DVRPC plays many roles in making things happen across the region: from facilitating planning processes and educational opportunities to conducting detailed analysis and technical assistance. We look forward to continuing this work in 2026 as we remain focused on providing continuing, comprehensive, and coordinated transportation and regional planning for Greater Philadelphia.

View the annual report.

The mission of the task force is to provide ongoing access to our region’s planning process and empower resident involvement. Members are given a platform to learn more about upcoming projects, provide feedback on planning practices, and test out public outreach strategies.

Click here for more details about the PPTF and to apply.

Applications are due by December 16, 2024.

If you have any questions, please contact Shoshana Akins, Manager, Public Participation Planning at sakins@dvrpc.org.

We invite you to browse the report, presented as an interactive story map. This report captures sample projects accomplished by DVRPC staff in collaboration with our partners across the region and highlights the work we do at different scales–from neighborhood and municipal to county, state, and regional–all of which supports the goals set forth in the region’s Long-Range Plan, Connections 2050.

View the annual report.

Work in this position will primarily support broad-based efforts to implement the Circuit Trails, execute regional and local environmental planning studies, and support office initiatives around resiliency and sustainability. Focus areas and specific assignments may include data collection and mapping of regional trails; development of trail-related publications and webinars; assistance with basic trail feasibility analysis; support for grant administration; and outreach to regional planning partners.

Other related focus areas may include storm water management, green infrastructure, municipal environmental planning, environmental justice, and related sustainability initiatives. Day-to-day tasks include collecting, analyzing, and communicating trail, environmental, and transportation data; organizing stakeholder outreach; supporting the development of policies, plans, and analytical tools; and managing relationships with diverse stakeholders.

Requires bachelor’s degree + 1 year experience.

Learn more and apply.

The Breaking Ground technical assistance series will take place from May 17 to June 14, 2021, and offered through the Zoom platform. Registration links for each webinar are provided below.

Webinars are geared toward local government staff and officials, planning practitioners, community and economic development professionals, civil engineers, architects, and other professionals who work in or with different levels of government.

Tentative Schedule:

DVRPC’s Board recently accepted the Equity Through Access (ETA) plan, which identifies regional priorities for improving transportation access for older adults, persons with disabilities, and low-income populations.

To create these priorities, DVRPC staff held workshops with groups of vulnerable transportation riders and human services transportation providers to hear about their experiences, concerns, and essential needs. These conversations combined with DVRPC regional data and best practice research helped prioritize strategies for increasing transportation access. This plan is used by the counties in the DVRPC region, NJDOT, and PennDOT to allocate funding for coordinated human services transportation planning.

The ETA Gaps & Bridges document is now available online along with the ETA Map Toolkit, which is an interactive mapping tool that demonstrates the disparities in transportation access in our region and possible priority areas for improvement.

As part of its annual Board Retreat on December 9th, DVRPC is pleased to host a public presentation with Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America.

Mr. Rothstein argues with precision and insight how segregation in America—the incessant kind that continues today—is the byproduct of explicit government policies over time at the local, state, and federal level. We are hobbled by the notion that our segregation is “de facto,” arising from private discrimination, personal choices, and the unintended consequences of economic forces, rather than by explicit government actions. Mr. Rothstein argues that once we understand that our racial landscape has been created and maintained by governmental law and policy, only then can we design remedies. Please join DVRPC at this free event to learn more from The Color of Law, and hear from Mr. Rothstein about the history of racial segregation in the United States and Greater Philadelphia.

Register for, “Why are our communities so segregated? A Conversation with Richard Rothstein” taking place December 9 at 9 AM.

People care deeply about how their community changes and develops over time. When it comes to new housing, planners often tout the virtues of higher density development as part of a smart growth approach to land use and development. However, proposals to build new apartments are frequently met with opposition based on concerns about local traffic, municipal finances, and community character.

DVRPC has conducted new research designed to help the public and our county and municipal planning partners better understand the potential economic, transportation, and community impacts of multifamily development. DVRPC’s research and analysis can help community leaders address important questions like:

• Who lives in rental housing?
• Will new apartments be a drain on our town’s budget?
• What impact will new development have on local traffic?

Learn more about this study and review our key findings.

DVRPC released a new exploratory scenario planning report, Dispatches from Alternate Futures: Exploratory Scenarios for Greater Philadelphia, an important piece in the development of the Long-Range Plan Connections 2050. This exploratory scenario planning exercise was conducted with DVRPC’s Futures Working Group to identify a range of futures that the Greater Philadelphia region could conceivably face through the year 2050. This effort assesses uncertainty within a changing environment, aims to understand what challenges and opportunities may emerge, and sets a boundary around plausible futures considered in the Long-Range Plan’s development.

The Dispatches scenarios inform the vision for the Connections 2050 Long-Range Plan so that present-day decision making will help the region achieve desired future outcomes.

Click on the interactive reader below or download a PDF of the report.

Link to interactive reader: https://www.dvrpc.org/Newsletters/DVRPCNews/2020/October/#th1

PDF: https://www.dvrpc.org/Products/20012

Visit the Regional Trails Program website for details.

https://www.dvrpc.org/Trails/RegionalTrailsProgram/

DVRPC completed a new policy report with SEPTA that identifies strategies the agency can use to support Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). TOD is compact, mixed-use development within easy walk of a transit station.

In recent years, transit agencies have come to view agency support for TOD as a promising strategy to address declining ridership levels and an opportunity for revenue generation. The report is designed to serve as a resource that can help SEPTA and its local partners strengthen the connections between transit, land use planning, and development decisions.

Read the report: http://www.dvrpc.org/Products/18031

Although this paper was written through the perspective of climate change, the impacts of COVID-19 highlight that using planning tools to build up community resiliency is more important than ever. Explore the white paper here.

Read more here: https://www.dvrpc.org/Products/19030

Earlier in April, DVRPC opened a competitive funding round for the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Program for the five-county southeastern Pennsylvania part of the region, which includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia. The FY2019 TIP for Pennsylvania has made $25 million available for the FY2019 Competitive CMAQ Program for Pennsylvania, for transportation projects that will improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion.

Examples of eligible CMAQ projects include congestion reduction and traffic flow improvements, pedestrian and bicycle projects, transportation control measures, and public education and outreach activities, and more.

CMAQ Competitive Program application forms and program guidance are available now at http://www.dvrpc.org/CMAQ. Mandatory pre-application meetings must be completed by May 31, 2019. All application materials must be submitted by June 28, 2019.

The Annual Report illustrates how DVRPC programs strengthen the region’s economy, improve travel along Greater Philadelphia’s multimodal transportation network, protect the region’s landscapes, and identify the diverse needs of Greater Philadelphia’s growing population. The Wall Calendar PDF also includes a list of products published in FY18.

2018 Annual Report: https://dvrpcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=9f56fc725ddc48d99ffb7dc7ef0b0266

Wall calendar: https://www.dvrpc.org/Products/AR2018/

DELAWARE VALLEY REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION
190 N Independence Mall West, 8th Floor
Philadelphia

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 2018
9:00 AM — 12:00 PM

Article 2 Two of DVRPC’s task forces, the Healthy Communities Task Force and the Regional Safety Task Force, are joining together to explore the relationship between crashes, locations and health outcomes. September’s meeting, Just Streets: The Intersection of Crashes, Equity, and Health, will discuss what planning, public health, and transportation professionals can do to support safer streets and healthier communities.

Marco Gorini, a Transportation Planner with DVRPC, will present on Crashes and Communities of Concern, a soon-to-be-released report that examines the connections between areas with high crash rates and areas with greater concentrations of low-income and minority populations.

The meeting will also include a panel of local practitioners and researchers working to reduce traffic fatalities and increase safe and healthy mobility options for all.

Register now and learn more about the confirmed panelists.

https://dvrpc.ticketleap.com/juststreets/

In October, DVRPC’s Long-Range Plan, Connections 2045, was adopted and released to the public. An infographic heavy summary document is now available. It visually highlights the Plan’s key findings, principles, and actions.

The Plan outlines a future vision of the region and prioritizes transportation funding. It also looks at land use, the environment, economic development, equity, and quality of life issues. The Plan focuses on five principles: Sustain the Environment; Develop Livable Communities; Expand the Economy; Advance Equity and Foster Diversity; and Create an Integrated, Multimodal Transportation Network.

Summary document: https://www.dvrpc.org/Products/17069/

Original plan: https://www.dvrpc.org/Products/17039/

Join us on Friday, April 20, 2018, for a discussion on Transportation and Tourism in the region. The event is from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and will be held at DVRPC’s offices in Center City Philadelphia. Many older communities and neighborhoods are home to tourist destinations, like museums, historic sites, cultural venues, and parks and trails, among others. Visiting these sites—whether by car, bus, transit, foot, or bicycle—can often present challenges.

This event will feature speakers familiar with transportation, tourism, and community and economic development. Speakers include Maud Lyon of Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Mark Cassel of SEPTA, and Shelley Bernstein from the Barnes Foundation. The roundtable discussion portion is when participants can ask questions about transportation and tourism to their peers as well as the expert panelists, and offer advice based on their own experiences

https://dvrpc.ticketleap.com/transportation-and-tourism/

All of these counts, as well as counts completed for other programs and projects, are available through DVRPC’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Counts Viewer. Currently, the Commission is conducting a survey to understand who is using our Viewer, and why. Please share your experience with us! To find out what counts were done in your area and take the survey, visit the interactive count viewer.

https://www.dvrpc.org/webmaps/PedBikeCounts/

DVRPC also tracks the number of pedestrians and bicycles on a number of The Circuit Trails, through a permanent counter program. To view counts on our region’s trails, click here.

https://www.dvrpc.org/webmaps/PermBikePed/

DVRPC’s RSTF is a multidisciplinary group of transportation safety professionals and stakeholders that promotes transportation safety in the Delaware Valley. This quarterly forum builds and maintains effective partnerships between traditional and non-traditional planning partners with the goal of reaching zero casualties from crashes in the region.

To learn more, visit the RSTF webpage.

https://www.dvrpc.org/Transportation/Safety/RSTF/

Register to attend the meeting through TicketLeap.

https://dvrpc.ticketleap.com/rstfdistracteddriving/

The DVRPC Board adopted the Connections 2045 update to Greater Philadelphia’s long-range plan on October 26, 2017. The Connections 2045 Plan:

• Identifies Greater Philadelphia’s vision for land use, the environment, economic development, equity, and transportation.
• Develops strategies to achieve regional goals.
• Contains a fiscally-constrained list of region transportation investments.
• Uses Performance-based planning to ensure efficient use of resources.

https://www.dvrpc.org/Connections2045/