Transportation Funding

The North Florida TPO is responsible for approving transportation projects funded with federal assistance, regardless of the grant program, with direct selection authority for a handful of programs. These include:

• Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ)
• Transportation Enhancement (TE)
• Surface Transportation Program (STP/SU )
• Transportation Planning Grants
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

CMAQ funds are provided for projects to reduce harmful emissions associated with transportation. These funds are programmed in both the Transportation Improvement Program and the Unified Planning Work Program. Strategies being employed include investments in operational improvements (replacing traffic controllers to facilitate signal coordination) and installing cameras to allow traffic monitoring for enhanced incident management and funding the TPO’s programs for Commuter Assistance and Clean Cities.

Transportation Enhancement (TE) funds offer opportunities to expand transportation choices and enhance the transportation experience through varied eligible activities for surface transportation. When the TPO adopted the 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan, a Greenways and Trails Plan was included with a prioritized list of off-road trail projects. The TPO committed all enhancement funds to this list of projects, working its way down the list.

STP/SU funds are flexible funds that the TPO can directly program on any federal aid highway, including the National Highway System, bridge projects, on any public road, transit capital projects, and intracity and intercity bus terminals and facilities. Typically, the TPO programs $1 million of these funds annually for transit capital in the Jacksonville urbanized area; $250,000 annually for transit capital in the St. Augustine urbanized area; and $1 million annually to invest in intelligent transportation/operational improvements on the arterial road network in the four county TPO planning area. The balance of the funds are programmed by the TPO Board to advance specific projects in the Transportation Improvement Program/Long Range Transportation Plan.

The TPO receives annual Transportation Planning Grants to carry out the federally-mandated metropolitan planning process:

• Federal Highway Administration Section 112 funds (also known as “PL” or planning funds) PL funds are set aside by Congress specifically to perform the metropolitan planning process. The funds can be used for up to 80 % of a project, with a required 20 % match. In Florida the match is provided by the state as a “soft-match” in “toll credits.” This means that the TPO does not have to provide the required match.

• Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5303 — Section 5303 funds are federal funds designated for transit planning and research activities. The TPO passes some of these funds on to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) and to St. Johns County for transit planning in St. Augustine. Up to 80 % federal funds can be used for a project. Typically, the match is divided between the state and the TPO, JTA or the County.

To learn how these funds are programmed, read the TPO’s Unified Planning Work Program .

The TPO’s Transportation Improvement Program has compiled federal, state and local project funding for five years. The document is updated annually by adding a new fifth year. The table below is based on the TIP for FY 2010/11 through 2014/15.

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AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT

The North Florida TPO programmed $23 million of ARRA funds for local programs. You can track the status of local ARRA projects on the Florida Department of Transportation website .