The following is a submission from CalBike.
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) will hold a workshop next week to get public input on some choices it needs to make in administering Cycle 7 of the Active Transportation Program (ATP). The good news is that there will be a Cycle 7, since the governor’s proposed $600 million cut was partially rolled back. But funding will be less than $200 million, which is around one-third of the usual amount available for biking and walking infrastructure projects around the state.
Two main topics, outlined below, will be discussed at the workshop. Calbike encourages people who care about safe streets to attend, if possible, to show the strong support the ATP has in the community and to help make the best of a bad situation. The meeting will be held online next Wednesday, July 17, from 10 am to noon. Register here.
Should the CTC Create a Contingency List?
It’s a given that the ATP will have more worthy, shovel-ready applications than it can fund. In the budget agreement between the governor and the legislature, the possibility of backfilling the additional $400 million that was cut from the program was left open. CTC staff proposes creating a list of projects that would be next in line for funding if more money becomes available.
CalBike supports a contingency list, because it’s the most efficient way to quickly distribute funds. It would also be a good way to build support in the legislature for finding the rest of the money, showing senators and assemblymembers the projects in their districts that could be funded.
How Should the CTC Break Ties?
The ATP funding cutoff point often falls in the midst of multiple projects with the same score. Within the adopted 2025 ATP Guidelines (Section 20), there are three criteria CTC uses to break ties and select which projects get funds, but there are so many worthy projects that sometimes these aren’t enough. The current tiebreakers are which project is most shovel-ready, followed by which has the higher scores on application questions with the two highest point values (these vary by application). CTC staff will present a list of additional possibilities at the meeting and ask attendees to weigh in.
CalBike knows the Active Transportation Program and Complete Streets have strong support. Showing up and voicing our opinions at every opportunity shows our elected officials that we are united in the desire for more and better facilities for bicycling and walking. While we work on increasing funding for these deserving projects, it is also critical to weigh in on how the available funding will be spent.
