NJTPA PLAN 2050 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

The Challenge 

The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) is the federally authorized Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for 7 million people in the 13-county northern New Jersey region, which has 384 of the state's 564 municipalities. Each year, the NJTPA oversees more than $3 billion in transportation improvement projects. NJTPA was looking for creative, meaningful public engagement to gather feedback to update the region’s Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), regardless of people’s age, income, race, ethnicity, or ability. The outreach had to gather feedback from across NJTPA subregions: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties, and the cities of Newark and Jersey City.  

How We Helped 

McCormick Taylor developed a multifaceted outreach campaign for the NJTPA’s Plan 2050. NJTPA values extensive, inclusive, and meaningful public involvement in order to ensure that transportation investment decisions reflect regional priorities. There were numerous opportunities for members of the public to get involved. McCormick Taylor staff created a Plan 2050 webpage (www.njtpa.org/Plan2050), as well as a Spanish version of the page. The project team also helped NJTPA create a survey about transportation, equity, and opportunity. 

While NJTPA is only obligated to translate their long-range transportation plan materials into Spanish, McCormick Taylor and subconsultant Mercer Planning Associates encouraged NJTPA to translate the survey into five languages— Spanish, Chinese (simplified), Korean, Portuguese, and Hindi—to reach a wider audience. 

In addition, McCormick Taylor supported NJTPA in organizing and facilitating several meetings to accommodate COVID-19 social distancing requirements. Held on different days at different times—including weekends—these virtual meeting formats offered a regional approach to public participation, and included specific meetings where project information was translated into Spanish. In addition, the project team hosted three half-day symposiums, known as “TPA Tuesdays.” Symposium themes included “Adapting to Change” and “Equity.” 

All of the events and survey materials were supported with social media outreach, as well as paid social media ads, including a 30-second video that was in both English and Spanish. A Stakeholder Advisory Committee comprised of representatives from a diverse cross-section of North Jersey residents and business owners provided guidance to the project team regarding effective public involvement tools and best practices. Partner organizations that wished to help spread the word about Plan 2050’s survey and virtual events were able to download prewritten social media messages and graphics to help get the word out. In addition, McCormick Taylor tracked, documented, and measured established outreach performance metrics throughout the program. 

The Results 

More than 3,000 people submitted online surveys or participated in virtual public meetings, symposia, or targeted outreach to engage underserved populations, including focus groups and a children’s activity. Extensive social media messaging was used to reach a broad audience, resulting in about 33,000 engagements. 

Contact 

North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority 

Ted Ritter, Manager External Affairs 

973.639.8447 

Project Timeline: 

March 2020 to September 2021