Suffolk Transit will be offering a public survey related to a Transit Development Plan (TDP) which serves as a “road map” for possible future public transportation improvements in Suffolk. The previous TDP for Suffolk Transit was completed in January 2014. The updated TDP for the City of Suffolk will provide the opportunity to document the changes in transit services, adjust transit goals and objectives, assess current transit services, identify unmet transit needs, and determine the appropriate course of action within the six-year planning horizon.

Suffolk Transit is planning to engage the public through a survey available on Suffolk Transit buses, at Suffolk Public Library locations, and online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VDHP77P. The survey will be open October 1 through October 19, 2018. The main goal of the survey is to collect preferences of five trade-off scenarios. Due to limited resources, Suffolk Transit cannot promise certain improvements but wants to know which improvements would help the most Suffolk residents. Suffolk Transit is not proposing changes to service at this time.

The TDP serves as a management and policy document for the City of Suffolk and as the basis of capital and operating grant requests in the Commonwealth’s Six Year Improvement Program (SYIP), Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), and Constrained Long-Range Plan (CLRP)

The TDP allows the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) to focus investments in transit systems that are meeting the existing demand for public transportation, and that have a desire to meet the growing demand for improved public transportation services. DRPT requires that public transit operators prepare, adopt, and submit a TDP at least every six years and update it annually each December.