HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is accepting applications for the federally funded Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) through Jan. 8, 2016.
Transportation alternative projects enhance pedestrian and bicycle facilities, improve access to public transportation, create safe routes to school, preserve historic transportation structures, provide environmental mitigation, create trails that serve a transportation purpose and promote safety and mobility.
“A comprehensive transportation network includes more than roads and bridges, and this program helps us invest in other transportation options,” PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards said. “We encourage local and transportation leaders to take advantage of this opportunity to improve connections and safety in their communities.”
Eligible applicants include all Pennsylvania local governments; regional transportation authorities; transit agencies; natural resource or public land agencies; school districts, local education agencies, or schools; Tribal governments; and any other local or regional governmental entity with responsibility for oversight of transportation or recreational trails (other than a metropolitan planning organization or a state agency) that the state determines to be eligible. Information on the program, eligibility and the application can be found on the department’s Competitive Funding Site.
Projects must have a construction cost of at least $50,000, but may not exceed $1 million, unless the project is of exceptional regional or statewide significance. Applications will be reviewed based on such criteria as safety benefits, reasonableness of cost, readiness for implementation, statewide or regional significance, integration of land use and transportation decision making, collaboration with stakeholders and leverage of other projects or funding.
There is currently $9 million available to be administered statewide through PennDOT, and up to $11 million to be administered through six large Metropolitan Planning Organizations. These amounts are subject to change if a new federal long-term transportation bill is enacted.
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, the 2012 federal transportation authorization act known as MAP-21, introduced fundamental changes to the administration of local programs, including those that had existed as separate programs in SAFETEA-LU, the previous authorization act. Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School, Scenic Byways and the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) are now consolidated into the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP).