Philadelphia Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability

Philadelphia Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability
Name	Philadelphia Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability
Type	Municipal agency
Jurisdiction	Philadelphia
Formed	2016
Headquarters	Philadelphia City Hall
Employees	400 (approx.)
Chief1 name	Isabel Cosentini
Chief1 position	Commissioner
Parent agency	City of Philadelphia

Philadelphia Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability is a municipal agency responsible for coordinating transportation and infrastructure programs and advancing sustainability initiatives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The office integrates planning and delivery functions historically distributed among agencies such as the Philadelphia Streets Department, Philadelphia Water Department, and Philadelphia City Planning Commission, and coordinates with regional entities including the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and the Delaware River Port Authority. The office reports to the Mayor of Philadelphia and collaborates with federal partners like the United States Department of Transportation, United States Environmental Protection Agency, and philanthropic organizations such as the William Penn Foundation.

History

The office was established in 2016 under the administration of Mayor Jim Kenney to consolidate transportation, infrastructure, and sustainability functions that had previously been overseen by separate departments such as the Philadelphia Streets Department and the Philadelphia Water Department. Its formation followed policy directions from citywide planning efforts including the Greenworks Philadelphia strategy and the Philadelphia 2035 Comprehensive Plan, and responded to federal initiatives like the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act and state programs administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Early actions built on precedent from municipal reforms in cities such as New York City, Boston, and Seattle, and were influenced by academic research from institutions like the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University.

Organization and leadership

The office is headed by a Commissioner appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia; leaders have worked with figures from municipal administrations including commissioners from the Philadelphia Streets Department and executives with experience at agencies such as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New Jersey Transit Corporation. Organizational units align with functional divisions found in peer cities: policy and planning staff coordinate with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, project delivery teams collaborate with the Philadelphia Water Department and the Department of Licenses and Inspections, and operations groups interact with the Philadelphia Parking Authority and the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management. The office maintains liaison roles with regional bodies such as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

Responsibilities and programs

The office oversees multimodal transportation planning, street design, public realm improvements, and climate resilience projects, liaising with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority on transit priorities and with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on state highways. Programs include street safety campaigns modeled after initiatives like Vision Zero; bike and pedestrian networks aligned with guidance from the National Association of City Transportation Officials; green stormwater infrastructure projects connected to the Philadelphia Water Department's consent decrees with the United States Environmental Protection Agency; and energy and emissions reduction efforts influenced by standards from the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives. The office manages grant programs tied to federal funding sources such as the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration, and coordinates resilience planning with agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Major projects and initiatives

Major initiatives include implementation of corridor redesigns informed by partnerships with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and community groups, deployment of protected bike lanes in patterns seen in New York City and Copenhagen, and streetscape upgrades on boulevards comparable to projects in Chicago and Portland, Oregon. The office has led green infrastructure installation consistent with the EPA Combined Sewer Overflow mitigation approach and worked on climate adaptation projects analogous to work in Miami Beach and New Orleans. Transit access projects have been coordinated with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and regional rail improvements linked to the Amtrak Northeast Corridor. Pedestrian safety campaigns draw on data-driven methods used in cities like London and Boston.

Funding and budget

Funding combines municipal appropriations from the City of Philadelphia operating and capital budgets, federal grants from entities such as the United States Department of Transportation and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and state programs administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The office competes for discretionary funds including grants from the Federal Transit Administration and infrastructure programs under acts like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Philanthropic partnerships and mitigation funding from utilities and developers augment capital for pilot projects, similar to mechanisms used by the William Penn Foundation and the Knight Foundation in other civic initiatives. Budget oversight involves coordination with the Philadelphia City Council finance committees and the Philadelphia Office of the Controller.

Policy and planning

Policy work advances objectives from the Philadelphia 2035 Comprehensive Plan and implements elements of Greenworks Philadelphia, integrating mobility, resilience, and equity goals consistent with guidance from the U.S. Green Building Council and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. Planning products include multimodal corridor studies, Vision Zero action plans coordinated with the Philadelphia Police Department traffic units, and climate vulnerability assessments informed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sea level rise projections. The office develops zoning- and street-level policies in consultation with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and stakeholder groups including neighborhood organizations and regional planners at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

Performance and data metrics

The office tracks metrics for safety, mode share, greenhouse gas emissions, stormwater capture, and project delivery timelines, using analytical tools and standards from the Federal Highway Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and academic partners at Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania. Public dashboards report indicators such as pedestrian and bicyclist crash rates, transit access statistics coordinated with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, and carbon inventories aligned with protocols from the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories. Performance reviews are presented to oversight bodies including the Philadelphia City Council and shared with funders such as the United States Department of Transportation and philanthropic partners.

Category:Government of Philadelphia