About HOCTC

The United States Department of Transportation requires that every metropolitan area of over 50,000 people maintain a Metropolitan Planning Organization to ensure the disbursement of federal transportation funds is done in accordance with planning procedures. HOCTS is the MPO for both Herkimer and Oneida County.

• Transportation planning in Herkimer and Oneida Counties is carried out by the Herkimer-Oneida Counties Transportation Council (HOCTC). HOCTC is a cooperative effort by local, state and federal agencies for conducting transportation planning activities in Herkimer and Oneida Counties. HOCTC was created during 1963 (in compliance with the Federal Highway Act of 1962) in order to establish transportation goals and objectives on a local basis. The Herkimer-Oneida Counties Governmental Policy and Liaison Committee (GP&L) has been designated as the region's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for transportation by the Governor of New York.
• HOCTC shares responsibility with the state to develop cooperative transportation plans and programs for the two-county area. HOCTC also provides a forum for the identification of transportation needs by area residents and organizations.
• The principal decision making committees of HOCTC are the Governmental Policy and Liaison Committee (GP&L) and the Transportation Planning Committee (TPC). The GP&L has final approval and authority on all major transportation decisions, policies, and programs developed through the HOCTC organization. Click here for more information regarding these and other committees, as well as their upcoming scheduled meetings.
• HOCTC maintains the regional Long-Range Transportation Plan (a 20-year vision of future transportation needs and improvements), HOCTC is responsible for the maintenance of the area's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), a five-year program that outlines the capital projects for federal transportation funds, and is coordinated with the 4 year NY State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) capital plan. In addition, HOCTC prepares the Unified Planning Work Program which identifies the annual transportation planning activities that are undertaken by the MPO Herkimer-Oneida Counties area in support of the goals, objectives and actions established in the long-range transportation plan.