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Agenda Item # 6

BOARD MEMORANDUM

RECOMMENDATION:

Review and comment on the proposed policy changes for the Bicycle Expenditure Program.

BACKGROUND:

In 2000, the VTA Board adopted the Countywide Bicycle Program (Plan). The Plan included three tiers of projects that had been evaluated based on the Board’s adopted Evaluation Criteria and prioritized by the VTA Bicycle Advisory Committee.

The Board also adopted a $33-million Bicycle Expenditure Program (BEP) to fund Tier 1 projects through 2001-2010. The BEP included funds from 1996 Measure B sales tax, Transportation Funds for Clean Air (TFCA), Transportation Development Act Article 3 (TDA3), and federal Transportation Enhancements funds (TE).  Tier 2 and Tier 3 projects were unfunded.

In 2004, the Regional Bicycle/Pedestrian Program (RBPP) was established by MTC to provide $200 million in federal funds to fund regional bike/pedestrian projects during the 25-year period 2005-2030. The RBPP is split into a 25% regional program and a 75% county share program.  Santa Clara’s overall projected share is $50 million.

At its April 23, 2004 meeting, the VTA Board adopted policy to dedicate funds from the RBPP towards Tier 2 Bike Projects and the Pedestrian Projects in the VTP 2030 program.

Based on the substantial increase in funding, as well as the experiences of the past four years, staff proposes to revamp the BEP policies and structure as part of the update of the Plan. The four major changes proposed are:

1. Merging Tier 1 and Tier 2 projects into a single BEP project list, and merging the MTC RBPP funding into the BEP.   All projects on the BEP list would be funded through the expanded BEP.
2. Revising existing policies and codifying existing practices governing the BEP funding and the BEP project list.
3. Extending the sunset of local set-aside funding for the BEP
4. Replacing the existing adopted Evaluation Criteria based on MTC’s RBPP project evaluation criteria

At their October 13, 2004 meeting, the VTA Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee reviewed these proposed policy changes and concurred with the VTA staff recommendations on this issue, with a few additional changes, which have been incorporated.

DISCUSSION:

1)  Merged Tiers and BEP Funding Sources

By merging the Tier 1 and Tier 2 project lists into a single BEP list, this would simplify processing. It would also provide more flexibility for project sponsors in the implementing and fund programming of projects, especially with the BEP horizon extended from 2010 to 2030. For instance, some Tier 2 projects may be delivered sooner, or some Tier 1 projects may be programmed for funding from the MTC RBPP federal CMAQ funds. All BEP projects would be funded through the expanded BEP (which includes MTC RBPP funding.)

2)  Revising and Codifying BEP Policies

Given the extended horizon of the BEP funding out to 2030, and the addition of Tier 2 projects to the list of funded projects, some of the existing BEP policies need to be revised to address potential discrepancies.   Also, many existing practices that have evolved regarding the BEP need to be codified, in order to clarify the BEP rules for project sponsors. See Attachment A for the complete new and revised policies proposed for the BEP. 

If approved by the VTA Board, these policies would take effect immediately after the current Biennial Review of Tier 1 projects, i.e. the 25% cap on allocation increases would not apply to current Tier 1 projects seeking funding increases.

3)  Extension of Set-aside Local Funding for the BEP

There is currently $76 million allocated for all BEP (Tier 1 and Tier 2) projects.  However, under current policy, all the funding in the later years (2011-2030) will be federal funding from MTC’s RBPP.  It is recommended that the 25% set-asides of TFCA and/or TDA3 funding be incorporated in the BEP during 2011-2030, to ensure that there will be some non-federal funds available for BEP projects during that time.  See Attachment B for BEP funding projections.

4)  Revising and Readopting the Evaluation Criteria Based on MTC’s RBPP Evaluation Criteria

VTA adopted evaluation criteria for bike projects for the Plan in 2000.   MTC has adopted evaluation criteria for the RBPP’s 25% regional share in 2004. CMAs have the discretion to use their own criteria or the MTC criteria for the RBPP 75% county share. However, since 64% of the remaining funds available for programming for the BEP will be from MTC’s RBPP program, it is proposed that the MTC criteria be modified and adopted to replace the existing VTA criteria.   A majority of the two sets of criteria overlap; however the MTC criteria include transit access, whereas the VTA criteria do not.  Using nearly identical submission forms and evaluation criteria would also streamline the process for both the project sponsors and the evaluators.  See Attachment C for the proposed BEP criteria based on the MTC criteria, and Attachment D for the original VTA criteria.

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