NVDA's Role in Transportation Planning
To meet the goal of public involvement, the Transportation Planning Initiative requires the RPCs to hold Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) meetings. NVDA's meeting is on the second Tuesday of each month in the NVDA boardroom (times vary). Community officials, public transportation providers, interest town_clerk.jpg (4195 bytes)groups, and individual citizens are encouraged to attend. Each year a list of suggested projects is compiled from the TAC meetings and is sent to the Secretary of Transportation for approval and possible inclusion in the State Transportation Improvement Plan or STIP.The following people attend on a regular basis: lemington.jpg (7302 bytes)Art Sanborn, Lyndon Town Administrator
# David Timson, American Disabilities Association
# Mary Grant, Exec Dir. Of Rural Community Transit
# Dale Perron , District Transportation Administrator for District 9
Both the state and the CCMPO come up with their own Transportation Improvement Plans. Both are required to make their plans consistent with Vermont's Long Range Transportation (pdf) Plan, the goal being to create an efficient statewide intermodal transportation system. Once approved, the MPO's Transportation Improvement Plan is added to the STIP. canaan.jpg (5024 bytes)Aside from the MPO's input to the STIP, VTrans accepts suggestions for other projects from the various Regional Planning Commissions. These suggestions usually come out of the monthly TAC meetings. They are prioritized and then submitted to the Secretary of Transportation for approval. If approved they, too, are added to the STIP. So, as you can see, these monthly TAC meetings can be very important if you want a say in the changes that will inevitably come to our region. The whole process can be seen to proceed from the bottom up. This is as it should be, rather than as it was in the pre-ISTEA era, where state officials, unfamiliar with local needs and desires, made decisions from the top down. NVDA encourages participation in the monthly TAC meetings. Call (802) 748-5181 for details and orleans2.jpg (10533 bytes)directions. The meetings are on the second Tuesday of each month in the NVDA boardroom.
Each year, the Regional Planning Commissions are required to submit a Work Program to VTrans for approval. The work program tells VTrans what we plan to do with the TPI grant funds they will give us. Aside from the TAC duties and work on the Regional Transporation Plan, NVDA must take the intitiative in the region by assessing local planning needs. For example, we are currently awaiting the results of a intersection study initiated under the Fiscal Year 2003 Work Program. The Work Program is submitted to VTrans for approval in August and comes into affect on October 1st, running to September 30th--the federal fiscal year. The FY 2004 Work Program will go into affect October 1 of fiscal year 2004.
All You Wanted to Know About Transportation Legislation But Were Afraid to Ask
# Search Title 49 Transportation
# Search Title 23 Highways-This has been a discussion of the main legislation affecting today's transportation planning process. As always, if you have any questions about any of the above, please contact any of our staff at (802) 748-5181.
