Active Transportation Program.

Existing law establishes the Active Transportation Program in the Department of Transportation for the purpose of encouraging increased use of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking. Existing law requires specified funds for the program to be appropriated to the department in the annual Budget Act and allocated to eligible projects by the California Transportation Commission. Existing law requires the commission to award 50% of available funds to projects competitively awarded by the commission on a statewide basis, 10% of available funds to projects in small urban and rural regions, and the remaining 40% 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. Existing law requires the commission 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 the commission to adopt separate guidelines for the state and the MPOs with regard to project selection criteria. Existing law requires the commission to initially adopt a 2-year program of projects for the program, with subsequent 4-year programs thereafter. This bill would require that 60% of available funds be awarded to projects selected by MPOs 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, 15% to fund projects in small urban and rural regions, and 25% to projects competitively awarded by the commission on a statewide basis. The bill would require, rather than authorize, the commission to adopt separate guidelines for the MPOs to ensure that they have sufficient discretion to adopt regional guidelines and would not limit those guidelines to project selection criteria. The bill would authorize an MPO to perform its own competitive project selection process in accordance with the regional guidelines adopted by the commission, or to request the commission to perform the competitive project selection process on the MPO's behalf in accordance with guidelines adopted by the commission for the projects awarded in small urban and rural regions and on a statewide basis. With respect to the funds made available to MPOs, the bill would require the commission to allocate those funds as a lump sum to the department for disbursement to each MPO for award to projects selected by the applicable MPO, unless the MPO requests the commission to conduct the competitive selection process on behalf of the MPO. The bill would authorize the commission to authorize the department to allocate a portion of the funds in the small urban and rural and the statewide distribution categories and, if the MPO requests the commission to perform the competitive project selection process on its behalf, to allocate a portion of those funds. The bill would make the provisions of the bill apply only to the 5th and successive funding cycles of the Active Transportation Program.