Act 209 - Transportation Impact Fee

Overview

Per the 2018 Comprehensive Plan "Section V. General Policies and Issues; Subsection B. Transportation", a stated goal was to "consider developing an Act 209 Transportation Impact Fee Ordinance in order to assess fees on new development based on the impact of the traffic generated by the new development, and utilize funds collected to improve the capacity of key roadways and intersections.”

At the February 26th, 2024, Board of Supervisors public meeting, it was approved to commence the required 18-month public process to pursue establishing a Transportation Impact Fee Ordinance with the goal of leveraging new development that provides funding to address critical intersection improvements within the identified growth corridors.

The finalization of Act 209 is to establish the Transportation Impact Fee Ordinance and the fee amount that is paid only by developers undergoing the Land Development application process.  

The proposed final Act 209 ordinance can be viewed in full here: Ordinance No. 2025-004 (New Garden Township Transportation Impact Fee Ordinance)

The Fee is calculated based on the projected cost of the developer's share of the required improvements within the study area intersections to maintain an overall consistent level of service.  This information can be found in more detail within the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan (TCIP). 

New Garden Township Impact Fee Calculation

Traffic Impact Fee Example

A new development of 50 units (i.e., Single Family, Townhouses, Apartments, etc.) is assessed by the Township's transportation engineer to generate 100 new "trips".

Per the ordinance, the developer pays the Township $368,200.00 ($3,682.00 x 100) in total transportation impact fees.

This revenue is placed in a restricted Transportation Fund to be leveraged along with PennDOT and other grant funds toward future intersection improvements within the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan (TCIP). 

Act 209 Documents

The three key deliverables (all listed and hyperlinked to the full studies below) for the Township's Act 209 study are the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan (TCIP), Roadway Sufficiency Analysis (RSA) and Land Use Assumptions Report (LUAR):

• Transportation Capital Improvement Plan (TCIP)

  • The TCIP identifies the improvements necessary to achieve a preferred level-of-service at each study intersection in the Existing, Future Passthrough, and Future Development conditions.

• Roadway Sufficiency Analysis
  • Analyzes peak hour traffic capacity and identifies the level of service (LOS) at each study intersection
• Land Use Assumptions Report
  • The intent of the LUAR is to provide a view of anticipated future development in New Garden  Township and specifically within the designated Transportation Service Area (TSA) over the next 10 years.  Based on future growth, the LUAR can be amended.
  • The Transportation Service Area (TSA) is a 7 sq mi study area that assesses the capacity of the primary intersections for a traffic volume (not safety), to maintain an overall level of service (LOS), which for New Garden is categorized as "LOS-D", equating to the amount of queuing time required to go through that intersection based on peak traffic volumes (AM/PM).