The Metro Council has approved spending $70 million in federal transportation money, applauding a two-year effort by the agency to collaborate with cities and counties and give a more thorough consideration of low income and minority communities.
Attention on the program, known as regional flexible funding, focused on how to spend $23 million in two years on local transportation projects across the metropolitan area. In the past, Metro staff would judge local proposals on a variety of technical criteria, then submit them to elected officials who would approve, elevate or delay projects based on a variety of factors. Projects trickled out in small bits – a sidewalk gap closed here, a trail crossing improved there.
This time was different. Councilors and elected officials on the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation decided early on what their priorities would be: bike, pedestrian and public transit access would receive 75 percent of the money, and freight projects would receive 25 percent. Community representatives fleshed out the project nomination criteria and priorities. Local agencies decided among themselves in each of the three counties and the city of Portland which projects they should nominate.
Setting priorities up front and collaborating with representatives of minority and low income communities made a huge difference, said Councilor Carlotta Collette. The chair of JPACT, Collette shepherded the process from policy ideas to projects approved by the entire region.
"We have fewer, larger projects that were developed collaboratively, that were vetted locally and are consistent with JPACT and council direction," she said.
The Metro Council unanimously approved the plan at its meeting Thursday. Councilors specifically praised the role of a task force created to advise how best to spend the money and a working group on environmental justice to recommend how to meet the needs of low income, minority and disabled residents.
Councilor Kathryn Harrington thanked Collette for seeking advice from councilors and JPACT members on who to include in the task force and working group. She praised those groups and agency staff for taking on tough conversations about biking, freight, environmental justice and other needs that can sometimes seem impossible to resolve.
"It can sometimes be very difficult to have those kinds of discussions and review of material," Harrington said. "The end result is certainly the benefit of all that great collaboration."
Metro explored new ways to address the needs of minority and low income communities that have traditionally been left out of transportation planning. Based on input from the working group, staff analyzed safe routes to services. This included maps showing: residential areas with high rates of minority and low income populations; essential services for daily needs such as grocery stores; and sidewalk gaps, unsafe pedestrian crossings and other areas that make it hard to get from home to services without using a car.
"I love it," said Councilor Rex Burkholder. "It just tells us right here how well we’re doing on addressing those issues. We still have a lot of work to do on this around the region but most of these projects are addressing that very directly."
Metro shared the maps with local agencies and urged them to use them as they develop projects for the flexible funding program. Planners said they also intend to use the information as they write the next regional transportation plan.
Harrington urged planners to share the maps with cities and counties that are writing transportation system plans and for Metro to use them in its upcoming effort to create a regionwide active transportation plan.
JPACT approved the list of projects and programs Dec. 8. The committee will review the allocation process in the coming months. Then later this year, the region will have a chance to start allocating another two year cycle of transportation projects.