Transportation Alternatives (TA) Set-Aside

The Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), was established in federal law in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21^st Century Act (MAP-21). The TAP replaced funding from several pre-MAP-21 programs including Transportation Enhancements, Recreational Trails, and Safe Routes to School, wrapping them into a single funding source. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, signed into law on December 4, 2015, converted the long-standing Surface Transportation Program (STP) into the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBG), aligning the program’s name with how the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has historically administered it. The STBG promotes flexibility in state and local transportation decisions and provides flexible funding to best address state and local transportation needs.

Within the STBG funding is a set-aside amount called the Transportation Alternatives or “TA” Set-Aside, as set forth in 23 U.S.C. 133(h). These set-aside funds include all activities that were previously eligible under TAP, encompassing a variety of smaller-scale, non-traditional transportation projects. Projects funded under TA Set-Aside must comply with all applicable Federal requirements.

TA Set-Aside eligible activities include on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities; infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility; community improvement activities, such as historic preservation and vegetation management; environmental mitigation related to stormwater and habitat connectivity; recreational trail projects; safe routes to school projects; and projects for planning, designing, or constructing boulevards and other roadways largely in the right-of-way of former divided highways.

The Guide to the HRTPO Transportation Alternatives (TA) Set-Aside Project Selection Process provides guidance information on how projects are selected for TA Set-Aside funding.

Applications for TA Set-Aside funding were submitted biennially in the fall and allocations are made in the following spring for the two subsequent fiscal years.

For the latest information on TA Set-Aside program, visit the VDOT Local Assistance Division (LAD) webpage at:

http://www.virginiadot.org/business/prenhancegrants.asp

FY 2023 & 24 TA SET-ASIDE PROJECT SELECTION PROCESS

Important dates associated with the FY 2023 & 24 TA Set-Aside Project Selection Process:

July 1, 2021 – Pre-application deadline (SMART SCALE Portal)

August 15, 2021 – Letter to the HRTPO requesting resolution of support

October 1, 2021 – Application Deadline (SMART SCALE Portal)

January 21, 2022 – TPS meeting to review TA Set-Aside project proposals and select a set of projects to recommend to receive FY 2023 & 24 TA Set-Aside funding

March 2, 2020 – TTAC meeting – Consider TPS recommendations regarding TA Set-Aside project selection and funding

March 17, 2022 – HRTPO Board meeting – Board considers TTAC recommendations regarding TA Set-Aside project selection and funding and approves a set of projects to receive FY 2023 & 24 TA Set-Aside funding