With a recent increase from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the total amount of funding available for the cycle was set at $650 million; however, the state budget agreement announced by the Governor and the Legislature provides an additional $1 billion for the program.
(Photo courtesy of Caltrans)
The California Transportation Commission received 432 applications requesting a total of more than $3.1 billion for the sixth cycle of funding in the Commission's Active Transportation Program, the Commission recently announced.
With a recent increase from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the total amount of funding available for the cycle was set at $650 million; however, the state budget agreement announced by the Governor and the Legislature on June 26 provides an additional $1 billion for the program.
"The record-high $3 billion total funding request demonstrates the tremendous demand across California for transportation investments that provide healthy mobility options, help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and make getting around our communities safer," said Lee Ann Eager, chair of the California Transportation Commission.
"Approximately 96 percent of the requested funds are proposed for projects that would directly benefit disadvantaged communities," said Mitch Weiss, Executive Director of the California Transportation Commission. "Projects funded through the Active Transportation Program are critical to ensuring equitable outcomes in the state's transportation system and meeting California's climate goals, and the needs in these communities far exceed the resources currently available to meet them."
The recent state budget deal includes a one-time augmentation of $1 billion from the state's General Fund surplus for the Active Transportation Program. The Commission previously recommended a General Fund augmentation of $2 billion for the Active Transportation Program to help clear the fifth cycle backlog.
"The Commission thanks Governor Newsom and the Legislature for recognizing the wide range of benefits of including additional funding for this chronically oversubscribed program," said Carl Guardino, vice chair of the California Transportation Commission. "Last cycle, we received funding requests totaling $2.3 billion. It remains clear the demand for more active transportation infrastructure and the need for even more funding continues to grow."
The Active Transportation Program was created in 2013 with purposes that include increasing the proportion of trips accomplished by walking and biking, increasing safety and mobility for non-motorized users, advancing efforts of regional agencies to achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals, enhancing public health, and providing a broad spectrum of projects to benefit many types of users, including disadvantaged communities.
The Program is funded from a variety of sources, including the state's excise tax on gasoline under
Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. Funding also comes from the recently enacted federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which boosted funding for this program cycle by nearly $200 million.
Applications for the sixth funding cycle of the Active Transportation Program were due on June 15, 2022. Prior to the application deadline, Commission staff held 15 virtual workshops and conducted 96 virtual project site visits with prospective applicants across 33 counties from November 2021 through March 2022. Review of project applications is now underway by 50 evaluator teams consisting of two members each. The Commission expects to begin awarding funding by the end of the year.
For more information, visit www.catc.ca.gov/
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