Transportation Funding in North Carolina Change is coming…

1. Transportation Funding in North CarolinaChange is coming… LOSRPO TCC and TAC 10/29/2013 update

2. What has happened? • Governor McCrory signed into law a “Strategic Mobility Formula” on June 26th to replace the current funding formula NCDOT uses to divide available funding among different areas of the state and different types of projects • Most significant NC transportation legislation since creation of the Highway Trust Fund in 1989 • HB 817 passed both House and Senate with overwhelming support

3. What Happened? Highway Fund Highway Trust Fund Funds operations and maintenance activities Funds capital (construction) activities Statewide Strategic Mobility Projects 40% of funding Regional Impact Projects 30% of funding Division Needs Projects 30% of Funding

4. Eligibility Definitions –Highways

5. Eligibility Definitions – Non Highways

6. For our LOSRPO area • Eligible Statewide routes in LOSRPO area: • I-26 and future I-26 projects • I-40 improvements • CSX and NS improvements to freight rail traffic (**note not passenger rail service) • Eligible Regional impact routes in LOSRPO area: • US-64, US-276, US-19 • All NC signed routes (NC-151, NC-215, NC-63, NC-205, NC-197, etc.) • Short line rail projects spanning 2 or more counties (Transylvania-Henderson short line) Short line rail improvements under an independent competitive grant projects • Eligible Division needs routes in LOSRPO area: • All SR routes • All other modes (bike/ped), remaining rail projects, airport projects, etc.

7. For our FBRMPO area • Eligible Statewide routes in FBRMPO area: • I-26 and future I-26 projects; I-40 & I-240 improvements, • US-74 (Great Smokey Mountains Expressway- Non ARC funded)* • CSX and NS improvements to freight rail traffic (**note not passenger rail service) • Eligible Regional impact routes in FBRMPO area: • US-64, US-276, US-19, US-25, • All NC signed routes (NC-9, NC-215, NC-63, etc.) • Short line rail projects spanning 2 or more counties See RPO note • Asheville Regional Airport projects • Potential intercity passenger rail service • Eligible Division needs routes in FBRMPO area: • All SR routes • All other modes (bike/ped), remaining rail projects, other airport projects, etc. * GSME (US-74) is a designated ARC corridor (Corridors A & K)

8. New Project Submittals (Maximum #)(MPOs and RPOs were sent a list of highway projects already in the SPOT system. All other modes will have previous projects cleared and submittals start fresh)

9. Highway Scoring Criteria and Weights (Oct. 1 Recommendation)

10. Bike/Ped • Funding available at the division needs level • 20% match for projects starting FY 2016 • State funds may not be used to match federally funded projects. Only Powell Bill or local funds can be used as match for bike and pedestrian projects starting in FY 16 (July 1, 2015) • More guidance coming from NCDOT regarding Transportation Alternative (TA) funding soon • Project must be identified in a locally adopted transportation plan (CTP, Bicycle Plan, Pedestrian Plan, MSTA Plan or SRTS Plan) Subject to Change – this reflects current SPOT 3.0 work group discussions

11. Normalization Approach • Definition – Methodology for comparing quantitative scores across all modes together • For Prioritization 3.0 Only (Initial Implementation of STI) • Statewide Mobility (only) – No normalization, scores are stand-alone for comparison (highway, aviation, freight rail) • Regional Impact & Division Needs – Allocate funds to Highway and Non-Highway modes based on minimum floor or %s

12. Criteria for Non-Highway modes • Each mode of transportation must have its own criteria for project prioritization • Ferry • Aviation • Rail • Transit • Bike/Ped • Staff has additional guidance available for these modes upon request • All of these methodologies have been approved by the workgroup and will be presented to the Board of Transportation later this month

13. Local Input Points • LOSRPO has 1,100 points to divide amongst the projects (all modes) it submits to NCDOT via SPOT 3.0* • FBRMPO has 1,800project points to divide* • No project can receive more than 100 points • Points can be shared from organization to organization to show regionally significant projects • Number of points is based on population By the end of December all existing projects will be scored and then in January 2014 new projects submitted for all modes. Final STIP must be Approved by FHWA by October 1, 2015 to continue receiving federal dollars. • *October 18, 2013

14. Future tasks for staff • Staff will be working with local governments over the next few months to determine: • General review and clarification of proposed STIP projects- Nov 21 • An internal process to rank projectsby Jan. 23rd – Methodology needs to be submitted to NCDOT for approval by April 30, 2014 (a three unit team, Program Development, Transportation Planning and SPOT will review the submitted methodologies). • Project conformity with neighboring RPO’s and MPO’s • New projects (not ranked)are to be submitted by the end of January 2014 • LOSRPO: 11 new projects • FBRMPO: 14 new projects • Project prioritization methodology, STP-DA & TA selection (MPO Only) to be developed according to updated (and expedited) schedule to meet new timeline • Assign Local Input Points between May 1-July 31, 2014 (SPOT will provide you the base score of each submitted project so you know where it stands prior to assigning points) • Staff has developed timelines and work tasks (available via FTP site or paper copy)

15. More information • LOSRPO and FBRMPO staff will be working with NCDOT on this process • We will keep our focus on our #1 priority, our local governments and communicate information as quickly as possible • Staff may not have all the answers to your questions, but we will strive to find the answers • Staff are also available for presentations to your Board members, Commissioners, Aldermen, or Council members as needed