Coversheet


Agenda Item 7.


TRANSPORTATION AGENCY FOR MONTEREY COUNTY *Memorandum*

To:	Bicycle & Pedestrian Facilities Advisory Committee
From:	Michael Zeller, Director of Programming & Project Delivery
Meeting Date:	May 6, 2020
Subject:	Competitive Grants - Review Committee

RECOMMENDED ACTION:
NOMINATE up to three members of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Advisory Committee to serve on the TAMC Competitive Grant Application Review Committee.

SUMMARY:
The Transportation Agency Board approved a new cycle of competitive grants at its March 2020 meeting. The grant applications for projects proposed for funding are due June 1, 2020. Agency staff is seeking to establish an ad hoc committee to review and rank the applications, and provide funding recommendations.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

The three-year estimated funding of Regional Surface Transportation Program is $3.6 million for fair share and up to $12.2 million for the competitive program. The $12.2 million includes $9.36 million of new Regional Surface Transportation Program funds, $750,000 of new Transportation Development Act 2% for bicycle and pedestrian project funds, and up to $2.1 million unexpended from the last competitive grants cycle. The deadline for billing to the prior year cycle is three years after approval of the grants, or August 31, 2020.

DISCUSSION:

The Surface Transportation Block Grant Program is a federal program that provides states and local jurisdictions with funding for highway improvements, street rehabilitation and transportation enhancements. The Transportation Agency receives an annual apportionment of Regional Surface Transportation Program funding, passed through the State. Because Monterey County didn’t have an urbanized area with a population of greater than 200,000 in the 1990 census, it qualified for the state exchange program, whereby Caltrans keeps the federal Surface Transportation Block Grant Program apportionments for a region and gives the regional agency an equivalent amount of state cash.

The Transportation Agency distributes Regional Surface Transportation Program funding in both fair-share and competitive programs. Monterey County and the cities receive fair-share Regional Surface Transportation Program funds based on a formula of 50% population and 50% centerline miles. The total fair share allocation over the next three years is $3.6 million.

The Transportation Agency distributes the remaining portion of the Regional Surface Transportation Program funding on a competitive basis to transportation projects based on a variety of criteria, including safety, traffic volume and project readiness. The competitive grants process starts with a call for projects, which was approved by the Transportation Agency Board at the March 2020 meeting, and the release of grant application materials.

With the grant application deadline set at June 1, 2020, staff is seeking to establish an ad hoc committee made up of members of the Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee, Technical Advisory Committee, partner agencies, and Transportation Agency staff to review and rank the applications, and provide funding recommendations. Staff is requesting that at the meeting the Committee nominate up to three members for the grants review committee.