Dr. Niri outlines TransAction update, summarizes public engagement

Dr. Niri, NVTA staff lead for the TransAction update, told the Planning Coordination Advisory Committee that TransAction is the region's long‑range multimodal plan and the Authority expects to adopt its update in December of next year. "Transaction is a long range multimodel transportation plan for Northern Virginia and we uh update it every five years," he said, and described a three‑phase process of public input, technical analysis, and a draft plan for public review.

Staff summarized summer engagement from June 6 through Aug. 9: a perception survey of about 1,000 respondents stratified by jurisdiction, an online feedback form (954 responses), roughly 20 pop‑up events, seven focus groups and four stakeholder sessions involving 21 organizations. Dr. Niri said the public continues to identify congestion as the top transportation concern and that housing affordability now ranks alongside transportation as a leading regional priority. Staff emphasized that the TransAction project list forms the primary eligibility pool for NVTA regional funding: "If your project is not in that list, you cannot apply for regional funding through sixure program," he said.

The presentation previewed technical changes planned for the update: a regional model refresh, scenario planning to test alternate futures (land use, technology adoption, pricing), and possible modifications to performance measures to better capture safety and multimodal access. Staff invited committee suggestions for scenarios to test and said model‑based results are expected by early spring with a draft plan out for public comment next year.