth County - based on a high
crash rate along the
corridor.
All locations have high
concentrations of senior
citizen residents and have
senior citizen centers
in close proximity.
The pilot program at each
location featured two events:
- A Senior
Health and Safety Program
co-hosted by NJDOT
and NJDHSS featuring
organizations such
as American Automobile
Association (AAA),
Association of American
Retired Persons (AARP)
and the Motor Vehicle
Commission (MVC). The
program provides an
opportunity to distribute
educational materials
related to senior health
and safety to area
residents. Seniors
in attendance are also
asked to provide feedback
on health and safety
resources, concerns
and recommendations.
|
Engineers,
planners, representatives
from AAA and AARP
and senior citizens
working together
to make driving
safer for seniors. |
- A safety audit to determine
potential engineering and
enforcement improvements
for the study intersection.
This audit is conducted
by a multi-disciplinary
Safety Impact Team (SIT)
of professionals, advocates
and citizens which tours
the intersection and then
brainstorms recommendations
based on the field observations.
Candidate engineering improvements
are primarily low-cost
measures, such as enhanced
signing and striping, reflectorized
curbs, lighting enhancements
and pedestrian accommodation
improvements. As of May
2009, improvements were
constructed at the first
two locations; the Asbury
Park improvements have
yet to be constructed.
Transit
Housing experts predict
that up to 70 percent
of new housing demand
over the next 30 years
will be in already urbanized
areas. This shift in
land settlement patterns
will present major opportunities
for New Jersey, which
is already the most densely
populated state in the
United States. NJFIT anticipates
this shift through its Transit
Village Initiative which
partners with New Jersey
communities to provide
more travel choices by
helping them develop around
transit facilities. Transit
Villages are designated
by the interagency Transit
Village Task Force. In
order to be designated
a Transit Village, the
municipality must document
that there are multiple Transit
Oriented Development projects
planned for the area within
the district. Designation
provides a municipality
with the following benefits:
- State of New Jersey
commitment to the municipality's
vision for redevelopment
- Coordination among
the state agencies that
make up the Transit Village
Task Force.
- Priority funding from
some state agencies.
- Technical assistance
from some state agencies.
- Eligibility for grants
from the NJDOT.
In 2009, 20 designated
Transit Villages existed
in New Jersey. This program,
also supported by the Office
of Smart Growth and eight
other state agencies, helps
reduce traffic congestion,
improve air quality and
promote transit ridership,
thus improving both personal
health and the fiscal health
of transit operations.
NJFIT also works with
a new program, the Urban
Transit Hub Tax Credit
Program, a tax credit program
established to stimulate
private capital investment,
business development and
employment within nine
eligible municipalities
to encourage redevelopment
at locations served by
transit. Nine Urban Transit
Hubs are presently located
within a half mile of a
NJ TRANSIT, PATH or PATCO
(heavy rail) stations.
Three municipalities (Elizabeth,
New Brunswick and Jersey
City) are designated as
both Urban Transit Hubs
and Transit Villages.
NJFIT also
works through NJ TRANSIT
to support the
Transit
Friendly Program to
improve the customer experience
in
accessing
public transit facilities. NJFIT supports
the numerous Smart Growth
Planning Tools developed
by NJ TRANSIT to enhance
travel options and reduce
auto dependency and congestion.
These tools, which include
Planning for Transit-Friendly
Land Use: A Handbook for
New Jersey Communities,
planning assistance from
on-call technical consultants
and the Smart Commute Initiative,
among others, provide opportunities
for the community to enhance
its transit options and
focus. Eleven municipalities
participated in the Transit-Friendly
Communities for New Jersey
(TFC) Pilot Program from
1999 - 2002 with great
success. |
