We address regional transportation needs through our participation in the Mid-Hudson Valley Transportation Management Area (TMA). A TMA is a federal designation used to classify Urban Areas with populations of 200,000 or more. The Poughkeepsie-Newburgh NY Urban Area, with a population of 315,000, includes parts of Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster Counties.
The Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) in Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster counties partner to address regional transportation issues and meet TMA planning requirements. This includes work on a Congestion Management Process and Regional Transit Study, and the sub-allocation of federal transit funds across the region. Although part of a TMA, each MPO is still responsible for coordinating transportation planning within their respective county.
Every four years, the TMA undergoes a Federal Certification Review by the Federal Highway and Federal Transit Administrations (FHWA and FTA). As part of their process, the FHWA and FTA also produced a Desk Reference for each MPO. To learn more, read our our most recent Certification Review and DCTC's Desk Reference.
Visit our TMA website for more information:
mid-hudson-valley-transportation-management-area-ocnygis.hub.arcgis.com/
Federal law requires that a TMA develop a Congestion Management Process (CMP) to outline how it will quantify, evaluate, and manage congestion throughout a region’s transportation network. Our current CMP, adopted in 2019, establishes a four-step process to define, measure, and manage congestion. It incorporates new data sources, tools, and best practices from the National Performance Management Research Data Set (NPMRDS). The NPMRDS, created from wireless vehicle probe data, is procured by FHWA to assist states and MPOs with measuring travel performance on the National Highway System (NHS).
In 2020, staff from the three MPOs completed a TMA-Wide Macro-Level Analysis —a screening of the Mid-Hudson region to identify congestion hot-spots— and a Multi-Modal Accessibility Analysis. We then took a more detailed look at the four hot spots identified in Dutchess County in the TMA-Wide Micro-Level Analysis (Dutchess County Portion).
The current CMP builds on earlier efforts in 2005, 2006, and 2011, which are available on our publications page.
The TMA's regional freight initiative aims to better understand freight at a regional level by analyzing trends in the freight industry and goods movement across the Mid-Hudson Valley. This work supports the strategies and recommendations developed in the New York State Freight Plan.
The TMA's Regional Freight Analysis analyzes data related to freight in our region, identifies key issues, and outlines recommendations to address those issues. The TMA's follow-on report on Large Truck Crashes and Freight Data Dashboard fulfill some of those recommendations.
The TMA is responsible for suballocating federal formula funds to transit operators throughout the Urbanized Area. These funds provide capital, operating, and planning assistance to local public transit providers. Funds are apportioned using a formula based on population, population density, and transit service/ridership. The four MPOs in our TMA must agree upon the suballocation of these funds across the region.
We also engage in regional transit planning activities to improve the delivery of transit services to commuters, residents, and visitors. This includes Connect Mid-Hudson, our recent Regional Transit Study - see the final report here.
