With the enactment of Senate Bill 1, the Transportation Agency will have an opportunity to access much-needed funding to address multimodal priorities. The following is a summary of the new funding programs created under Senate Bill 1 and projects that the Transportation Agency could potentially fund from each:
Local Streets and Roads
The fiscal year 2017/18 budget allocates $445.4 million to the Local Streets and Roads program, provided directly to local jurisdictions.
The California Transportation Commission has oversight responsibilities for funding, including development of guidelines, review of project lists submitted by cities and counties, reporting on maintenance of effort to the State Controller, and receiving reports on completed projects. The funding is to be focused on maintenance and road repairs, but complete streets/active transportation and safety improvements are also allowed. Project sponsors are also encouraged to consider “technology, climate change and complete streets” features, to the extent feasible and cost effective. New lanes are not allowed unless a jurisdiction has achieved a Pavement Condition Index of 80 or greater. There is some flexibility in the cities/county's ability to save up funds over the years to pay for a larger project, but it is not clear that funding can be spent ahead of time and then reimbursed over several years; the League of Cities is working on legislation to address this issue. Cities and counties must maintain their current level of general funds spent on transportation purposes, similar to Measure X. Fund estimates are available from the California League of Cities and California State Association of Counties websites. Attached to this report is a list of the Monterey County maintenance of effort amounts as estimated by the League of Cities; these amounts will also be the Measure X maintenance of effort requirements.
Recipients must annually report their planned use of funds (description and the location of each proposed project, a proposed schedule for the project’s completion, and the estimated useful life of the improvement) to the California Transportation Commission, with the first lists due by October 16, 2017. Annually, the use of the funds must be reported to the CTC. The goal is to get this funding out into projects as soon as possible. The adopted guidelines for this program are a web attachment to this staff report.
The timeline for program is as follows:
- Cities / Counties deadline to submit project lists - October 16, 2017
- Adoption of project lists by CTC – December 2017
- Apportionments begin - Mid- January 2018
Active Transportation Program
Senate Bill 1 provides an increase of $100 million annually for the Active Transportation Program. This represents an increase in the size of this on-going program by more than 80% (funding prior to Senate Bill 1 was $125 million). The California Transportation Commission will have a call for projects that covers fiscal years 2017/18 and 2018/19 for the new funding, however they are seeking to first fund projects that submitted applications for the Active Transportation Program Cycle 3. New projects will be able to submit applications for Cycle 4 in 2018. Under this program, the Transportation Agency could potentially seek funding for the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway project and the Bicycle Route Wayfinding program. The timeline for the 2018 Active Transportation Program is as follows:
- Updated applications due – August 2017
- Program adoption, statewide and small urban & rural components – October 18-19, 2017
State-Local Partnership Program (SLPP)
Funding from this program, $200 million per year, is for counties that have received voter approval of taxes or that have imposed fees, including development impact fees. Funds are appropriated “for allocation to each eligible county and city in the county for road maintenance and rehabilitation purposes." The California Transportation Commission is proposing to adopt a 50/50 split between competitive grants and formula-based shares. Currently, it is uncertain how much revenue the Transportation Agency would receive from its formula share due to Measure X, given that there are now 24 self-help counties and many other counties with developer fees. Once funding amounts are known, TAMC will match these funds with priority regional projects. The timeline for program adoption is as follows:
- Applications due – March 2018
- Adopt Program – June 2018
Solutions for Congested Corridors
Senate Bill 1 creates this new $250 million per year program beginning in fiscal year 2017/18. Funds will be allocated by the California Transportation Commission to projects designed to achieve a balanced set of transportation, environmental, and community access improvements within highly congested travel corridors. Project elements may include improvements to state highways, local streets and roads, transit facilities, bike/ped facilities, and protection of local habitat or open space. Projects may be nominated by the state or regional or county transportation agencies. To qualify for funding a project must be included in a “comprehensive corridor plan designed to reduce congestion in highly traveled corridors by providing more transportation choices for residents, commuters and visitors to the area of the corridor while preserving the character of the local community and creating opportunities for neighborhood enhancement projects.” The Transportation Agency could potentially seek funding for the State Route 68, State Route 156, or US 101 corridors from this program. The timeline for program adoption is as follows:
- Applications due –February 2018
- Program adoption – May 2018
Trade Corridor Enhancement Account
Senate Bill 1 creates this new $300 million per year account to fund corridor-based freight projects nominated by local agencies and the state. The fiscal year 2017/18 budget allocates $199.8 million to the program. The Transportation Agency could potentially seek funding for the State Route 156 project, and/or projects along the US 101 corridor. The timeline for program adoption is as follows :
- Applications due – February 2018
- Program adoption – May 2018
State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)
Senate Bill 1 stabilizes funding for the State Transportation Improvement Program, with the initial draft fund estimate showing an additional $30.947 million for Monterey County; $16.9 million of this is payback for funds removed in the 2016 STIP and the remainder is new funding. The Transportation Agency is coordinating with Caltrans to develop a funding plan that maximizes STIP funds with Measure X revenues to advance regional projects from the Measure X program. The timeline for the 2018 STIP is as follows:
- TAMC presents the draft Regional Transportation Improvement Program - October 25, 2017
- TAMC adopts the Regional Transportation Improvement Program - December 6, 2017
- CTC adopts the State Transportation Improvement Program – March 2018