The NJTPA is responsible for overseeing the expenditure of two types of federal transportation funding: Capital funds and Planning funds.
Funding for Capital Expenditures:
Each year over $2 billion in federal and state funding is invested in the northern New Jersey transportation system. This funding supports the construction of new highways, the resurfacing of roads, the rehabilitation of bridges, the acquisition of new transit equipment, the enhancement of goods movement facilities and a host of other transportation improvement projects and programs.
However, with a large backlog of projects needed in the region and increasingly limited funding, the NJTPA faces difficult choices in selecting projects for implementation. Guidance in this task is provided by the NJTPA 2035 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) which identifies long-range mobility needs, lists projects that could be undertaken to address them and presents goals and objectives for the region. Based on the plan, the NJTPA has established an objective "project prioritization" process that is used annually to allocate federal capital dollars to transportation projects and develop a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).
The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is a four-year agenda of transportation improvement projects for the region that totals over $8 billion in state and federal funding. The TIP describes each project's location, phase of work, construction schedule, cost and funding source. Projects must be approved for inclusion in the TIP to qualify for federal funding. Each year the TIP is updated to reflect changing priorities, the addition of new projects, advances or delays in project readiness and federal funding allocation levels.
More Information about the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and current project information can be found on: NJTPA - Projects & Programs
Funding for Metropolitan Planning:
The NJTPA’s Central Staff operation (Volume I of the UPWP) is primarily funded with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Metropolitan Planning (PL) funds, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5303 planning funds and federal Surface Transportation Program-New Jersey (STP-NJ) funds. As is the case with federal funding, there is a “match” required for the receipt of federal funding. NJTPA’s federal match requirements are provided through the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) “Soft Match” program whereby a provision of Title 23, Section 120(j) allows expenditures by Toll Authorities to serve as credit for having matched federal funds. New Jersey has funded almost all toll road construction in the state with toll revenue bonds. These large capital projects have helped build up substantial toll credits. Under the "soft match" provisions of Title 23, New Jersey has been able to use these toll credits as the required “match” for federal funds. No other state, regional, county or in-kind service contributions support the NJTPA Central Staff operation.
The pass-through grant programs to the subregions [Subregional Transportation Planning Program and Subregional Studies - Volumes II and III of the UPWP] are funded with Metropolitan Planning (PL) funds, FTA Section 5303 planning funds and, occassionally, STP-NJ funds. The 20 % federal match requirements are provided by subregional in-kind services.
The NJTPA expends funds based on the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) which is a compilation of all regional transportation and related planning activities to be conducted by the NJTPA’s Central Staff, subregions and member agencies during the next two fiscal years. These activities seek to advance the goals and objectives of the NJTPA Board adopted Regional Transportation Plan for Northern New Jersey.
The FY 2013 budget is approximately $37.4 million dollars. Approximately 24 percent of the annual budget is designated to Central Staff for administrative, planning, programming and public participation activities; 38 percent is “passed through” to the subregions as transportation grants; 15% is passed through to TMAs; and 23 percent is designated for consultant support of the regional transportation planning effort. The NJTPA Board of Trustees approves the budget annually to ensure compliance with SAFETEA-LU planning requirements and coordination and consistency with all transportation planning activities in the NJTPA region.
FY2013 UPWP Budget (pdf file)