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Dauphin County Comp Plan Logo

TRANSPORTATION NETWORK ––

Our transportation system is critical for future economic development. 

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The primary responsibility for transportation system planning is given to the Harrisburg Area Transportation Study (HATS) Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), which oversees the application of Federal and State transportation funding in Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry Counties. 

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The MPO produces a Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) every four years. The HATS 2040 RTP envisions a safe, efficient, environmentally responsible, and seamless multimodal transportation system integrated with sustainable land use patterns to serve the mobility and accessibility needs of the region’s residents, businesses and through-travelers.

The plan has a goal of expanding transportation choices and improving the performance and operation of the transportation system for all modes. It aims to improve the quality of life for people in Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties by encouraging livable communities and efficient land use. It emphasizes efficiently using existing transportation funds while pursuing additional funding opportunities for other transportation system improvements.

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To meet its goals, the RTP lays out a list of objectives that can be found on the TCRPC website. These include providing funding priority to preservation and maintenance of the transportation system, addressing safety and security concerns in all transportation projects and programs, expanding transportation choices, improving the quality of life for all users, and reducing environmental impacts.

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As the RTP emphasizes the link between land use and transportation planning, it also has an objective of encouraging livable communities and efficient land use by balancing transportation infrastructure design with sustainable build-out potential.

time-lapse of Route 322

Time-lapse of Route 322 from Linglestown Road

RTP 2040 Cover

2040 HATS Regional Transportation Plan
Click to view site

PRIMARY GOALS

  • Help build cooperative relations between transportation providers, employers, commercial facilities, governmental agencies & local municipalities;

  • Enhance safety for all transportation system users;

  • Maintain a focus on all modes for moving people and goods efficiently;

  • Provide effective transportation for persons with disabilities.


KEY ACTION ITEMS

  • Coordinate with public and private transportation providers in the development of a transit development plan for Dauphin County that addresses traditional public transit services along with on-demand and other specialized transportation needs;

  • Promote and seek to enhance ridesharing, vanpools, and similar services provided through the Susquehanna Regional Transportation Partnership (SRTP);

  • Enhance intermodal services supporting the Harrisburg International Airport;

  • Participate in updates to the Regional Transportation Plan that are integrated closely with the RGMP;

  • Incorporate a freight plan into the RTP that addresses highway, rail, and aviation components;

  • Facilitate the enhancement of bicycle/pedestrian facilities through linkages between local and regional facilities;

  • Encourage in-fill development and mixed use development  through model ordinances and educational outreach;

  • Evaluate off-street parking requirements in an effort to reduce the areas needed for parking lots, thereby reducing stormwater impacts and potentially making retail, office and industrial lands more transit and bicycle/pedestrian friendly;

  • Provide municipalities with a range of regulatory and planning tools to enhance the local transportation system such as official maps, access management, transportation impact fees, connectivity assessment, etc.;

  • Seek to engage with the public transportation provider in PennDOT’s Highway Occupancy Permit e-permitting system to enable them to comment on transit feasibility at the early stage of subdivision/land development activity;

  • Conduct an evaluation of municipal ordinances for “transit friendliness” and provide outreach to municipal officials on the results of the effort;

  • Support the efforts associated with transit oriented development in the City of Harrisburg;

  • Identify and address handicapped accessibility limitations throughout the transportation system;

  • As the items listed herein are put into action, the Implementation Partners should seek to continue their efforts  toward the accomplishment of the plan’s goals through the identification and implementation of additional efforts deemed appropriate by the their committee and the County Commissioners. Any such actions should be publicly identified in the “Tracking Our Progress” section of the Comprehensive Plan Website.

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