SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular Session

SB 152 (Beall) - Active Transportation Program

Bill Summary:

SB 152 would revise the distribution formulas for the Active Transportation Program (ATP), as specified, and require the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to adopt separate guidelines for the state and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) that receive ATP funding.

Fiscal Impact:

• CTC estimates new costs of approximately $78,000 annually for ½ PY of staff time to develop and adopt new guidelines, oversee project reporting requirements, provide technical assistance, and potentially administer the competitive selection process for some MPOs, as specified. (State Highway Account)
  
• Major reallocation of ATP funding (special funds, federal funds) as follows:
  • $50 million reduction in funding for allocation to the CTC, with projects awarded on a statewide competitive basis.
  • $40 million increase in funding for allocation to MPOs, with projects awarded on a regional competitive basis.
  • $10 million increase in funding for allocation to small urban and rural communities, with projects awarded on a statewide competitive basis.
    
• Potential future fiscal impacts to the extent the bill requires $100 million in Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) funding to be appropriated annually to the CTC, rather than authorizing the Legislature to appropriate up to that amount of funding. (see Staff Comments)

Background:

Existing law, as enacted by SB 99 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee), Chap. 359/2013, and AB 101 (Budget Committee), Chap. 354/2013, establishes the ATP, which consolidates the following federal and state transportation programs into a single program: the Transportation Alternatives Program; Bicycle Transportation Account; and State Safe Routes to School. The ATP is administered by the Office of Active Transportation and Special Programs in Caltrans’ Division of Local Assistance. The ATP aims to increase the number of bicycling and walking trips, increase safety and mobility for bicyclists and pedestrians, reduce greenhouse gas emissions through active transportation, enhance public health, and provide benefits to disadvantaged communities.

The CTC is required to adopt a program of projects for the ATP by April 1^st of each odd-numbered year. ATP funds must be allocated by the CTC as follows: 40% to MPOs in urban areas with populations greater than 200,000; 10% to small urban and rural areas with populations of 200,000 or less, with projects competitively awarded by the CTC to projects in these regions; and 50% to projects competitively awarded by the CTC on a statewide basis. At least 25% of funds distributed in each of these categories must benefit disadvantaged communities. Approximately $200 million is currently available each year to fund the ATP.

Proposed Law:

SB 152 would require the appropriation of $100 million annually from the RMRA to the ATP, and revise the distribution formulas for the ATP as follows:

• Increase the amount allocated to urban MPOs in proportion to their relative population share from 40% to 60% of available funding. These funds must be allocated by CTC as a lump sum amount, unless the MPO requests CTC to perform the competitive selection of projects, as specified. The CTC may authorize Caltrans to allocate a portion of the funds.
• Increase the amount allocated to small urban and rural regions from 10% to 15% of available funding, and authorize the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to allocate a portion of the funds.
• Decrease the amount allocated to projects competitively awarded on a statewide basis from 50% to 25% of available funding, require the CTC to consider the broad geographic balance when awarding funds, and authorize the CTC to allow Caltrans to allocate a portion of the funds.

The bill would also do the following:

• Require, rather than authorize, the CTC to adopt separate guidelines for MPOs to provide greater flexibility in the application and evaluation process, and in the administration of their programs, as specified.
• Authorize an MPO to perform its own competitive project selection process using regional guidelines adopted by CTC, or allow MPOs to request CTC to perform the competitive project selection process on the MPO’s behalf, as specified.
• Require an MPO to consider specified definitions of disadvantaged community when developing regional guidelines, and authorize an MPO to adopt a different definition, upon approval by the CTC.
• Authorize ATP funds to be used for ancillary costs associated with a project, including those associated with follow-up bicycle and pedestrian counts, installation of ongoing bicycle and pedestrian counters, and changes to underlying utility and sewer systems necessitated by the active transportation projects, as specified.
• Specify that the bill’s changes would apply prospectively.

Staff Comments:

Staff notes that SB 1 (Beall), Chap. 5/2017, establishes the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program and allocates revenues for various state and local programs and purposes. The Program makes $100 million available annually for expenditure on the ATP, upon appropriation by the Legislature. Notwithstanding the requirement that funds be made available only upon appropriation by the Legislature, this bill would require these funds to be appropriated to Caltrans annually in the Budget Act, for allocation by the CTC. This provision would appear to remove the Legislature’s discretion to appropriate less than $100 million annually for the ATP.

Staff notes that the bill would result in a major reallocation of funding for ATP projects, making a much larger proportion of funds available for distribution to MPOs on a population basis, at the expense of funds that are awarded on a statewide competitive basis. This shift would provide more funding to MPOs based on a proportionate share of population, rather than funding projects based on the proportionate share of statewide demonstrated needs for ATP funding.

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Senator Jim Beall, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular

Bill No: SB 152 Hearing Date: 4/9/2019

SUBJECT: Active Transportation Program.

DIGEST: This bill makes various programmatic changes to the Active Transportation Program, as specified.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Establishes the Active Transportation Program within Caltrans for the purpose of encouraging increased use of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking.
2. Requires funds for the program to be appropriated to Caltrans in the annual Budget Act and allocated to eligible projects by the California Transportation Commission (CTC).
3. Requires CTC to award 50 percent of available funds to projects competitively awarded by the commission on a statewide basis, 10 percent of available funds to projects in small urban and rural regions, and the remaining 40 percent of available funds to projects selected by metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) in urban areas with populations greater than 200,000, with the available funds distributed to each MPO based on its relative share of the population.
4. Requires CTC to develop guidelines and project selection criteria for the program in consultation with various agencies and interested parties. To ensure that MPOs have sufficient discretion to develop regional guidelines, existing law authorizes CTC to adopt separate guidelines for the state and the MPOs with regard to project selection criteria.
5. Requires CTC to initially adopt a 2-year program of projects for the program, with subsequent 4-year programs thereafter.

This bill:

1. Modifies ATP allocations by distributing 75% to MPO’s, 15% to small urban and rural regions and 10% to projects of a transformative nature. Funds for small/urban regions and transformative projects are to be distributed by CTC.
2. Requires, rather than authorizes, CTC to adopt separate guidelines for MPOs, as specified.
3. Authorizes an MPO to perform its own competitive project selection process using regional guidelines adopted by CTC, or allow MPOs to request CTC to perform the competitive project selection process on the MPO’s behalf, as specified.
4. For the funds made available to MPOs, requires CTC to allocate these funds to each MPO as a lump sum, unless the MPO requests CTC to conduct the competitive selection process on behalf of the MPO, as specified.

BACKGROUND:

Active Transportation Program (ATP)

SB 99 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 359, Statutes of 2013) and AB 101 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 354, Statutes of 2013) established ATP. The ATP consolidates several federal and state transportation programs, including the Transportation Alternatives Program, Bicycle Transportation Account, and State Safe Routes to School, into a single program. It is administered by the Office of Active Transportation and Special Programs (OAT) in Caltrans’ Division of Local Assistance. The ATP aims to increase the number of bicycling and walking trips, increase safety and mobility for bicyclists and pedestrians, reduce greenhouse gas emissions through active transportation, enhance public health, and provide benefits to disadvantaged communities.

The California Transportation Commission (CTC) is required to adopt a program of projects for the ATP by April 1^st of each odd-numbered year. ATP funds must be allocated by the CTC as follows: 40% to metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in urban areas with populations greater than 200,000; 10% to small urban and rural areas with populations of 200,000 or less, with projects competitively awarded by the CTC to projects in these regions; and 50% to projects competitively awarded by the CTC on a statewide basis. At least 25% of funds distributed in each of these categories must benefit disadvantaged communities. The program is currently funded at about $200 million per year.

COMMENTS:

1. Author statement. According to the author, “ATP was established by the Legislature to fund projects that increase active modes of transportation across the state including walking and biking, increase safety for non-motorized users, reduce greenhouse gas admissions, and enhance public health. SB 1 (Beall) infused an additional $100 million in new funding and dramatically increasing the potential impact of these important projects. It is time for a more rational approach that offers a simpler and more transparent application process, delivers bike and pedestrian safety improvements faster, and provides regions with a more predictable level of funding across the state. SB 152 will address these concerns by expediting bicycle and pedestrian improvements by shifting administrative responsibility for the metropolitan portion of the program’s funding directly to the metropolitan planning organizations and eliminating the need for each project to be allocated by the California Transportation Commission. Additionally, SB 152 will modify the formula for the distribution of funds to increase the percentage of program funds being distributed through the Regional ATP and Small Urban and Rural competitive program while refocusing the state’s share on transformative projects.”
2. ATP funding cycles. According to CTC’s March 2019 ATP progress report, for the first three ATP funding cycles CTC has awarded $1.18 billion to 720 ATP projects. CTC is currently implementing ATP’s fourth funding cycle, which is also the first cycle including SB 1 revenues. In January of this year, CTC adopted the statewide and small urban & rural components of Cycle 4 with the MPO components currently scheduled for adoption in June 2019. Cycle four included four years of programming from 2019/20 to 2022/23. Total funding capacity for cycle four was $464.3 million: $237.6 million statewide, $43.8 million small urban and rural, $175 million for the ten large MPOs, and $8 million for the California Conservation Corps. The fifth ATP funding cycle call for projects is anticipated to be announced by CTC in Spring 2020.  Cycle 5 is expected to include about $440 million in ATP funding made up of Federal funding, SB1 funds and State Highway Account funding.  The funding/programming years are expected be from fiscal year 2021/22 to 2024/2025.
3. LAO report. On March 1^st of this year, the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) released a report to the Legislature providing a review of certain aspects of the program. This review stemmed from a request in the fiscal year 2018-2019 state budget which asked the LAO review the types of projects funded from ATP and the extent to which funded projects are located in and directly benefit disadvantaged communities. Overall, the LAO report found that most of the funded projects were very similar across the various components (state, MPO, rural) of ATP, most of the projects benefit disadvantage communities, and key program outcomes could not be determined due to lack of accurate reporting data. The report also noted that in certain circumstances, project applicants stated that the application process is cumbersome to complete and that many agencies hire a consultant to complete the application on their behalf which, many times, due to the low cost of the project, does not pencil out to apply. Lastly, the LAO suggested that due to the similarity in projects awarded in all three categories, the existing ATP framework raises questions on whether each component is structured in a way to maximize ATP’s intended benefits and suggested that due to this finding, opportunity exists to consider legislative changes.
4. Stakeholder concerns. The author introduced this bill to address some of the programmatic issues that have arisen by various transportation stakeholders. Primarily, concerns surround the significant application and reporting requirements associated with ATP as well as the requirement for individual projects from the regional program to be allocated by the CTC even though all project selection is handled at the regional level. Stakeholders have noted that the significant reporting requirements have been known to serve as a deterrent for smaller public entities with less staff/financial resources. Furthermore, for larger agencies with greater resources, many of the reporting requirements are cumbersome and duplicative. Additionally, various stakeholders assert that the statewide competitive portion of the ATP (currently 50 percent) has not been distributed in a manner that properly reflects regional needs throughout the state and has delivered very unpredictable funding levels for each region. This bill aims to provide more local control to the ATP program and includes provisions to allow projects to be nominated and selected that are in greater alignment with regional needs.
5. Bill opposition. Opponents assert that the provisions specified in this bill do not make the program stronger but rather “undermine important accomplishments of the ATP.” Additionally, opponents write that the bill fails to consider sufficient levels of funding for community needs, ignores the existing flexibility MPO possess to develop their own programs, and limits rural communities’ access to program funding.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday,

April 3, 2019.)

SUPPORT:

Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Riverside County Transportation Commission

OPPOSITION:

California Bicycle Coalition

California Walks

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

PolicyLink

Redwood Community Action Agency

Safe Routes to School National Partnership

Walk Sacramento

Walk Long Beach

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