December 2015

Bicycle and Pedestrian Project Funding

Lauren Blackburn

Transportation

NCDOT Project Funding

Available funding sources for bike/pedestrian projects:

• STI (Federal) – Independent projects

• Complete street (independent) accommodations

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Transportation

Strategic Transportation Investment (STI)

House Bill 817 signed into Law June 26, 2013

Prioritization Workgroup charged with providing recommendations to NCDOT on weights and criteria

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Transportation

40% of Funds = $6B 30% of Funds = $4.5B 30% of Funds = $4.5B

STI

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Statewide Mobility

Regional Impact

Division Needs

Focus Address Local Needs

Transportation

regions &divisions

Transportation6

  Statewide Regional Division

Aviation

Large Commercial Service Airports. Funding not to exceed $500K per airport project per year

Other Commercial Service Airports not in Statewide. Funding not to exceed $300K per airport project per year

All Airports without Commercial Service. Funding not to exceed $18.5M for airports within this category

Bicycle-Pedestrian

N/A N/AFederally funded independent bicycle and pedestrian improvements

Public Transportation

N/A

Service spanning two or more counties and serving more than one municipality. Funding amounts not to exceed 10% of regional allocation.

Service not included on Regional. Multimodal terminals and stations serving passenger transit systems

Ferry N/AState maintained routes, excluding replacement vessels

Replacement of vessels

RailFreight Capacity Service on Class I Railroad Corridors

Rail service spanning two or more counties not included on Statewide

Rail service not included on Statewide or Regional

STI Eligibility Definitions – Non Highways

Transportation

Local Input Points• Use in Regional Impact and Division Needs categories only

• # of Points = base points + additional points based on population

• 100 point cap for any one project; points can also be donated across Regions/Divisions

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Transportation

• Regional Impact & Division Needs – Allocate funds to Highway and Non-Highway modes based on minimum floor or percentages

Mode Workgroup Recommendation

Historical Budgeted

Historical Expenditures

Highway 90% (min.) 93% 96%

Non-Highway 4% (min.) 7% 4%

Normalization

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Transportation

STI Provisions for Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects

Independent bike/ped projects are submitted separate from roadway projects, and scored per bike/ped criteria

Incidental accommodations to roadway projects are submitted within highway project scope

• Not subject to state fund restrictions• Must compete on highway improvement merits

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Transportation

Types of Bicycle and Pedestrian Eligible Projects

• Bike lane (on NCDOT or local street)

• Multi-use path/greenway

• Paved shoulder

• Sidewalk

• Pedestrian signals/curb ramps

• Other streetscape/pedestrian improvements

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Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects: Requirements• Federal funding typically requires 20% non-federal match

• State law prohibits state match for bicycle and pedestrian projects (except for Powell Bill)

• Limited number of project submittals per MPO/RPO/Division

• Minimum project cost requirement – $100,000

• Plan adoption and division coordination are initial project screening questions

Transportation

Bicycle and Pedestrian – SPOT 4.0 CriteriaCriteria  Weight

Safety 15%

Access 10%

Demand 10%

Connectivity 10%

Cost-Effectiveness 5%

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Transportation

Bike/Pedestrian Criteria – SafetyDefinition: Projects or improvements where bicycle or pedestrian accommodations are non-existent or inadequate for safety of users

How it’s measured: Crash history, posted speed limits, and estimated safety benefit

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Transportation

Bike/Ped Criteria – Safety CalculationBicycle/Pedestrian Crashes: 40% weightBicycle or pedestrian crashes within last 5 years along the corridor• For multi-use projects, both bicycle and pedestrian crash data will be

used• For new off-road facilities, crash data for parallel routes will be used

Posted Speed Limits: 40% weight Posted speed limit (higher limit, higher points)

Project Safety Benefit: 20% weight Creates score for each Specific Improvement Type (SIT)

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Transportation

Bike/Ped Criteria – Access

Definition: Destinations that draw or generate high volumes of bikes/pedestrians

How it was measured: Type of and distance to destination

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Transportation

Bike/Ped Criteria – DemandDefinition: Projects serving large resident or employee user groups

How its measured: # of households and employees per square mile within 1 ½ mile bicycle or ½ mile pedestrian facility + factor for unoccupied housing units (second homes)

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Transportation

Bike / Ped Criteria – ConnectivityDefinition: Measure impact of project on reliability and quality of network

How it’s measured: Creates score per each SIT based on degree of bike/ped separation from roadway and connectivity to similar or better project type

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Transportation

Bike/Ped Criteria – Cost EffectivenessDefinition: Ratio of calculated user benefit divided by NCDOT project cost

= (Safety + Demand + Access + Connectivity)/Estimated Project Cost to NCDOT

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Bicycle and Pedestrian SPOT 4.0: In summary

• There is no state or federal programming budget by mode

• All modes compete for Division Needs allocation based on final scores

• Local input points are very important

• Bicycle and pedestrian projects will be funded from whatever eligible federal funds are available

• Bicycle and pedestrian projects will be programmed based on final project scores and overall state ranking among other bike/ped projects

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Federal Funding Programs

Transportation22

Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP)

Transportation

NC Directions for TAP

• MPOs are responsible for administering TAP funds directly sub-allocated to TMA regions

• NCDOT will use SPOT process to select TAP-eligible projects, based on score and population tier

• MAP-21 due for reauthorization

Transportation

Other Federal ProgramsCMAQ

• Funding source for bicycle and pedestrian projects in eligible areas• Check with MPO or Transportation Planning Branch for more details

HSIP• Projects evaluated based on safety benefit to cost ratio• SPOT Bicycle and pedestrian projects are being reviewed for HSIP potential

STP-DA • Managed by eligible MPOs for variety of activities• If used on bike/ped projects, will count against Division Needs funding

STP • May be programmed for eligible SPOT bike/ped projects, dependent on final

scores

Transportation

Complete Street (Incidental) Accommodations

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Transportation

Bicycle/Pedestrian Accommodation Policies

A variety of policies exist concerning accommodation of bicycle/pedestrian facilities within NCDOT projects (see http://www.ncdot.gov/bikeped/lawspolicies/)

• Administrative Action to Include Greenway Plans (1994, 2015)• Guidelines to consider greenways/crossings during the highway planning process, and allow inclusion of

greenway crossing/element as incidental to the highway expenditure.

• Pedestrian Policy (1993, 2001)• Allows NCDOT to participate with municipalities in construction of sidewalks as incidental features of highway

improvement projects. Municipality is required to maintain sidewalk, and a cost share approach is utilized.

• Bridge Policy (1994)• Establishes design elements for bridges, and addresses sidewalks and bicycle facilities on bridges. Cost

share established by reference to Pedestrian Policy.

• Complete Streets Policy (2009)• Directs NCDOT to consider and incorporate all modes when building new projects or making improvements

to existing infrastructure.

*Parenthetical year is original publication, most recent update of policy/document

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Transportation

Pedestrian Policy

• Municipality or County must notify NCDOT about the desire for a sidewalk and will be responsible for evaluating need, public involvement, maintenance, and liability.

• The municipality is responsible for ROW/easement and utility relocation where outside the berm of the roadway project.

• Standard cross section follows AASHTO and includes 5’ sidewalks and curb ramps.

• Includes all pedestrian facilities, such as multi-use paths.

• Betterments are local cost responsibilities (i.e. decorative pavers, wider sidewalks).

• DOT will fund sidewalks on both sides of bridges with 200’ length or less.

• DOT will study and consider sidewalks on both sides for longer bridges, but may only fund sidewalk on one side for bridges with longer length.

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Transportation

Bridge Policy

• Sidewalks shall be included on new bridges with curb and gutter approach roadways that are without control of access; in some cases, only one side may warrant a sidewalk. A determination on providing sidewalks on one or both sides of new bridges will be made during the planning process according to the NCDOT Pedestrian Policy Guidelines.

• Sidewalks should not be included on controlled access facilities.

• When a sidewalk is justified, it shall be a minimum of 5’-6” wide.

• Cost share generally includes the cost of sidewalk construction. NCDOT provides the “offset” (shoulder width) regardless of sidewalk construction.

• A minimum handrail height of 42” is required.

• When a “bikeway” is required, the bridge shall be designed in accordance with AASHTO standard bicycle accommodations to give safe access to bicycles where feasible.

• [Note: A minimum handrail height of 54” is included, but AASHTO only requires 42”-48” railing height depending on travel speeds.]

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Transportation

Complete Streets Policy

• Requires that NCDOT will consider multimodal alternatives in the design and improvement of all appropriate transportation projects within a growth area of a town or city unless exceptional circumstances exist.

• Routine maintenance projects may be excluded if funding is not available.

• 2012 Planning and Design Guidelines further describe approach and decision-making process.

• Cost responsibilities not described in policy or guidelines.

Reference for Cross Sections:

• Urban Main Street – includes sidewalk zones; 6’ bike lane (note about shared lanes)

• Suburban Avenue – includes sidewalk zones; 4-6 bike lane (with note about 5’ wide preferred bike lane)

• Rural Parkway – include 10-12’ multi-use path zone behind berm

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Transportation

Complete Streets Process

Transportation

Context for Bicycle/Pedestrian AccommodationsH 97 – raised questions concerning bicycle and pedestrian accommodations incidental to NCDOT projects

SECTION 29.5.(a) G.S. 136-66.3(e) reads as rewritten:

"(e) Authorization to Participate in Project Additions. – Pursuant to an agreement with the Department of Transportation, a county or municipality shall reimburse the Department of Transportation for the cost of all improvements requested by the county or municipality, including additional rights-of-way, streets, highway improvement projects, or other transportation system improvements approved by the Board of Transportation under G.S. 143B-350(f)(4), that are in addition to those improvements that the Department of Transportation would normally include in the project. Requests for safety enhancements or efforts to facilitate the flow of traffic shall not be considered improvements under this subsection unless the enhancement or effort is in excess of the standard required by law."

Several NCDOT bicycle/pedestrian accommodation policies already address this requirement with cost-sharing guidelines for “normal” improvements and local responsibility for “betterments.”

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Transportation

FAQs

• Can multiuse paths be accommodated on a bridge?

• When is the standard cross section or shoulder width determined?

• Who pays for a sidewalk in an unincorporated area?

• How are on-road bike facilities and crosswalks treated within cost share policies?

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