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Eoin Wrafter, Transportation Program Administrator
Who We Are
The Poughkeepsie-Dutchess County Transportation Council (PDCTC) serves as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Dutchess County, responsible for ensuring that federal transportation funds are committed through a locally driven, comprehensive planning process. Federal statutes require that urbanized areas with over 50,000 people be represented by a MPO. The PDCTC provides a forum for state and local officials to discuss transportation issues and, in turn, reach a consensus on transportation plans and various highway and transit projects in Dutchess County; the PDCTC has performed this task since 1982.
The PDCTC routinely develops three core products to guide the transportation planning process: a Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), and a Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP). The Plan outlines the transportation goals and policies of the PDCTC for the next twenty-five years. Updated every four years, the current Plan, New Connections, was adopted in November 2007. Updated every two years, the TIP serves as the five-year capital program for federally funded transportation projects in Dutchess County; the most recent 2008-2012 TIP was adopted in October 2007. The third item, the UPWP, details the direction of PDCTC staff time and planning money over the course of each State Fiscal Year; the most recent 2009-2010 UPWP was adopted in March 2009 and is updated annually. The PDCTC may only receive federal highway and transit funds if they result from a comprehensive planning program that produces these documents.
The PDCTC employs two committees to accomplish its mission: an Executive Committee which exercises final decision-making authority for the PDCTC, and a Technical Committee which reviews all major plans, reports, and capital programs prior to Executive Committee review and approval. Membership on the Executive Committee varies by municipality, while membership on the Technical Committee is open to all thirty municipalities in Dutchess County. In addition, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) serve as voting members on the Executive Committee, while the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), the New York State Bridge Authority (NYSBA), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) serve as advisory members. PDCTC staff perform the everyday tasks of preparing materials for the Council and implementing decisions once they have been made. Staff responsibilities are shared by the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development and NYSDOT-Region 8.
Funding for the PDCTC is provided by the FHWA, FTA, NYSDOT, and Dutchess County.
| PDCTC Executive Committee Members |
|
Permanent Voting Members |
| Dutchess County Executive (Permanent Chair) |
| City of Beacon |
| City of Poughkeepsie |
| Town of East Fishkill |
| Town of Fishkill |
| NYSDOT Commissioner |
| MTA Executive Director |
| Town of Hyde Park |
| Town of Poughkeepsie |
| Town of Wappinger |
|
Rotating Voting Members |
| Partially Urbanized Towns |
| (Two rotating Supervisors with staggered two-year terms) |
| Town of Beekman |
| Town of LaGrange |
| Town of Pleasant Valley |
| Urbanized Villages |
| (One rotating Mayor serving a two-year term) |
| Village of Fishkill |
| Village of Wappingers Falls |
| Rural Towns |
|
(Two Supervisors selected annually by the Dutchess County
Association of Mayors and Supervisors) |
| Town of Amenia |
| Town of Clinton |
| Town of Dover |
| Town of Milan |
| Town of North East |
| Town of Pawling |
| Town of Pine Plains |
| Town of Red Hook |
| Town of Rhinebeck |
| Town of Stanford |
| Town of Union Vale |
| Town of Washington |
|
Non-Voting Members |
| NYS Bridge Authority Executive Director |
| NYS Thurway Authority Executive Director |
| Federal Transit Administration Regional Administrator |
| Federal Highway Administration Division Administrator |
| NYSDOT-Region 8 Regional Director (Permanent Secretary) |
Transportation Management Area (TMA)
The PDCTC shares part of the Census designated Poughkeepsie-Newburgh Urbanized Area with two other MPOs: the Orange County Transportation Council (OCTC) and the Ulster County Transportation Council (UCTC). Originally independent, the combined Poughkeepsie-Newburgh Urbanized Area grew out of the 2000 Census, which identified the area as having an urbanized population of 351,982. Due to its size, the FTA and the FHWA designated the area a Transportation Management Area (TMA); a TMA designation is required when the urbanized population is greater than 200,000. The area is known locally as the Mid-Hudson Valley TMA.
As members of the TMA, the three MPOs participate in a collaborative planning relationship that focuses on addressing regional transportation issues and meeting federal requirements for a TMA. Examples of this partnership include completion of a single Congestion Management Process (CMP), development of a single Air Quality Conformity Determination statement for the PDCTC and OCTC, and the distribution of competitive FTA Section 5307 funds. The TMA must also undergo an in-person Federal Certification Review every four years.
Although members of the TMA, each MPO is still responsible for coordinating transportation planning and programming within their respective county, including development of their own MTP, TIP, and UPWP.
How to Get Involved
Interested individuals or groups can become part of our Public Information Mailing List, which we use to distribute our quarterly newsletter and notices of upcoming meetings and products. The public is always encouraged to attend our public information meetings. Also, PDCTC products are mailed to all municipal offices and libraries for reference and are available upon request.
Please use our Public Comment Form to comment on the program and/or request to be added to our mailing list.
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