transportation; data
collection; planning
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Committee on Transportation |
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Committee on Appropriations |
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Caucus and COW |
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Third Read |
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As Passed the House |
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HB 2660 contains seven major provisions pertaining to transportation planning and programming by state and local entities.
History
The Governor’s Vision 21 Transportation Task Force has recommended several transportation process reforms based on the Task Force’s review, studies and findings regarding the current system of transportation planning and programming. HB 2660 contains the following seven major process reforms:
1. Establish a 20-Year Multi-modal Transportation Plan. Current statute only requires ADOT to develop a 20-Year Highway Construction Plan. This recommendation envisions a 20-year plan that eventually will cover all regionally significant transportation facilities and services.
2. Standardize the collecting and reporting of transportation data. According to the Task-Force findings, the long-range plans developed by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) and the metropolitan planning organizations (e.g. MAG and PAG) contain significant differences and are not comparable for state-wide planning purposes.
3. Require all jurisdictions to use performance based planning and programming.
According to Task Force findings, this is probably the most significant
reform because it is intended to minimize the politics behind transportation
planning and decision-making. New
federal computer models are now available which enable transportation officials
to model potential impacts of different transportation solutions (e.g. adding
new lane capacity versus expanded transit service in a corridor). The Task Force found that by using this new
technology, all transportation agencies could utilize standard criteria for
evaluating and selecting transportation projects or services. ADOT has hired a nationally recognized
consultant to help incorporate performance based planning and programming into
the development of the 20-year transportation plan.
4. Maintain transportation system needs data. This recommendation is a subset
of the proposed mandate to collect and report transportation data in a standardized manner. This recommendation requires all jurisdictions to annually report basic (standardized) transportation needs data to ADOT. The Department currently has a Data Center that has the capability to store and compile this information.
5. Establish transportation system performance measures. This recommendation is
a subset of the mandate to use performance based planning and programming. The State Transportation Board (Board) in consultation with regional, tribal and local planning entities, would be required to adopt standard criteria or methods to measure the impact of transportation projects and services. The Task-Force findings indicate that most jurisdictions are not consistently measuring how well our transportation system or regionally significant projects or service perform in solving an identified problem (e.g., congestion or safety).
6. Establish comprehensive financial management. This Task-Force recommendation recognizes the success of the MAG Life Cycle Program that was implemented in 1991 to closely track ˝-cent Valley freeway revenues to expenditures. This management tool would apply to the major transportation projects or services contained in the state’s long-range transportation plan.
7. Audit the uses of dedicated transportation monies. Currently, there is no formal process for periodically reviewing how cities and counties spend their HURF dollars. This legislation adds the reporting of this information to the annual financial audits that the cities, towns and counties must conduct each year under current law.
New
Responsibilities for the State Transportation Board (Board)
1. Develop
and adopt a Statewide Transportation Policy Statement by January 1, 2003, which
will provide guidance in establishing a comprehensive, modally integrated and
balanced transportation system. The
Statement shall include performance expectations and ensure that the future
transportation system facilitates, rather than directs, future development in
the state. (Section 28-304 and 28-306).
2. Adopt
a twenty-year, long- range multimodal transportation plan by July 1, 2004,
which will incorporate all primary modes of transportation while considering
local, regional, and tribal transportation goals (Section 28-307).
3. Adopt
uniform transportation planning practices and performance based processes,
while recognizing and incorporating the differences of the various
transportation agencies, on or before July 1, 2003 (Sections 28-502 and
28-503).
4. Adopt transportation system performance measures and factors and data collection standards, while recognizing and incorporating the differences of the various transportation agencies, on or before July 1, 2003 (Sections 28-504 and 28-505).
Arizona Department
of Transportation -Transportation Planning Division Duties (TPD)
Uniform
Transportation Planning and Practices {28-501}
The TPD is required to develop uniform transportation planning and practices for use by all transportation planning agencies in Arizona. TPD may specify that counties with lower populations may be exempt from certain practices or procedures provided the exemptions do not apply to regionally significant components of the system.
Any county, city or town failing to comply with the planning requirements will be ineligible to receive Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) distributions. This sanction also applies to any regional planning agency, council of governments and all of their member counties, cities and towns.
The TPD is required to consult with local, regional, and tribal transportation agencies to develop performance based planning and programming processes, and procedures and criteria to be used by agencies receiving HURF and state transportation funds. The performance based process standards are contained in the bill, and upon completion by TPD, are to be approved by the Board.
The performance based planning and programming process shall be utilized by the Department and the Board to evaluate the current performance of the transportation system and to prioritize changes to the system and determine future allocations of state and federal financial resources.
The performance based planning and programming process shall be used to monitor and evaluate transportation planning decisions made by the state, regional and local transportation agencies.
Any transportation agency failing to use the Board approved standards is not eligible to receive any state transportation revenues until achieving compliance.
Performance
Measures, Data Collection and Reporting {28-504 & 28-505}
The TPD shall develop standardized system performance measures, appropriate units of measurement and processes for reporting the measurements. The goal of the measurements are to determine the transportation system’s effectiveness in moving people, goods and services in relation to transportation system costs.
In addition, the Division must develop data collection and reporting methodologies in consultation with local, regional and tribal transportation agencies. All state, regional and local transportation agencies are required to use the approved methodologies for data collection and reporting to the Department. Collected data must be reported to the Department by September 1st of each year.
The bill delineates the types of data to be collected.
Any state, county, city or town transportation agency failing to comply with these requirements will be ineligible to receive state transportation revenue distributions.
Transportation
System Performance Factors and Weights {28-505}
TPD is required to develop transportation system performance factors and factor weights. The performance factors and weights are to be used to evaluate potential transportation projects, select transportation projects for inclusion in the “Five Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program” and the “Long-Range Statewide Multi-Modal Transportation Plan” and allocate state and federal funds for these projects.
All state, regional and local transportation planning agencies are required to use the established performance factors and may give greater weight to certain factors on adoption of alternative performance factor weights.
Long-range
Statewide Multi-modal Transportation Plan (Plan) {28-506}
TPD is required to develop a Plan under the Board’s direction anticipating critical statewide transportation needs for the next twenty years using performance based planing practices adopted by the Board. In addition, the Plan shall reflect local and county land use plans and consider information developed as a result of federally mandated planning processes.
The Plan shall include the transportation needs of all areas of the state including tribal needs. In addition, the Plan shall include all statewide and regionally significant transportation facility and service projects, mass transit, special transportation services and lump sum cost estimates for all other statewide components.
Comprehensive
Financial Management System {28-335}
Requires the Department to establish a comprehensive
financial management system that includes separate certifications of future
estimated revenues and system costs.
All state and regional transportation agencies are to assist ADOT in
preparing the certifications. If reliable
information cannot be found, ADOT may develop estimates of revenues or costs of
components of the system.
Regional and
Local Compliance – Sanctions {28-508}
By July 1, 2004, cities, towns, counties, regional planning agencies and councils of governments are responsible for funding their duties as required in this act. If a county or incorporated city or town has not complied with all established requirements, the entity is not eligible to receive its allocated HURF distribution.
In April of the year that follows the fiscal year in which a city, town or county is not in compliance with the requirements established in this act, the State Treasurer shall withhold the HURF distribution from the non-compliance entity and re-deposit the amounts into the HURF for regular distribution the following month.
Beginning in FY 03-04 a city, town or county must utilize a certified public accountant to determine if HURF monies were used solely for transportation purposes (Section 9-481).
Expands the duties of the director of ADOT to include assisting regional transportation planning agencies, councils of government and tribal governments in achieving an integrated and efficient regional transportation system (28-363).
States that on December 31 of each year the chief financial officer of each political subdivision shall certify whether the political subdivision complied with the planning and reporting requirements set forth by in this act (28-6548).
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45th
Legislature
Second
Regular Session 5 March 6, 2002
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