Last month they approved a plan to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge. This month they want to hear from you about how billions of federal dollars will be spent over the next 30 years on the region’s transportation system.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) is holding an open house  at the Palisades Center Mall on Thurs Sept 13 from 4-8p to hear from the public about what transportation projects and programs they’d like to see put in place between 2015 and 2040.

On August 20, the council approved Governor Andrew Cuomo’s plan to build a Tappan Zee Bridge. The unanimous vote allowed New York State to apply for federal funds for the project.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) is a regional council of governments that provides a collaborative transportation planning forum for New York City, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley. Members include the County Executives of Rockland, Westchester, Putnam, Suffolk and Nassau counties and the NYS Department of Transportation (NYS DOT), the MTA, the Port Authority of NY and NJ and the NYC DOT.

The NYMTC has also created an innovative interactive website for citizens to share their concerns and ideas, provide feedback and participate in the development of the 2040 Regional Transportation Plan.

The Rockland County Open House will be held on Thursday, September 13, 2012 at the Palisades Center Mall (4th Floor Community Room) from 4-8 pm, with presentations offered at 4:15 and 6:30p. Public input is sought on topics ranging from traffic congestion to transit to biking to moving goods ‘€“ both within Rockland and across the region.

“The Regional Transportation Plan update is critical to putting transportation dollars to work in Rockland and the region,” said Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef. “We need to hear residents’ transportation ideas and concerns so that council members can translate them into projects, proposals and studies reflected in the updated plan.”

The NYMTC’s 2040 Plan will lay out a long-range framework for maintaining and improving the roads, bridges, freight and mass transit facilities, and its bicycle and pedestrian networks in the region. It will ultimately identify the transportation improvement concepts, projects and policy recommendations that can address the region’s long-term growth challenges and needs ‘€“ an initial step to bringing federal transportation dollars into the area.