117928 | Travel Options Program(TOP)

This work program supports the delivery of the regional transportation demand management (TDM) program for both PA and NJ counties within DVRPC's service area (with administration and coordination tasks funded separately under project 25-52-100). This program's purview includes an application and grant award program (Travel Options Program or TOP) to fund traditional TDM activities with demonstrated reduction of single-occupant vehicle (SOV) trips, develop pilots for new TDM projects and tools to manage SOV demand, as well as help to create and cultivate new mobility opportunities for residents and workers. This program will fund a two-year project round over FYs 2025-2026.
TDM focuses on the many options available to residents to travel to and from work, as well as to get around our region for other purposes, in a coordinated, cost-effective, and environmentally-positive way. It involves the strategies that more efficiently distribute travel demand across all modes, and especially reduce SOV travel. An important element of TDM is providing education and outreach to commuters, employers, residents, and visitors within our region about available travel options, and providing a mix of incentives to encourage behavior change toward more efficient use of the regional transportation system.
Recent major technological developments have changed the way the public considers and makes transportation choices. Mapping applications in wide use, like Waze and Google Maps, are themselves a form of TDM, enabling a more efficient use of transportation networks, but they don’t necessarily reduce SOV demand. New mobility options like ride-hailing services (uber, lyft, etc.), bike share, and e-bike and e-scooter rentals are being developed and evolving rapidly, and are increasingly linked into shared scheduling and trip purchasing platforms mobility as a service (MaaS). These new technologies and modes, and the changes to travel patterns they have enabled, have also led to more exploration of larger TDM-related policy initiatives such as variable road pricing, trip-reduction plans, and transportation benefit ordinance requirements. All of these conditions warrant novel consideration of which TDM strategies can work most effectively in the greater Philadelphia region; therefore a Regional TDM Plan was developed and is used as a guide for these efforts.
Although DVRPC has long included TDM as an element in many individual projects and efforts, there was not a formal, coordinated TDM program for the full DVRPC service region until FY21. This new competitive and coordinated program of projects and activities helps DVRPC and its planning partners better address growing transportation-related needs and challenges, particularly the need to provide connections to various safe and affordable transportation modes, and to reduce congestion and improve air quality. In coordination with the development of the Commissions 2050 Long-Range Plan and new direction will allow for a broader, more strategic approach to TDM in the region, which differs from the service area-based approach.
A uniform, performance-based and outcome-driven approach to evaluating and undertaking projects will help staff and stakeholders strengthen existing TDM programs, and pilot new initiatives that can serve as a foundation for the future regional TDM portfolio. Completion of this work may require the purchase of equipment or services. This program will be funded largely with Surface Transportation Block Grant funds (also called STU in PA), instead of Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) funds; however, some projects in DVRPC's NJ counties (especially outside of the Philadelphia Urbanized Area) will continue to be partially funded with CMAQ dollars. Staff are familiar with the eligibility requirements for CMAQ funds from the previous TOP funding cycle, so can properly evaluate any projects submitted in the geographic areas that will require CMAQ instead of STBG funds; FHWA-NJ will also be consulted.
Tasks
1. With planning and administrative tasks funded under project 25-52-100, DVRPC will work with partners as appropriate to solicit and deliver projects showing demonstrable results related to the five principles in the Regional TDM Plan, in both PA and NJ. This may include managing vendor/provider contracts.
2. Obtain and record relevant data to support analysis of each activity's impact; strategy effectiveness will inform subsequent program rounds.
Note that any work done in New Jersey is funded via the New Jersey TIP.