Pennsylvanians can view ratings of the state’s efforts in transportation safety, mobility, system preservation, and accountability in the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) 2021 Transportation Performance Report (TPR), viewable at TalkPATransportation.com.

The TPR is a biennial report and is developed in a combined effort between the State Transportation Commission (STC), the State Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC), and PennDOT. The report is the first step in the state’s transportation program planning process and helps to evaluate the system’s performance and opportunities for progress.

“The Transportation Performance Report highlights PennDOT’s progress across major aspects of our system including safety, mobility, preservation, accountability, and funding,” PennDOT Secretary and State Transportation Commission (STC) Chair Yassmin Gramian said. “We will use this to help develop our next 12-Year program, as well as inform our Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan and the Freight Movement Plan.

The release of the 2021 TPR also signals the start of the STC’s and PennDOT’s 2023 12-Year Program Update Public Comment Period. PennDOT conducts a statewide 45-day Public Comment Period every two years to collect public comment on multimodal transportation needs, issues, and concerns. The public feedback collected during the Public Comment Period is used to inform the 12-Year Program and other state and regional transportation plans and programs such as Pennsylvania’s Long Range Transportation Plan and the Freight Movement Plan.

The Public Comment Period will be open from Monday, March 1, through Wednesday, April 14. During this time the public will be able to submit feedback by taking a Transportation Survey, emailing comments to RA-PennDOTSTC@pa.gov, or calling 717-783-2262 from 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM to request a printed copy of the survey, or to complete the survey by telephone.

PennDOT’s Online Public Forum is set for Tuesday, March 23, from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. The Public Forum will be broadcast statewide via Zoom and Facebook Live and features PennDOT Transportation Secretary Yassmin Gramian.

The public will be able to submit transportation-related questions to PennDOT during the Public Forum. Questions may also be submitted in advance of the Public Forum by filling out the online registration form or by emailing RA-PennDOTSTC@pa.gov. The public may also call PennDOT and share their questions to be answered at the Public Forum at 717-783-2262 from 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission has a new tool to encourage communities in the 10-county region to develop multimodal transit centers.

The computerized storymap uses relatively new technology to identify more than three dozen locations where centers could be set up to provide services for people who use trails, bikes, cars, buses and trains to move throughout the region. Dave Totten, an SPC transportation planner, unveiled the tool at an advisory committee meeting last week.

“There are clusters where we can develop multimodel operations in every county,” Mr. Totten said. “Every place has locations that could use a multimodal center.”

The tool, which identifies what elements each site could develop for its multimodal center, is an outgrowth of 18 months of work on a report titled “SmartMoves Connections: A Regional Vision for Public Transit.” The commission is expected to adopt the $230,000 report, funded partially with a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, later this year.

Mr. Totten said the agency decided there was no reason to keep officials from using the tool immediately. The ultimate goal is to develop a coordinated system to get people from, say, Kittanning to Pittsburgh with easy transfers and perhaps paying only one fare.

For now, the tool is available for planners to identify potential locations for multimodal centers. The next step will be for SPC to work directly with officials to help develop those sites and identify sources of additional funding.

Read the full story at https://www.post-gazette.com/

CommuteInfo is excited to announce that its vanpooling fleet now offers SUVs and minivans for use in the vanpooling program!

Based on pooler input, and a review of pooling opportunities nationally, CommuteInfo, in cooperation with its pooling partner, Commute with Enterprise, is now making both minivans and SUVs available along with the full-size vans for the use of pooling groups. These new additions to the fleet will allow for groups of 5-7 participants to take advantage of pooling and contribute to the positive outcomes vanpooling provides to our region. These include reduced transportation costs, reduced carbon emissions, reduced traffic congestion, reduced wear and tear on our roadways and bridges, and reduced transportation anxieties and frustrations.

Under the direction of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC), the region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization, the CommuteInfo program is the regional customer-focused full service commuting options resource center, running the region’s vanpool, carpool and bikepool programs, and facilitating the forum for coordinating regional ridesharing efforts. To support the regional carpool and vanpool program, CommuteInfo offers ridematching and emergency ride home services; provides information for commuters and employers about the benefits of ridesharing, transit, biking, and walking options; and, publishes the regional park-n-ride inventory on its website: www.CommuteInfo.org.