Speaking of the ATP, we wrote in March of our happiness that Muscoy, one of the communities to which we provided technical assistance, was one of the communities slated to receive funding in Cycle 5 for its community sidewalks project.
After the most competitive cycle yet of the Active Transportation Program, we and our partners in mobility and environmental justice advocacy are pushing for a $1 Billion augmentation to Cycle 5 from the State General Fund, which is currently benefiting from an unprecedented one-time surplus. This augmentation would be sufficient to fully fund all applications that received a score of at least 80 out of 100 in Cycle 5, a threshold that we believe should be the expectation in every future ATP cycle.
Staff recommendations for Cycle 5 of the Active Transportation Program were released earlier this month. As we expected, the program became even more competitive than it was in Cycle 4: the cut-off score in the Statewide Component was 92 out of 100, a rise from Cycle 4’s cutoff score of 89. There was only enough funding for 41 projects in the statewide competition, and 9 in the Small Urban and Rural component, a decrease of 18 percent and 10 percent, respectively, from Cycle 4.
Many of you are probably working hard on putting the finishing touches on your applications for Cycle 5 of the Active Transportation Program (ATP), which are due on Tuesday, September 15. Following the deadline, evaluators will review applications during October and November. Then California Transportation Commission (CTC) staff will review the scores, and release a recommended list of projects for the Statewide and Small Urban/Rural components by February 15, 2021. The CTC would adopt the final slate of projects in March 2021.
The application deadline for Cycle 5 of the Active Transportation Program, which will award $440M for biking, walking, and Safe Routes projects, has been extended from June 15 to September 15 to account for staffing and outreach challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The deadline for the Quick Build pilot program, a new addition this Cycle 5, has only been moved back just one month, to July 15.
The Safe Routes Partnership is pleased to announce the third and final in its series of webinars focused on California’s Active Transportation Program: Changes in the ATP Guidelines, Applications and Scoring in Cycle 5.
In the meantime, we hosted the second in our ATP Webinar series last week, and 300 participants tuned in, far exceeding our expectations. The webinar, Writing a Compelling Statement of Need was hosted by California Senior Policy Manager Jonathan Matz and featured Panelists Meghan Pendrocelli, Program Analyst at the California Transportation Commission and Bill Sadler, Bill Sadler, Director of Operations at the Public Health Alliance of California.
The California Transportation Commission approved the guidelines and released applications for Cycle 5 of the Active Transportation Program at its March meeting.
Workshops to refine the ATP Cycle 5 Guidelines are continuing, and since our January update, there have been a few changes:
The Healthy Places Index will now be accepted as a fourth statewide metric to qualify for Disadvantaged Community Status, with full severity points available. We’re very pleased that this option will be available to applicants.