Public Review for Federal Transportation Improvement Program

Source: Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG)

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments has released the draft 2019 Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) for thirty-day public review. SBCAG will be conducting a public hearing on the Draft 2019 FTIP on Monday, August 27 at 10 am at SBCAG’s offices (260 N San Antonio Road, Suite B, Santa Barbara, CA 93110). 

The public review period will conclude on September 7. The 2019 FTIP will be adopted by the SBCAG Board of Directors on Thursday, September 20 in Santa Barbara (105 E. Anapamu Street, 4th Floor, Santa Barbara, CA). Remote testimony for the September 20 SBCAG Board meeting will be available at the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room in Santa Maria at 511 E. Lakeside Parkway, Santa Maria, CA.

The Draft 2019 FTIP can be accessed on SBCAG’s website at http://www.sbcag.org/2019-ftip.html.

Public comments should be submitted to Jaquelin Mata, Transportation Planner, at jmata@sbcag.org or 805.961.8904 by 5pm on September 7, 2018.

What is the Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP)?

Every year the federal government provides states, counties, cities and transit agencies with funding for transportation projects throughout the country that help improve the mobility of residents. The funding is received by the federal government through federal gas taxes. Types of projects include highway, local roadway, public transit, pedestrian, and bicycle projects. These federally funded projects need to be identified in a document that allows the public an opportunity to see what projects are being funded, which federal funding programs are involved, and when the projects will be delivered. The FTIP is the document that meets this purpose.

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments is the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Santa Barbara County and its incorporated cities and must carry out transportation planning and programming responsibilities specified in federal regulations. Among SBCAG’s many responsibilities include the preparation and adoption of a multi-year FTIP once every four years. 

The FTIP serves as a short-term program for the use of anticipated federal transportation funds to maintain, operate and improve the region’s multi-modal circulation system. The FTIP identifies all federally funded highway, transit and other surface transportation projects in the county (along with their funding sources) that are scheduled for implementation in the following four years, FY 18/19 to FY 21/22. It also includes projects are subject to federally required action or are regionally significant. The FTIP must be financially constrained by year. This means that the amount of funding devoted to projects must not exceed the amount of estimated funding available. Only projects listed in the FTIP are eligible to receive federal transportation funding.