Transportation Any approach to more efficient mobility must include an analysis of the way we use our land, the manner in which we choose to travel and the institutional arrangements that we have developed to cope with all our travel needs. Failure by New Jersey to comply with the CAAA can result in the loss of millions of dollars of federal highway funds and a federally-imposed compliance program. Traffic congestion is perhaps the most conspicuous side effect of New Jersey's recent robust but unmanaged growth. In ironic counterpoint to that economic activity, traffic congestion imposes dramatic personal inconveniences, economic and fiscal inefficiency in the use of roadways, harmful environmental degradation and wasteful use of valuable energy resources. Even in the face of an economic slowdown, traffic congestion continues to plague New Jersey motorists.
Traffic congestion is only the symptom of a complex set of social relationships.
Any approach to more efficient mobility must include an analysis of the way we use our land, the manner in which we choose to travel and the institutional arrangements that we have developed to cope with our travel needs. In short, transportation planning cannot occur in isolation from the entire mix of planning strategies. To plan transportation successfully requires paying careful attention to issues other than transportation. The Plan's recommendations to reshape future development into more compact and mixed-use patterns and to direct growth to where infrastructure already exists will have beneficial impacts on transportation facilities. Alternative transportation modes, such as car and van pooling as well as public transportation alternatives, also will be supported by these recommendations.