The North Carolina General Assembly included in the 2010 Appropriations Act the creation of the Mobility Fund and appropriated new transportation dollars to fund it.
The Mission
According to § 136-188:
(a) The Department of Transportation shall use the Mobility Fund to fund transportation projects, selected by the Department, of statewide and regional significance that relieve congestion and enhance mobility across all modes of transportation. The Department of Transportation shall establish project selection criteria based on the provisions of this Article.
When developing the project criteria and selection process, the Department shall involve the public and other stakeholders, including, but not limited to, the North Carolina Association of Municipal Planning Organizations, the North Carolina Association of Rural Planning Organizations, the North Carolina League of Municipalities, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, the North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, and the North Carolina Council of Regional Governments.
The Process
A preliminary report on the project selection criteria is due to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee (JLTOC) by October 1, 2010. A final report is due to the JLTOC by December 15, 2010.
The Timeline
- August 9 - September 9: First round of public input
- September 13 - September 30: Preliminary report is prepared.
- October 1 - October 29: Preliminary report is released. Second round of public input
- November 1- November 30: Final report is prepared.
- December 2: Final report presented to Board of Transportation (BOT).
- December 15: Final report presented to JLTOC
Key Questions
The following questions are meant to stimulate comments and discussion. These questions do not reflect the departmental policy or goals for this process or the Mobility Fund. Again, the questions listed below are for discussion purposes only.
- What should the selection criteria consist of? For example, should it consider travel time savings; current and future volume-to-capacity ratios; economic development; economic distressed counties; connections to intermodal terminals (airports, seaports, etc.), military bases, major hospitals, and universities/community colleges; major employment centers; current and future freight volumes; ability to leverage other funds (bonds, tolls, etc.); safety needs.
- How should projects that qualify for to receive state grants from the Congestion Relief and Intermodal Transportation 21st Century Fund receive "preferential consideration as stated in the law?
- Should a benefit-cost methodology or some other methodology be used to rank candidate projects? What would be factored into such a methodology?
Comments, concerns and proposals are being solicited on these and any other items associated with the Mobility Fund. Comments on the weighting of selection criteria, selection process and scoring matrix are also welcome.
Providing Input
You and your stakeholders have a variety of options to submit comments. For the first comment period (August 9 - September 9) you can:
- Email comments to DJVOELKER@ncdot.gov
- Visit NCDOT's website at http://www.ncdot.org/ and use the "Contact Us" button to comment.
- Visit our "Citizen Connect Forum" site at http://ncdot.newkind.com/ this is a new social media site which allows for continuous comments to be posted via forums and threads. You can comment on others' comments and further engage in the input process.
- Mail in your comments to:
Don Voelker
Director, Strategic Planning Office of Transportation
North Carolina Department of Transportation
1501 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1501
Please share this information with your stakeholders and partners so that everyone who wants to partake in this process has the opportunity to do so. Remember, the deadline for the first round of public comments is September 9.
Thank you for your time and participation. Together, we can ensure that the Mobility Fund has a positive and lasting effect on North Carolina's transportation network. Please feel free to contact the Department at 1-877-DOT-4YOU or visit www.ncdot.gov if you have more questions.
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