Agenda - Council - 04/28/2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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INTRODUCTION: REGIONAL SOLICITATION FOR TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS January 22, 2020 The Regional Solicitation is a competitive process to award federal transportation funding to projects that meet regional transportation needs. The solicitation is part of the Metropolitan Council's federally required continuing, comprehensive, and cooperative transportation planning process for the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. The funding program and related rules and requirements are established by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and administered locally through collaboration with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). The online application can be accessed at: https://metrocouncil.ora/Transportation/Plannina- 2/Transportation-Funding/Regional-Solicitation. asax Federal Program Overview As authorized by the most recent federal surface transportation funding act, Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, projects will be selected for funding as part of two federal programs: Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBGP) and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program. The Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) was folded into STBGP in the FAST Act. It is assumed that federal funding will continue to be available in 2024 and 2025, but there is no money set aside at the current time with current federal legislation. Connection to the Regional Policy The Regional Solicitation process and criteria were overhauled in 2014 to reflect new federal guidance and regional goals. These regional goals were defined through Thrive MSP 2040, the regional development framework for the metropolitan area. The region's long-range transportation plan, the 2040 Transportation Policy Plan (TPP), was developed to meet federal requirements but also reflect and help implement the regional goals established in Thrive. It is useful to understand the intent behind both Thrive and the TPP to ensure that all projects funded through the Regional Solicitation meet these shared goals. These funds are intended to implement the region's transportation plan and to address local problems identified in required comprehensive plans. While there are national goals for the region's transportation system, including the implementation of a performance -based planning approach to investments, federal legislation requires metropolitan areas to set their own goals. Projects funded through the Regional Solicitation do not need to be specifically named in the TPP because they must prove consistency with regional goals and policies to pass the qualifying review step of the Regional Solicitation process. In addition, the goals of the TPP are strongly reflected in the prioritizing criteria used to select projects shown in the following table.