PROGRAM POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR TRAC APPLICATIONS IN THE OKI REGION.

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1 PROGRAM POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR TRAC APPLICATIONS IN THE OKI REGION Adopted May 11, 2004

2 Introduction The Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) was created by the Ohio General Assembly in 1997 to bring an open, fair, numbers-driven system to choosing major new transportation projects. The amount of money available for major new capacity projects is certified to the TRAC by the director of ODOT after funds for system preservation are determined. Historically, the TRAC has about $300 million a year to pay for projects, including design, right of way and construction for major new capacity projects. A major new capacity project is one that will cost ODOT more than $5 million and accomplishes one or more of the following goals: reduces congestion, increases mobility, provides connectivity or increases a region s accessibility for economic development. Eligible projects include all new interchanges proposed for economic development or local access, any significant interchange modifications, bypasses, general purpose lane additions, intermodal facilities, major transit facilities, passenger rail facilities or Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). TRAC puts a priority on state and federal highways; in general, local and county road projects will not be funded by the TRAC. The TRAC recognizes the importance of city and county roads, but the council was established to make decisions for major statewide and regional transportation investments. The powers, duties and responsibilities of the TRAC are delineated in Ohio Revised Code to The duties of the TRAC include: The TRAC is to hold up to six public hearings annually. Prioritize Major/New Capacity projects for the Ohio Department of Transportation. Publish a selection process explaining how it prioritized the Major New Capacity construction projects. Keep the Major/New Capacity Program in reasonable fiscal balance. After reviewing all applications for major/new capacity projects, ODOT staff will present a draft, updated list of projects to the TRAC. The program is divided into three categories as shown below: Tier 1 This group of projects is recommended for construction during the upcoming six-year construction period. Tier I projects cannot exceed the available funding for new construction by more than 20 percent over the six-year period. There is also a ten percent overrun that provides a reserve of projects so that additional projects may be constructed if funding exceeds projections or if scheduled projects are delayed. Tier II Projects in Tier II are funded for additional environmental, design or right-of-way development activities needed before the projects are 1

3 ready for construction. These projects are generally being developed for construction after the current six-year planning horizon, the time period after Tier I projects. Tier II projects are those under development without committed construction funding. Tier II projects also provide a group that may be accelerated if additional funding becomes available during the four-year period. The cost of these projects may not exceed 100 percent of the anticipated funding for the next eight-year period. Also included in Tier II projects are those under review for feasibility but are not undergoing full-scale environmental studies or actual design. Since some project requests are only generally described and lack environmental or engineering details, some low-cost feasibility analysis may be needed before a project can be appropriately ranked. Projects that are undergoing such a feasibility study would be place in Tier II; however, after the study is completed, it may be determined not to fund the project. Placement in Tier II does not obligate the TRAC to fund the project. It is anticipated that most Tier II projects will move to the construction phase. However, it is possible that higher ranked projects could be proposed each year and effectively halt the work on Tier II projects. Tier II projects must be resubmitted to the TRAC during each funding cycle to advance the project to be funded by the TRAC. At this time, the TRAC will rank all projects submitted without regard to the project s previous rank. Tier III Projects in Tier III are not recommended for further development for a number of reasons including a lack of funding, low scores, excessive cost, etc. Generally, Tier III projects will not be funded or advanced through the Major/New Capacity program. The following is the typical TRAC schedule for the Major/New Capacity Program: May TRAC Applications Due August through October TRAC public hearings; MPOs submit rankings. October through December ODOT and MPOs begin the process to update the biennial State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). December Draft Major/New Construction Program released for public comment. January through March MPOs and ODOT districts hold public meetings for STIP. April 1 Draft STIP is published for public comment. July Updated four-year Major/New Capacity Program published by TRAC to coincide with the STIP. 2

4 MPO Responsibilities to the TRAC The TRAC has requested that any project located within the boundaries of an MPO must provide acknowledgement of the application by the MPO. OKI requests that it be contacted as soon as possible once an applicant decides to seek Major/New Capacity funding through the TRAC. This will allow for discussions of the benefits of the project(s) to the region. OKI may be requested to assist in the preparation of the application, but this request must be received at least forty-five (45) days prior to the TRAC application deadline. If OKI s assistance is not requested, applicants for Major/New Capacity projects should submit a full copy of the original TRAC application to OKI no later than seven (7) days prior to the due date established by the TRAC. OKI is required to provide to the TRAC a list of all projects ranked in order of their priority before the official TRAC public meeting cycle, typically held between August and October. The process to rank the projects is developed by the MPO and TRAC urges the MPO take into consideration local and regional priorities when developing the ranking. No project will be ranked by the TRAC unless approved or reviewed and commented upon by the MPO. OKI will only rank projects that are already in the OKI 2030 Regional Transportation Plan since major new or capacity-adding projects must be in the long-range plan to be eligible for TRAC funding. The Prioritization Subcommittee of OKI s Intermodal Coordinating Committee (ICC) will review each application and rank the projects recommended for inclusion in the Tier I category. Projects placed in the Tier II or Tier III category will not be ranked. The recommendations from the Prioritization Subcommittee will be presented to the ICC for concurrence and forwarded to the OKI Executive Committee or Board of Trustees for approval. The final recommendations will then be sent to ODOT. In reviewing and ranking the Major/New Capacity applications, OKI s scoring process will take into consideration the 16 TRAC policies, which are listed below: Policy 1 Open, Fair, Criteria-driven Process It is TRAC policy to have a fair, open and equitable Major New Capacity selection process based on criteria that determine which projects contribute most to state, regional and local transportation and economic development goals. Further, the TRAC process intends to maximize resources using quantifiable measures. Policy 2 Long Range, Statewide Planning with Local Approval The TRAC s project selection criteria reflect the goals of Access Ohio, the state s long range statewide planning document and take into consideration regional and local priorities by strongly urging metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to submit priority project lists. In addition, no project will be ranked unless approved or reviewed and commented on by the appropriate MPO or ODOT s Division of Planning in non MPO areas. 3

5 Policy 3 Preservation First Preservation, maintenance and management shall have the greatest weight in allocating funds among ODOT s programs. Policy 4 Transportation and Development Factors Transportation efficiency and effectiveness factors represent 70 percent of the total potential score in the selection process; economic development factors represent 30 percent of the total potential score. Policy 5 Transportation Efficiency Criteria The project selection criteria under the goal of Transportation Efficiency shall include the project s average daily traffic, volume-to-capacity-ratio, roadway classification, and macro corridor completion. All data for traffic volume, functional classification, volume-to-capacity ratio and macro corridor completion are collected by ODOT in a uniform and objective manner. All interested parties can review and critique ODOT s data. All data shall be reviewed by ODOT for conformity to ODOT standards to ensure projects are measured similarly. Policy 6 Safety Criterion It is the policy of ODOT to use a project s current accident rate as a selection criterion because it achieves the following policy objectives: Ensuring the health and safety of Ohio s citizens Providing Ohio with a more competitive economic climate because it reduces accident costs which are a drain upon Ohio s businesses and citizens Policy 7 Non-ODOT Participation Points shall be assigned to projects based upon the amount of private funding, local assistance, or funds contributed through project-specific federal processes. It is the policy to encourage local and private entities to leverage the state s transportation capital by contributing additional funds for projects. This policy allows Ohio to increase its infrastructure investment, gives local project proponents additional means to complete projects which otherwise would not be possible, and encourages those who benefit most from projects to participate in their construction. Policy 8 Interchange Participation The TRAC will build no new interchanges on existing routes without a minimum of a 50 percent contribution of the cost of the interchange from either private, local or other non-odot funds. 4

6 Policy 9 Intermodal Connectivity Points shall be awarded for projects with intermodal benefits. It is TRAC policy to encourage projects that improve the connectivity between different modes of transportation. In addition to the transportation and economic development scores earned by a project, additional points will be awarded if the project includes a significant intermodal component. Intermodal benefits are those that improve the connectivity between the various modes of transportation. Transportation projects that expand or improve connections to water ports, airports, rail facilities or transit facilities will receive additional points. Policy 10 Economic Development Criteria To measure a project s influence on future economic development, it shall be scored on the categories of Job Creation, Job Retention, Level of Investment, Cost Effectiveness and Economic Distress. It is the policy of the TRAC to assign economic or job creation points to a project only if the Ohio Department of Development and the Ohio Department of Transportation are assured that the economic development is not speculative but is certain and documented. Policy 11 Retail and Tourism The TRAC s ranking process for Major New Capacity projects awards points if a project has a direct, measurable impact on the creation of new jobs or if it attracts significant private sector investment to Ohio. It is the TRAC s position not to award points for projects that attract new retail development. Points for tourism-related projects will be pro-rated based on the length of the tourist season. Policy 12 Fixed Transit Line Evaluation While the selection process focuses primarily on highway projects, the TRAC also wants to evaluate transit projects. However, many of the current measures - Average Daily Traffic (ADT), Volume to Capacity Ratio (V/C), Roadway Functional Classification (FC) and Accident Rate (AR) - do not apply directly to public transportation projects. The TRAC, therefore, will use parallel criteria to rank most transit projects and to compare them to highway projects. These surrogate criteria can be used when a transit project has some similarities to highway projects, such as being a linear expansion to move people or freight in a given area. For instance, the expansion or creation of a commuter rail line can be compared to a parallel highway expansion in that both are intended to alleviate congestion in the peak hour. However, the parallel criteria cannot be used for non-linear projects, such as a transit station. Non-linear projects will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All other criteria under the categories of Economic Development, Non-ODOT Participation, Intermodal Connectivity and Urban Revitalization will remain unchanged. 5

7 Policy 13 Non-traditional Projects The TRAC will consider participating in non-traditional projects that cannot be scored. It will give priority to non-highway projects which alleviate congestion, increase capacity, or facilitate freight movement on the state s major corridors. ODOT will consider high-occupancy vehicle lanes, shared ride facilities, freight rail infrastructure acquisition, modal hubs, and other facilities if they are intended to improve the operation of one of the state s major corridors. ODOT will not participate in the replacement or repair of rolling stock, basic maintenance facilities such as garages, operational expenses, fare subsidies, or other routine expenses associated with the operation of existing or expanded service. Policy 14 Bypass Projects A bypass is the realignment of a state or U.S. route around a community or communities to avoid as many conflict points as possible. Projects with the intention of bypassing a community or communities will be scored by the TRAC using different transportation efficiency criteria. The bypass transportation criteria will include the project s average daily traffic, the percentage of vehicles projected to divert from the current facility to the bypass, volume-to-capacity ratio on the current facility, number of impediments (recurrent congestion points) avoided by the bypass, size of community/communities being bypassed, and macro corridor completion. All other criteria under the categories of Economic Development, Non-ODOT Participation, Intermodal Connectivity and Urban Revitalization remain the same. Policy 15 Urban Revitalization The TRAC will award additional points for projects that support re-investment in an urban core by attracting economic development into the city or helping a city retain existing jobs. Policy 16 Intelligent Transportation Systems ITS projects on the state and federal transportation network are eligible for Major New Capacity program funding. While local and county transportation systems are important to mobility and economic development, other funding sources exist (and indeed have historically been used) to fund ITS projects on such systems. TRAC will only consider ITS projects that are sponsored by an ODOT district deputy director and follow these basic principles: Since incidents are the primary source of delay on the state highway system, ITS projects will focus on incident management as their primary functionality. As a part of incident management, ITS projects shall include traffic management/control through ramp metering, lane control, and freeway-tofreeway route diversion via dynamic message signs. Minimize maintenance and operations cost. 6

8 TRAC RANKING PROCESS HIGHWAY PROJECTS Transportation Efficiency (35) Non-ODOT Match (10) Auto ADT Over 72, Over 64,000 9 Over 56,000 8 Over 48,000 7 Over 40,000 6 Over 32,000 5 Over 24, % Match (required for interchange) 10 45% Match 8 40% Match 6 35% Match 4 30% Match 2 Intermodal Conncectivity (5) Truck ADT Over 9,600 5 Over 7,200 4 Creates New Connections 5 Over 4,800 3 Maintains Existing Connections 3 Over 2,400 2 Eliminates Connections 0 Less than 2,400 1 Environmental Justice (5) V/C Over Criterion not currently used 1.15 to to Economic Development (20) 1.05 to Creates Jobs to Retains Jobs to High Effectiveness, Low Cost to Medium Effectiveness & Cost to Low Effectiveness, High Cost to Below Urban Revitalization (5) CLASS Freeway/Expressway 5 Access to cap zone areas or Principal Arterial 4 Brownfield sites 5 Minor Arterial 3 Benefit/Cost Ratio (10) MACRO CORRIDOR Greater than Contributes to completion Greater than 10 8 of a Macro Corridor 5 Greater than 1 6 Safety Criterion (10) Greater than Documented Injury Pattern 5 Greater than More than 7 accidents/mvm 4 More than 5 accidents/mvm 3 More than 3 accidents/mvm 2 More than 1 accident/mvm 1 High Impact on Safety 5 Medium Impact on Safety 3 Low Impact on Safety 1 7

9 TRAC RANKING PROCESS TRANSIT PROJECTS Preservation Existing Condition (10) Critical 10 Poor 6 Fair 3 Transportation Efficiency (15) Current Usage - High 15 Current Usage Medium 10 Current Usage Low 5 Impact on System & Passengers 5 Impact on Passengers Only 3 Impact on Systems Only 1 Safety Criterion (10) Documented Safety/Security Problem 5 High Impact on Safety/Security 5 Medium Impact on Safety/Security 3 Low Impact on Safety/Security 1 Non-ODOT Match (10) 50% Match 10 45% Match 8 40% Match 6 35% Match 4 30% Match 2 Intermodal Conncectivity (10) 2 New Modes Introduced add 2 1 New Mode Introduced add 1 3 Modes Accommodated 3 2 Modes Accommodated 2 1 Mode Accommodated 1 Environmental Justice (5) Criterion not currently used Project Readiness (10) Construction & R/W Plans Complete 10 Construction Plans: >50% Complete 3 <50% Complete 1 ROW Acquisition: 100% Complete 5 >50% Complete 3 <50% Complete 1 Economic Development (20) Creates Jobs 10 Retains Jobs 5 Low Cost Effectiveness 10 Medium Cost Effectiveness 5 High Cost Effectiveness 0 Benefit/Cost Ratio (10) Greater than Greater than 10 8 Greater than 1 6 Greater than Greater than Creates New Connections 5 Maintains Existing Connections 3 Eliminates Connections 0 8