FTA's PTP Grant Program

Dots & Dashes was funded by a grant through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA)'s Public Transportation Participation (PTP) pilot program. The below text from the original FTA solicitation of grant applications describes the program's inception and purpose.

Summary: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is soliciting proposals for applied research in the area of public participation as it relates to the planning of public transportation. Successful proposals will be funded through the Public Transportation Participation Pilot Program (PTP Program), as called for under Section 5338(a)(11) of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The purpose of the PTP Program is to support the development of innovative approaches to improving public participation in transportation planning, with particular focus on public transportation. FTA has budgeted approximately $890,000 for conducting research under this initial phase of the PTP Program. Funding for future years of the Program will be based on availability of funds.

Background and Objectives: As decision-makers seek to address growing access and mobility needs in their communities, consideration of new or expanded public transportation systems must be made within the context of a region's entire multimodal transportation system. However, achieving effective, informed public participation at a scope and scale as broad as metropolitan and statewide planning continues to be a challenge. Traditionally, public transportation agencies have focused their public participation efforts on specific corridors, service proposals, and travel markets where mobility needs have been most prominent. Typically lacking is attention to community input in a broader context of access and mobility to communities across the metropolitan area and strategies for accessing the necessary resources. Furthermore, this tight focus on projects and immediate service areas often limits the institutional ability to analyze issues of the human and natural environment or integrate them into public transportation decision-making.

Related to the PTP Program, SAFETEA-LU also requires metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to develop and utilize a "Participation Plan" that provides reasonable opportunities for interested parties to comment on the content of the metropolitan transportation plan and metropolitan transportation improvement program. Further, the Participation Plan must be developed "in consultation with all interested parties," a requirement intended to afford parties who participate in the metropolitan planning process a specific opportunity to comment on the plan prior to its approval.

Also of interest to potential research partners is the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America's Transportation Network (the U.S. DOT Congestion Initiative). Issued in May 2006 to address and congestion throughout the nation's transportation network, the Congestion Initiative emphasizes four key approaches: (1) congestion pricing (tolling), (2) telecommuting, (3) transit service - especially bus rapid transit (BRT) - and (4) technology deployment. Among these, congestion pricing is considered the most fundamental and important. Congestion pricing and public transportation convey mutual benefits--road pricing benefits public transportation by improving transit speeds and the reliability of transit service, increasing transit ridership, lowering costs for transit providers, and expanding the source of revenue that may be used for transit; public transportation benefits road pricing by absorbing commuters who shift their travel from automobile to bus or rail. As part of its urban area congestion focus, the U.S. DOT intends to sign an Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) with one or more urban areas that offer the most promising congestion reduction strategies. Metropolitan areas that are interested in becoming Urban Partners might consider the PTP Program to support the development of innovative approaches to developing congestion reduction strategies with particular focus on the role of the public's participation in planning the public transportation elements of the strategy.

Per the PTP Program objectives as established in SAFETEA-LU, FTA expects to fund research proposals that seek to accomplish one or more of the following activities:

  1. Improved data collection analysis and transportation access for all users of the public transportation systems;
  2. Public participation through all project development phases;
  3. Improved coordination of transportation alternatives;
  4. Enhanced coordination of public transportation benefits and services;
  5. Contracts with stakeholders focused on the delivery of transportation plans and programs; and/or
  6. Measured and reported annual performance of the transportation systems.