Federal Highway Emphasis Areas for FY 2013

Federal Highway Emphasis Areas for FY 2013

Financial Planning

We are encouraging all MPOs to be involved in the financial working group. The major work task product would be a cooperatively developed uniform financial plan for MTPs and TIPs. The uniform financial plan would include items such as a baseline, historic trends, assumptions, etc, for developing reasonable Federal and State revenue estimates, along with information on year of expenditure (YOE), information on operations and maintenance costs, and more.

Freight

As freight issues and freight planning take on more significance at a national level, the Michigan Division recommends that the MPOs further integrate freight related items into their Unified Work Programs.

·  Work closely with state and federal transportation partners to further integrate freight planning into the transportation planning process.

·  Work closely with local officials and interests to inventory and monitor freight routes and intermodal facilities within the metropolitan area.

·  Work closely with local officials and stakeholders to monitor freight related issues within the metropolitan area.

·  Input from freight stakeholders should be sought by MPO staff and considered to successfully integrate freight planning into existing transportation planning processes.

Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL)

Needs for your regions are identified through your long range planning process. The emphasis of PEL is to ensure that data collected and time spent in the planning process feeds the needs of the NEPA process when necessary. While you are making your way through the long range planning process or if working on planning or feasibility studies, we encourage you to identify what data or product would be valuable for the NEPA phase.

Livability, Climate Change (CC), and *Performance Measures (PM)

With the assumption that the next authorization could bring us requirements for livability, climate change, and performance based planning we encourage you to:

·  Begin/continue discussions and education with your committees on these topics,

·  Inventory the activities currently being done that addresses these topics and where your committees want to go in the future,

·  Identify your MPO’s definition of livability and how that fits with your MTP goals and objectives,

·  Identify current and future climate change mitigation strategies, effects/impacts, and possible adaption strategies,

·  Review your MTP goals and objectives as a starting point for identifying possible performance measures, (*MPOs should be discussing PM for a wide array of topics, not just livability and CC)

·  Inventorying what data is currently being collected or what data you might need based on the desired direction of your committees for these three topics.

·  Incorporate job creation and economic impacts in your products. These topics have been an integral part of many discretionary grant programs, and your MPO will benefit from adding these perspectives to your products.

Web-based STIP

Moving to the web-based STIP will increase the efficiency and accuracy of the STIP development and amendment process and financial constraint demonstration. Every effort should be made to implement the web-based STIP for the FY 2014 - 2017 STIP.

MOVES (For TMAs only)

In March, 2010, the EPA announced the availability of the Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulation model (MOVES2010) for estimating emissions from cars, trucks, motorcycles, and buses. MOVES2010 is required to be used for new regional emissions analyses for transportation conformity by March 2, 2013. However, during FY12, MDOT and the TMA’s spent significant effort and are already prepared to perform air quality analyses using MOVES. The remainder of FY12 and FY13 will be the first official use of MOVES for many regions.

Example UWP Entry:

Work Task (potentially a subtask under Air Quality) – MOVES2010

Objective – Fully incorporate MOVES2010 emissions model into the conformity process

Previous Work

·  MPO staff attended MOVES2010 training

·  Testing of the MOVES2010 model

Proposed Work

·  Collect emissions data for use with MOVES2010

·  Potential SIP Budget Revisions

·  Asses and prepare air quality findings for amendments to the MTP and/or the TIP

Products

·  A collection of current emissions data that can be used with MOVES2010 software.

·  Fully incorporate MOVES2010 emission model into the conformity process

Participants - MPO and MDOT (Depending on the area)