Federal Policy Update: CTOD Comments On FTA Joint Development Circular, FTA Webinar Recording
April 8, 2013
More News & Resources:
CTOD Comments On FTA's Proposed Circular On Joint Development Projects
Reconnecting America, Strategic Economics and the Center for Neighborhood Technology have released comments on the Federal Transit Administration's proposed circular on joint development.
The three are partners in the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, the only national effort dedicated to providing best practices, research, and tools to support equitable market-based transit-oriented development (TOD), and therefore uniquely qualified to discuss the FTA's proposed guidance to transit agencies on joint development projects.
Joint development projects are undertaken by transit agencies and public, private, or nonprofit entities to create transit-supportive development near transit stations. Joint development projects often take place on land owned by the transit agency, and can be stand-alone projects or part of larger TOD efforts. Transit agencies' contribution to TOD through joint development activities…
Federal Policy Update: FTA Joint Development Proposed Circular
March 7, 2013
More News & Resources:
FTA Joint Development Proposed Circular
After much anticipation, the Federal Transit Administration released its Joint Development Proposed Circular today. The proposed circular defines the term "joint development", explains eligible activities for FTA funding, describes the legal requirements applicable to the acquisition, use and disposition of FTA funded real property, and outlines the most common crosscutting requirements. The FTA is requesting comments on the proposed circular until April 5, 2013.
Federal Register Link
Download Joint Development Proposed Circular
National Online Dialogue
FTA has announced an online dialog seeking ideas on how to effectively include transit operators on…
Livability Literature Review: A Synthesis Of Current Practice
January 22, 2013
More News & Resources:
The National Association of Regional Councils' review of literature about livability has been added to the Research Center's best practices database.
Federal Policy Update: New Starts & Small Starts Rules
January 9, 2013
More News & Resources:
New Starts and Small Starts Rules
The Federal Transit Administration today published a final rule governing evaluation of proposed New Starts and Small Starts projects. The rule is designed both to simplify the application process and to capture a broader range of benefits as part of the evaluation. The final rule is available here.
In addition, FTA issued proposed policy guidance with details of the metrics and weightings FTA intends to apply in the New Starts/Small Starts evaluation process. The proposed guidance is open for comment through March 11. The proposed guidance is available here.
Transit Commuter Benefit
In case you missed it in the drama of the fiscal cliff endgame last week, the transit commuter benefit was raised to $240/month for 2013 - equal to the monthly parking benefit - as part…
Federal Policy Update: Smart Growth & Economic Success
December 11, 2012
More News & Resources:
Smart Growth & Economic Success
The EPA's Smart Growth Program has released a new report, Smart Growth and Economic Success, on the economic advantages of smart growth development. As this report shows, smart growth development -- compact, walkable, and diverse -- is attractive to developers, investors, local governments, and communities because it offers new opportunities for economic growth that is also environmentally sustainable:
Compact: Using land and resources more efficiently and redeveloping old or neglected areas while retaining existing infrastructure can create economic advantages for real estate developers and investors, businesses, and local governments. Compact development can generate more revenue per acre because it uses land more efficiently. It can reduce the costs of land and infrastructure for individual projects and the costs of providing fire and police protection, utilities,…
FTA Program and Funding Information & Interim Guidance Under MAP-21
October 11, 2012
More News & Resources:
The Federal Transit Administration has published interim guidance and other important information regarding MAP-21's changes to FTA's programs. Primarily, the guidance focuses on the core transit formula programs, and states that future regulations or guidance will be issued for other programs, such as New Starts/Small Starts, planning, and safety. Separately, FTA issued a detailed list of apportionments, i.e. how much funding each urbanized area or state can expect to receive for the first half of FY2013 from FTA's formula programs. (Only half of FY2013's authorized funding has been made available so far by Congressional appropriators, which is why FTA can only apportion a half-year's worth of funding.)
FTA's New Starts Program Will Still Evaluate Alternatives
May 3, 2012
More News & Resources:
The Wall Street Journal’s April 30 opinion piece, “The New Earmarkers: Cost Analysis for Transit Projects Gives Way to ‘Social Equity’”, demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Federal Transit Administration evaluates proposed transit projects under its New Starts grant program. The piece implies that proposed rules issued earlier this year would “do away with … comparative cost analysis” and would instead give more weight in the evaluation process to “social equity and environmental considerations.” This assertion is wrong on both counts.
Discussion Paper On The Evaluation Of Economic Development
March 1, 2012
More News & Resources:
A Federal Transit Administration Office of Planning and Environment document from 2008 discussing how FTA might evaluate the potential economic development impacts of projects applying for New Starts funds.
FTA To Hold Applicant Webinars For State Of Good Repair, Bus Livability And Clean Fuels Grant Opportunities
February 22, 2012
More News & Resources:
FTA will conduct informational webinars on February 29th and March 1st for applicants to the Fiscal Year 2012 State of Good Repair Initiative, Bus Livability Initiative and Clean Fuels Grant Program funding opportunities. The webinars will provide an introduction to the programs, information on applicant and project eligibility, and a review of the criteria that will be used to select projects. Participants will also receive step-by-step instructions for completing the required forms and submitting their application in www.grants.gov.
Transportation 101: An Introduction To Federal Transportation Policy
March 2, 2011|Transportation for America
More News & Resources:
executive summary
This is a pivotal moment for our nation and its commitment to America’s transportation infrastructure. The Interstate Highway System has been built, but it no longer meets all our needs and is showing its age. The next transportation bill must address the many challenges our nation is facing: crippling commutes, rising costs, wasteful spending, lack of options and economic development in our urban, suburban and rural communities.
As Congress prepares to debate the next bill, Transportation for America offers this guidebook as a reference to existing policies and programs, their historical background and the issues that numerous stakeholders believe must be addressed this time around.
The guidebook is divided into six sections: 1) The history of federal transportation policy; 2) Funding and revenue collection and distribution; 3) How our current federal program works; 4) How the federal policies are implemented at various levels of government; 5) The…
