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

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o Established the Arterial Bus Rapid Transit Project maximum federal award at $25M. • Began implementation of the region's Congestion Management Process (CMP) using a new congestion measure in the roadway applications. • Added a new pedestrian safety measure in the roadway application categories to emphasize the regional need for improved pedestrian safety. • Included a new provision in the roadway Cost Effectiveness measure that allows projects that have been awarded other outside, competitive funding (e.g., state bonding, Transportation Economic Development Program, Minnesota Highway Freight Program), to reduce the total project cost for the purposes of the scoring measure by the amount of the outside funding award. • Added a new sub -part to the Risk Assessment measure that asks applicants about public and stakeholder involvement on the proposed project. • Included the Regional Bicycle Barriers Study into the scoring in the Multiuse Trails and Bicycle Facilities application category and the roadways application (Multimodal Facilities and Connections measure). 2. Project sponsors must incur the cost of the project prior to repayment. Costs become eligible for reimbursement only after a project has been approved by MnDOT State -Aid and the appropriate USDOT modal agency. 3. Projects may apply for both the Regional Solicitation and the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), but projects can only be awarded funds from one of the two programs. 4. Projects selected to receive federal funding through this solicitation will be programmed in the regional TIP in years 2024 and 2025, taking into consideration the applicant's request and the TAB's balancing of available funds. 5. The fundable amount of a project is based on the original submittal. TAB must approve any significant change in the scope or cost of an approved project as described in TAB's Scope Change Policy. htta://www.metrocouncil.ora/Transportation/Plannina-2/Transaortation- Fundina/Regional-Solicitation/Regional-Scope-Chance-Policv. aspx 6. A project will be removed from the program if it does not meet its program year. The program year aligns with the state fiscal year. For example, if the project is programmed for 2024 in the TIP, the project program year begins July 1, 2023, and ends June 30, 2024. Projects selected from this solicitation will be programmed in 2024 and 2025. The Regional Program Year Policy outlines the process to request a one-time program year extension. htta://www. metrocouncil. ora/Transportation/Planning-2/Transportation-Fundina/Reaional- Solicitation/TAB-Regional-Program-Year-Policv-(PDF-154-KB). asax 7. Applicants for transit projects should be aware of the schedule and associated time lag for receiving federal funds for transit vehicle and transit operating projects. Applicants are encouraged to contact Michael Hochhalter at the Metropolitan Council Michael.hochhalternmetc.state.mn.us or 651-602-1961) for more details on selecting a preferred program year as part of the application given this time lag. 8. Transit projects will be given an opportunity to have their ridership projections reviewed by Council staff prior to submittal in order to determine whether the scoring methodology is sound. Any applicant wanting to have an optional review should submit draft ridership information to the TAB Coordinator two weeks prior to the application deadline. 9. The announcement of funding availability is posted on the Metropolitan Council website and emailed to local stakeholders. 10. The applicant must show that the project meets all of the qualifying requirements of the appropriate application category to be eligible to be scored and ranked against other projects.