Background/Analysis/Issues:

As the metropolitan planning organization for the Greater Philadelphia region, DVRPC is required to update its long-range plan for the region every four years and maintain at least a 20-year planning horizon. The Update: Connections 2050 Plan for Greater Philadelphia (the Plan) updates the Connections 2050 Plan for Greater Philadelphia, adopted in September 2021, as the region's comprehensive long-range plan. 

The Plan consists of two documents. The primary document is the Update: Connections 2050 Summary Document, which presents a vision for regional growth and development, identifies goals and strategies to achieve the vision, and contains a summary of the financial plan. The Update: Connections 2050 Appendices contains supporting information related to the planning process, along with the detailed financial plan.

The updated Long-Range Plan helps to prepare the region for a forecasted increase of about 450,000 new residents (+7 percent) and about 356,000 jobs (+10 percent) from 2020 to 2050. For this update, DVRPC staff have developed revisions to the previous plan’s goals, strategies, structure, and content, shaped by public input, evolving regional needs, and best practices. The Update: Connections 2050 Plan contains refined goals for transportation, economy, communities, and environment, and includes a new infrastructure and utility services element with clear implementation responsibilities. DVRPC staff have fully revised regional Plan Centers using a more quantitative, transit-focused methodology. Financial updates include a new safety project category aligned with Vision Zero, a green transportation category that fully funds the Regional Circuit Trail Network, and a reorganization of transit projects to match partner asset systems. Working with regional partners, DVRPC staff have refreshed the Major Regional Project list to account for project feasibility and readiness, and the list includes more detailed project funding breakdowns. Overall, the update process aimed to improve clarity, accountability, and alignment with both public priorities and federal guidance.

The Plan’s 2050 vision, which was developed with regional stakeholders and the public, is for a Greater Philadelphia that provides:

• A safe, modern, multimodal transportation network for all;
• An innovative and connected economy with opportunity and shared prosperity;
• Integrated, healthy, and walkable communities;
• A preserved and restored natural environment and healthy ecological systems; and,
• Clean, reliable, and affordable infrastructure and utility services, resilient to the effects of extreme weather. 

In total, the estimated investment need through the life of the Plan is $163.2 billion. Since identified needs are greater than anticipated funding, the financial planning process prioritized funding for projects based on need and policy, and it included the programming of funding to major regional projects based on a project evaluation. The Plan contains a $78.7 billion financial plan for investing in multimodal transportation assets over the next 25 years. This includes funding to maintain and modernize existing infrastructure, make new capital investments in roadway and transit, implement operational improvements to make our roads and transit systems safer and more efficient, and more. 

DVRPC held a public comment period from July 18 to August 20, 2025. DVRPC posted the draft document online and made it available for viewing at various public libraries around the region. DVRPC advertised the comment period by legal notice in area newspapers, on the DVRPC web page, via email to over 12,000 recipients on DVRPC’s distribution list, and via email to the agency’s list of tribal governments. One (1) in-person public meeting was held on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at 6:00 PM local time at the Mulica Hill Public Library in Gloucester County, NJ, and one (1) hybrid (online and in-person) public meeting was held on Thursday, August 7, 2025, at 6:00 PM local time at the DVRPC offices in Philadelphia, to allow the public to verbally present comments and submit questions about the TIP process and projects. The public was able to submit comments at the August meetings or by mail or email throughout the public comment period. DVRPC received 165 comments during this comment period. Staff will present a summary of the comments received, as well as review agency responses at the September Board meeting. The full document of comments received with agency responses will be emailed before the Board meeting. 

The DVRPC Board adopts the Update: Connections 2050 Plan for Greater Philadelphia, as the region’s official long-range plan, including its vision and goals, recommended strategies, and financial plan, as well as Resolution B-FY26-002.