Method and apparatus are disclosed for optimizing Random Access Channel (RACH) transmissions from wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) for multiple transmissions. A WTRU may initiate uplink transmission for a random access procedure using a configured time resource such that the uplink resources may be time shared by a plurality of WTRUs. The transmission time may be calculated on an absolute or relative basis. A backoff time may be applied before starting the uplink transmission. The backoff time may be WTRU-specific, WTRU group-specific, specified per access class and may be determined based on a priority basis. A scaling factor may be applied to the backoff time. A contention free allocation method may be used to determine the appropriate resource. The data may be transmitted with and without a preamble. The WTRUs may include machine type communication devices and may be grouped in accordance with a number of factors or characteristics.