The United States Department of Transportation requires that every metropolitan area of over 50,000 people maintain a Metropolitan Planning Organization to ensure the disbursement of federal transportation funds is done in accordance with planning procedures. HOCTS is the MPO for both Herkimer and Oneida County.

HOCTS staff is available during this time, all questions and comments are encouraged to be directed through email at transplan@ocgov.net.

In response to growing interest in bicycle and pedestrian activities, HOCTS has developed the Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail Guide 2019. Below you will find a link to the interactive PDF for the Guide. If you would like a hard copy, please contact us at 315-798-5710 or transplan@ocgov.net.

ITS roadmap for Oneida County - Stemming from the Oneida County Vision 20/20 Project, this report identifies priority highway corridors for the deployment of smart technologies with the goal of connecting all roadways within Oneida County to the NYSDOT Transportation Management Center.

Newly Approved:

The 2020 – 2021 HOCTS UPWP is available here

LRTP 2020 – 2040

Ongoing Projects:

Traffic Counts

HOCTS takes part in the NYSDOT County Counter Program, which was created by NYSDOT and provides the equipment, training, and software necessary to collect traffic count data. Every week during the summer collection season, HOCTS aims to place 15+ counters at various locations throughout Oneida and Herkimer Counties; in 2017, a total of 197 successful counts were obtained. Count data is available through the HOCCPP’s Data Traffic Viewer, and statewide data is available here.

Transportation planning in Herkimer and Oneida Counties is carried out by the Herkimer-Oneida Counties Transportation Study (HOCTS). HOCTS is a cooperative effort by local, state and federal agencies for conducting transportation planning activities in Herkimer and Oneida Counties. HOCTS was created during 1963 (in compliance with the Federal Highway Act of 1962) in order to establish transportation goals and objectives on a local basis. The Herkimer-Oneida Counties Governmental Policy and Liaison Committee (GP&L) has been designated as the region's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for transportation by the Governor of New York.

HOCTS shares responsibility with the state to develop cooperative transportation plans and programs for the two-county area. HOCTS also provides a forum for the identification of transportation needs by area residents and organizations.

The principal decision making committees of HOCTS are the Governmental Policy and Liaison Committee (GP&L) and the Transportation Planning Committee (TPC). The GP&L has final approval and authority on all major transportation decisions, policies, and programs developed through the HOCTS organization. Click here for more information regarding these and other committees, as well as their upcoming scheduled meetings.

HOCTS maintains the regional Long-Range Transportation Plan (a 20-year vision of future transportation needs and improvements), HOCTS is responsible for the maintenance of the area's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), a five-year program that outlines the capital projects for federal transportation funds, and is coordinated with the 4 year NY State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) capital plan. In addition, HOCTS prepares the Unified Planning Work Program which identifies the annual transportation planning activities that are undertaken by the MPO Herkimer-Oneida Counties area in support of the goals, objectives and actions established in the long-range transportation plan.