Title
Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit (DOLRT) -- Funding (15 minutes)
Meg Scully, LPA Staff
Patrick McDonough, Danny Rogers, Geoff Green, GoTriangle Staff
Narrative
The financial plan for the DOLRT needs additional funding to mitigate the effects of several set backs, including a change in state transportation funding legislation and lower federal caps on annual funding outlays. GoTriangle has requested that the MPO consider committing, from the portfolio of funds distributed by the MPO, $2 million in federal funds per year for ten years beginning in FY2020 to the DOLRT. GoTriangle needs a decision on any such allocation by December 2016 to meet an FTA deadline.
Each year, the MPO is allocated and then distributes approximately $4.6 million in Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBGP) funds according to a policy approved by the Board in 2017. Funds are programmed in the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) for planning purposes, may be programmed for non-highway infrastructure projects, or flexed to transit agencies. (See attachment for formula and additional information.) The MPO also receives and distributes Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality funds to eligible projects that demonstrate an emissions benefit. The MPO allocation will be $2,377,986 in FFY18 and $2,421,517 in FFY19, and is expected to continue in future years. Projects funded by the MPO through the CMAQ program include the regional TDM program, new bus service and acquisition, and bicycle and pedestrian projects. In addition, the MPO has received approxiately $350,000 per year in federal Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) funding and through a competitive selection process funded regional bicycle and pedestrian projects including portions of Old Chapel Hill/Durham Road and Morgan Creek Greenway projects.
The TC and TC Subcommittee met to discuss the possibility of using STBGP, CMAQ and/or TAP funding to help fill the D-O LRT funding gap. The subcommittee recommendation is below, and several reference documents are attached including: STBGP-TAP Distribution Chart, the draft MOU, and the GoTriangle presentation.
Recommendation
TC Action: Recommended Board adopt non-binding MOU to identify 20 million dollars from federal funding sources over ten years ($2 million/year) beginning in FY2020 to support the DOLRT project, but hold harmless (i.e. maintain formula percentage of funding) of STBGP Local Discretionary amounts for Chatham County, Hillsborough and Carrboro as well as STBGP Transit. This recommendation assumes that if the DOLRT project is not constructed, these funds will not be committed to the project.
By June 2018, at which time the MPO will be asked to commit these local funds, the MPO will determine from which funding source(s) (ex. STBGP Local Discretionary, STBGP Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian, and/or CMAQ) the $2 million per year/$20 million total will be drawn. To date, the STBGP and CMAQ funds have been used to support LPA, TJCOG and local jurisdiction planning staff as well as the development of bicycle and pedestrian projects and bus transit.
Board Action: Approve and authorize the Board Chair to sign the non-binding MOU to work to identify 20 million dollars from federal funding sources over ten years ($2 million/year) beginning in FY2020 to support the DOLRT project, but hold harmless (i.e. maintain formula percentage of funding) of STBGP Local Discretionary amounts for Chatham County, Hillsborough and Carrboro as well as STBGP Transit.