The FAST Act: What it means for the Treasure Valley Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS) Matt Stoll, Executive Director

Introduction What is COMPASS? COMPASS and the FAST Act The Treasure Valley and the FAST Act Policy Funding

What is COMPASS? An association of cities, counties, highway districts, and other agencies who plan for the future of Ada and Canyon Counties. The metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for Ada and Canyon Counties. The next slide explains what an MPO is

What is an MPO? A regional planning entity that… Serves areas with populations over 50,000 Conducts transportation planning Long-range transportation plan (Communities in Motion 2040) Regional Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Allocates federal transportation dollars Explain: We serve Ada/Canyon What CIM and TIP are – you’ll refer to them again later An MPO’s role and responsibilities, and the federal dollars it allocates, are all established in the federal transportation law – the FAST Act

How will the FAST Act affect planning in the Treasure Valley? More emphasis on an integrated multi-modal transportation system: Roadways Public transportation Bicycles/pedestrians Freight Intercity buses Ports

Multimodal planning: Where are we ahead of the curve? Focus on multi-modal system in Communities in Motion 2040 2.0 Roadways Public Transportation Bicycle/pedestrian Freight SHRP2 = Second Strategic Highway Research Program (funded by FHWA) Roadways Congestion management Public Transportation Network analysis Bicycle/pedestrian Supply and demand side planning Freight SHRP2 grant to study freight Ag freight study

Multi-modal planning: What else do we need to do? Examine how future services connect to intercity bus services Bring additional stakeholders into existing workgroups to provide expertise

How will the FAST Act affect planning in the Treasure Valley? Continued emphasis on performance- based planning (started in MAP-21) “a strategic approach that uses system information to make investment and policy decisions to achieve national performance goals.” Don’t read quote MAP-21 = 2012

Performance-based planning: Where are we ahead of the curve? Established performance measures and targets in Communities in Motion 2040 Performance dashboard and Change in Motion report Dashboard and “Change in Motion” report – show how we are doing compared to performance measures

Performance-based planning: Where are we ahead of the curve? TIP achievement Shows how every project in the TIP supports performance measures TIP achievement not just a reporting tool, but also used in project selection – requests for funding must show how the project meets one or more performance measures

Performance-based planning: Where are we ahead of the curve? Performance measure framework Decision-making tool Expected completion fall 2016 Will examine projects or groups of projects for return on investment across 8 elements outlined in CIM 2040 Done with funding via a SHRP2 grant (Second Strategic Highway Research Program) (FHWA) Transportation components: Bike/ped Freight Public transportation Roadways 8 CIM elements: Transportation Land use Housing Economic development Community infrastructure Health Farmland Open space

Performance-based planning: What else do we need to do? Waiting for final rules (from MAP-21) Framework done this fall…then start implementing We are SO ahead of the game that our biggest stumbling block is waiting for the feds to finish rulemaking Most final rules expected this year, but 3 don’t have a release date and 1 (System Performance Measures) hasn’t even been released yet.

How will the FAST Act affect planning in the Treasure Valley? Improve the resiliency and reliability of the transportation system Reduce or mitigate stormwater impacts of surface transportation Reduce the vulnerability…to natural disasters Enhance travel and tourism These are newer to us…still getting a handle on what’s needed

Resiliency, stormwater, and more What do we need to do? Examine how to more fully integrate these into planning Add to COMPASS workgroups Education series 2016 stormwater (May 2016) 2017 Resiliency and reliability Reduce the vulnerability to natural disasters Enhance travel and tourism We recognize we don’t know as much about these, so our first step is to learn Ed series will help with this…not only for COMPASS, but the region as a whole

How will the FAST Act affect funding in the Treasure Valley? Additional emphasis on: “…capital investment and other strategies to preserve the existing and future transportation system” Freight: New National Highway Freight Program (formula funding) New freight-specific grant (FASTLANE) Discuss focus on maintenance

How will the FAST Act affect funding in Idaho? New program, so no “before” comparison Across Idaho

Funding policy: Where are we ahead of the curve? Applying for FASTLANE funding FASTLANE – new grant for Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects. As Elaine said, $900 M/year (average) for competitive grants Project size = minimum of $83 million (will fund no more than 60%) I-84 from Northside Boulevard to Franklin Boulevard. Due mid-April. The total estimated cost =$98 million; $59 million is requested via FASTLANE. To achieve: Improve safety, efficiency, and reliability of the movement of freight and people. Generate economic benefits and an increase in global economic competitiveness Reduce highway congestion and bottlenecks with additional lanes, well-configured interchanges, and wider shoulders. Improve connectivity among modes of freight transportation Enhance the resiliency of critical highway infrastructure and help protect the environment. Address the impact of population growth on the movement of people and freight. Mitigate the impacts of freight movements on communities     Components include: A mill and inlay of existing lanes within the project limit. Replacement and widening of a canal structure at Mason Creek. Replacement and expansion of two bridges that cross over UP and canal. Widening to three lanes from Franklin to Northside. Ramp expansions and improvements on the Franklin interchange. Ramp expansions and improvements on the Northside interchange.

How will the FAST Act affect funding in Idaho? On all funding slides, focus on the big picture – changes in funding. Don’t spend time on the actual $ amounts Statewide totals with and without FAST Act Percent differences are shown on next slide Bottom line = increase in funding overall. Good. I’ll give you details of all $ for questions

How will the FAST Act affect funding in the Boise Urbanized Area? 26.24% increase Say what STP and TMA mean This is $ in 2020 as an example. Slowly increases each year. Discuss that we know these changes because of direct allocation Note these are in millions = 8 million vs 10 million

How will the FAST Act affect funding in the Boise Urbanized Area? 7.36% increase Say what TMA and TAP mean This is $ in 2020 as an example. Slowly increases each year. Note these are as written (hundreds of thousands) These look bigger because of scale, but actually much smaller 421,000 vs 452,000

How will the FAST Act affect other roadway funding? Surface Transportation Program in 2020 (in Millions) 8.2% increase 23.49% increase Point out that these are statewide – we don’t know how much of this will come to Treasure Valley This is $ in 2020 as an example. Slowly increases each year. Say what STP means Point out these are in millions again

How will the FAST Act affect public transportation funding? 5307 Large Urban $3.3 million 5.99% decrease 5307 Small Urban $2.4 million 2.17% increase 5310 Large Urban $269,000 18.5% increase 5339 Large Urban $315,000 16.89% decrease 5339 Small Urban $232,000 7.94% decrease Percent changes by 2020 Difference is compared to $ without FAST Act This is $ in 2020 as an example. Slowly increases each year. Did not include 5310 Small Urban in graphic – essentially stays the same. Increase of 1.35% Before: $223,000 After $226,000 Difference = $3,000 (same every year) FTA 5307 – urban formula (most flexible) (1st 2 columns) FTA 5310 – elderly and persons with disabilities (3rd column) FTA 5339 – bus and bus facilities (4th and 5th columns)   Why the decrease? FTA funds are based on a complex formula based on ridership, service times, and population data from two years prior. Ridership and services have been static in the Boise Urbanized Area. Service in other areas across the nation grew, causing a reduction in some funding sources in the Boise Urbanized Area.

Questions for me? Decrease in funding is one aspect of impact of FAST Act on public transportation. Turn over to Kelli to discuss that in more depth and more