Tag Archive for transportation

April 17: Chester County Planners’ Forum for Spring 2018

Professional planners from Chester County are invited to attend the spring 2018 Chester County Planners’ Forum from 8 a.m.-10 a.m. April 17 at the Oakbourne Mansion, a beautiful historic property in Westtown (1014 S. Concord Road, West Chester, Pa., 19382).

The event will include the following presentations:

  • Greening Coatesville:  Lively Parks for Healthy People, presented by Ann Hutchinson of Natural Lands
  • Understanding Transportation Impact Fees, presented by Joe Platt, P.E. of Traffic Planning and Design, Inc.
  • Historic Preservation: Planning Initiatives and Economic Value, presented by Ray Ott and Jane Dorchester

To register for the forum, visit: https://2018-spring-planners-forum.eventbrite.com. Email any questions you may have to ccplanning@chesco.org.

Complete a South Philly SEPTA Survey

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) in partnership with SEPTA and the City of Philadelphia will be examining the feasibility of creating a new transportation center in the vicinity of Pier 70/Whitman Plaza/Columbus Boulevard.
Currently, there is no SEPTA-owned or controlled property for the numerous bus routes that end trips in this vicinity. The routes G, 7, 25, 29, 47, 47M, 64 and 79 layover on private property, where there is little guarantee that SEPTA operations can continue either for the long-term or short-term.  Therefore, SEPTA operations and customers would benefit from a new central location, such as a transportation center.
This study will investigate potential site locations for a South Philadelphia Transportation Center. Staff will complete research and analysis to assess impacts to existing SEPTA routes and the potential for new and realigned routes with the addition of a new facility. A site plan concept will also be prepared.
You can access the survey using this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RQSTYLZ.

Carpool to State College

APA PA Southeast created a carpool match to make it easier for you to carpool to State College for the 2017 APA PA conference.

We’ve created a link to help planners from the Southeast Section share rides to the conference at http://bit.ly/APAPA17Carpool. Please use this link to share information on your ride needs and availability. We hope this will be more useful than messaging on social media (though you are welcome to add comments below). Please consider posting your ride if you are already driving and have extra space.

Why carpool? People carpool for different reasons. Carpooling is great for budgetary reasons, eco-friendly philosophies, meeting new people, convenience, stress reduction, and more! The trip can be the start and capstone to the fun of the conference, as Southeast Section planners found out during the 2012 Erie Conference. Though there isn’t a van this year, there is still a chance to have an easier, cheaper, friendlier trip to State College through carpooling!

The “Erie Eleven” vanpool of 2012!

Oct. 18: Register Now for Changing Lanes Conference

You’re invited to Changing Lanes: A Transportation Conference on Technology, Trends, and Change on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at the Union League of Philadelphia! Join leaders from around the tri-state region to learn how technology, funding, and the changing workforce are affecting the transportation field, today and well into the future.

Session topics include: diversifying our transportation workforce, funding the region’s visionary transportation projects, using technology for civic engagement, and more.

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APAPA-SE, DVRPC and PennDOT Connect on Transportation

On Thursday, February 23, 2017, APAPASE and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) co-hosted a breakfast event about PennDOT Connects. The event, which took place at the American College of Physicians building in Philadelphia, featured Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Leslie Richards, Brian Hare of PennDOT, and Elizabeth Schoonmaker of DVRPC, presentations are available here. Secretary Richards kicked off the event with a twenty-minute presentation where she explained transportation’s role in connecting communities and supporting economic development. Under the PennDOT Connects initiative, PennDOT will take an earlier and more active role in reaching out to communities to enhance engagement with local communities and improve transportation-project planning, design, and delivery so that transportation investments support a community’s vision and goals.

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Feb. 23: PennDOT Connects

Have you heard of PennDOT’s newest initiative, PennDOT Connects? Secretary Richards, PennDOT, and planning agencies are working to make transportation planning a more collaborative process that supports community goals. The PennDOT Connects initiative reaches into community and transportation planning processes to initiate early dialogue and partnered decisionmaking about the kinds of transportation projects that will help a community achieve its vision. Learn the various ways PennDOT is supporting this initiative internally and in its outreach to local communities. Learn how communities can better articulate what they desire in transportation investments and design, including placemaking and the role of transportation facilities as public spaces.

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Fall into CM Credits in Pennsylvania and New Jersey

The end of the year is only a few short weeks away, and for many planners that means their AICP CM-credit reporting period is coming to a close. Do you have all of the credits that you need? Are you looking for a few more events to get some additional credits? Below are some events happening in the Greater Philadelphia region in the next few weeks that offer AICP CM credits.

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RSVP Today! 2016 APAPA-SE Annual Event: Thurs., Nov. 3, 6:30pm

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Courtesy of the 30th Street Station District Plan

 

Transformative Transportation in the Philadelphia Region

Register Today!

Please join fellow planners in the Southeast Section of the APAPA at our 2016 Annual Event!  For this year’s event, we are inviting you to attend a lively discussion about several Transformative Transportation projects in the Philadelphia region, such as Amtrak’s 30th Street Station District Plan, the NEC Future Rail Investment Plan, SEPTA’s plans for King of Prussia Rail and Broad Street Line Extension, enhanced bus service on Roosevelt Boulevard, SEPTA’s analysis of upgrading its trolley system, Philadelphia’s Indego bike share system, and Montgomery County’s Ridge Pike Improvement Project.

Our panel of industry leaders include:

  • Ms. Jennifer Barr, AICP, Senior Long Range Planner at SEPTA
  • Ms. Rina Cutler, Senior Director Major Stations in Planning & Development at Amtrak
  • Mr. Matthew Edmond, AICP, Transportation Section Chief  at Montgomery County Planning Commission
  • Mr. Chris Jandoli, AICP, Supervising Planner at Parsons Brinckerhoff
  • Mr. Dan Nemiroff, AICP,  Senior Operations Planner at SEPTA
  • Mr. Aaron Ritz, Transportation Programs Manager at Philadelphia’s Managing Director’s Office of Transportation & Infrastructure Systems (oTIS)
  • Elizabeth Smith, P.E., PMP, Manager of Long Range Planning at SEPTA

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EarthFest 2016 Recap – Youth Engagement and Planning

 

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Over 200 curious young visitors stopped by the APAPA-SE activity booth at Temple University’s EarthFest 2016 on April 22nd.  An annual event at the Ambler Campus, EarthFest promotes environmental awareness to elementary and middle school students from across the region.  Continuing a multi-year tradition, APAPA-SE hosted a booth to support the effort.  This year, our four volunteers engaged students in two planning activities – one related to transportation and the other land use – to give them a very basic idea of what planners do on a regular basis.

The transportation-related activity had students placing stickers to indicate whether they walk, bike, drive, or take the bus to get to school, visit friends/family, visit park/playgrounds, and go shopping. While not exactly scientific, this informal survey had over 230 responses and provided some interesting results (see the tally we put together and feel free to draw your own conclusions). Overall, the kids were really excited about the activity – especially the stickers – and it got them thinking about the pros and cons of how they travel, both for their own personal health and the health of the environment.
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Implementing the Multi-Modal Handbook in Your Community Workshops (1.25 CM Credits)

 

Last year, the Chester County Planning Commission produced the Multi-Modal Circulation Handbook, a resource guide for incorporating all modes of transportation into land use/ land development design. A series of workshops has been planned to serve as an overview for why the Planning Commission produced this document and how it fits with Chester County policy. How and when different design elements should be incorporated into site design and how the Planning Commission incorporates multi-modal concepts into the land development review process will be covered. Typical development scenarios will illustrate how all transportation modes can be accommodated in a variety of land use types, and tools for municipalities to do multi-modal transportation planning will be discussed. Additionally, attendees will hear testimony from local professionals working in the public sector, land development, and non-profit on the importance of planning for all modes.

The workshops will be held on April 13th in Jennersville, April 15th in Downingtown, and April 29th in Phoenixville. All are from 8:30-11:00am and free of charge. Each workshop has been approved for 1.25 CM credits. More details are available at:www.chesco.org/planning/mmh

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