[Federal Register: March 23, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 56)]
[Notices]
[Page 13979-13981]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23mr07-166]
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Part V
Department of Transportation
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Federal Transit Administration
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Alternatives Analysis Discretionary Program; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Alternatives Analysis Discretionary Program
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability; Alternatives Analysis
Discretionary Program.
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SUMMARY: This notice solicits proposals to compete for $12 million in
Section 5339 funds to support technical work conducted within an
alternatives analysis, in which one of the alternatives is a major
transit capital investment. Under this authority, FTA will allocate the
available discretionary funding for alternatives analysis. This
analysis will support technical work that will improve and expand the
information available to decision-makers considering potential New
Starts and Small Starts funding. FTA will give priority to alternatives
analyses that would add tasks to collect and analyze data on transit
ridership patterns, the travel times of buses operating in mixed
traffic, and/or other information on the current performance of the
transit system. FTA will also give priority to proposals to develop and
apply methods to estimate the time savings experienced by highway users
that result from transit investments as well as proposals to develop
and apply simplified travel forecasting approaches for Small Starts
alternatives that cannot be addressed easily by the existing regional
travel forecasting procedures. FTA encourages potential study sponsors
to contact FTA to discuss the development of proposals under this
section.
DATES: Complete proposals must be received by the designated Federal
Transit Administration contact listed in this notice by the close of
business May 22, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Proposals may be submitted electronically through the
Grants.Gov Web site or via e-mail to 5339GrantApplication@dot.gov with
the State and grantee name in the subject line. Applicants applying to
Grants.Gov may also send an e-mail to 5339GrantApplication@dot.gov to
receive confirmation that FTA retrieved the application. FTA will reply
via e-mail within 3 business days to all e-mails received through
5339GrantApplication@dot.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Lewis-Workman at the Federal
Transit Administration, Office of Planning and Environment, by phone at
202-366-1868 or by e-mail at steven.lewisworkman@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. General Program Information
II. Proposal Review, Selection, and Notification
III. Additional Program Information
I. General Program Information
A. Authority
FTA has the authority to implement this program under the Safe,
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act--A Legacy
for Users (SAFETEA-LU) amendments to Section 5339. FTA may allocate $6
million from FY2006 and $6 million from FY2007.
B. Background
The ``Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007'' (Pub. L.
110-05) enacted, February 15, 2007, made available $6 million in FY
2007 funds to FTA for discretionary allocation. In addition, a balance
of $6 million of FY 2006 funding that was not allocated to specific
projects in the FY 2006 appropriations legislation is also available
for discretionary award in FY 2007, for a total of $12 million.
The authorizing legislation allows for the Secretary of
Transportation to make awards under this program at her discretion.
These funds will be allocated for alternatives analysis activities
selected from applications submitted in response to this notice.
C. Eligible Applicants
Section 5339 allows FTA to make grants and agreements, under
criteria established by the Secretary, to States, authorities of the
States, metropolitan planning organizations, and local governmental
authorities to develop alternatives analyses as defined by section
5309(a)(1). Eligible study sponsors must be able to incorporate the
results of this work into an ongoing alternatives analysis study or
must commit to initiate an alternatives analysis study within 12 months
of the grant approval.
D. Eligible Expenses
FTA will allocate available discretionary funding for alternatives
analysis to support technical work that will improve and expand the
information available to decision-makers considering funding for
potential New Starts and Small Starts projects. FTA will give priority
to alternatives analyses that would add one or more of the following
tasks to:
(1) Collect and analyze data on transit ridership patterns and use
the results to validate travel forecasting models.
(2) Collect and analyze the travel times of buses operating in
mixed traffic, and other information on the current performance of the
transit system, and use the results to determine the user benefits
attributable to better reliability of fixed guideway projects.
(3) Develop and apply simplified travel forecasting approaches for
Small Starts alternatives.
(4) Develop improved methods for estimating the highway system user
travel time savings associated with public transit alternatives.
FTA will consider proposals for other areas of technical work that
can better develop information about the costs and benefits of projects
seeking New or Small Starts funding.
E. Proposal Evaluation Criteria and Other Considerations
FTA's intent in allocating funding for alternatives analysis is to
support tasks that will improve and expand the information available to
decision-makers considering funding for proposed New Starts and Small
Starts projects. Alternatives analyses must be documented in the
Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) of the metropolitan planning
organization (MPO) for the area, with a commitment to begin the
alternatives analysis study within 12 months of grant approval, or
already underway. Proposals will be evaluated and awarded points as
follows:
(1) Demonstrated Need: (30 Points)
Study sponsors may demonstrate need for these funds by
demonstrating a substantial transportation problem in the study
corridor and the presence of one or more of the following conditions:
(a) The lack a recent survey of transit riders;
(b) The lack of useful information on bus travel times and schedule
reliability in the presence of substantial traffic congestion that
affects the travel speeds and schedule reliability of buses operating
in mixed traffic;
(c) A study that contains Small Starts alternatives for which the
existing regional travel forecasting models are deemed inappropriate;
(d) The degree to which technical work will develop information on
the full range of costs and benefits of projects seeking New or Small
starts funding.
In addition, FTA will give additional consideration to studies in
metropolitan areas that are part of the Department's Congestion
Initiative.
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(2) Potential Impact on Decision-Making (40 Points)
Study sponsors must demonstrate the potential impact of the
proposed tasks on decision-making. For example, for a task to collect
and analyze bus travel times, this could be accomplished by considering
alternatives that would improve transit speeds and schedule
reliability, having access to electronically archived data from an
Automated Vehicle Locator system, and anticipating the analysis of
information on a variety of transit operating regimes. The operating
regimes include local buses, limited-stop buses, bus rapid transit, and
other services.
(3) Capacity of the Applicant To Carry Out the Proposed Work
Successfully (30 Points)
Study sponsors will demonstrate capacity to successfully undertake
the proposed tasks by the quality of the local procedures for
predicting the system performance, multimodal impacts, and ridership
response of new transit investments, and the track record, if any, of
the applicant in the prediction of ridership for previous New Starts
projects.
Outstanding proposals in study areas with substantial
transportation problems could receive up to $2 million in 5339 funding.
II. Proposal Development, Review, Selection and Notification
FTA staff is available to discuss and clarify our expectations
regarding these efforts before study sponsors submit applications.
After receiving funding proposals, FTA regional offices will conduct an
eligibility review with headquarters performing evaluations of the
surviving proposals. FTA will announce successful applicants/projects
in a subsequent Federal Register notice. The criteria and application
procedures may be reassessed for subsequent years.
III. Additional Program Information
A. Funds Administration
Once FTA has reviewed the proposals and selected the winners, FTA
will award funds to the project sponsor to support the agreed upon
tasks. These funds will be administered according to federal
requirements as well as the appropriate policies, guidelines and rules
of the pertinent agencies.
The Government's share of the cost of an activity funded using
amounts made available under this section may not exceed 80 percent of
the cost of the activity.
An amount made available or appropriated for this section remains
available for 3 fiscal years, including the fiscal year in which the
amount is made available or appropriated. The Secretary may use any
amount that is unobligated at the end of the 3-fiscal-year period for
any purpose under Section 5339. FTA will not approve deferred local
share.
B. Application Methods
(1) State and local agencies may apply by e-mail to
5339GrantApplication@dot.gov, or
(2) Apply electronically through the Grants.Gov portal, or
(3) Agencies may apply via paper application to Steve Lewis-
Workman, Federal Transit Administration, TPE-21, 400 Seventh Street,
SW., Washington, DC 20590.
C. Performance Measures
Participants may be asked to compile data for use in measuring
program performance.
Issued in Washington, DC, this 12th day of March 2007.
James S. Simpson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E7-4830 Filed 3-22-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P