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A new program to help communities thrive

For the Biden administration to achieve its goals, all communities will need to be able to take advantage of federal funds. But some cities, towns, and territories with limited resources face a steeper hurdle to accessing these dollars. The Thriving Communities Program is a small step in the right direction to ensure every community is set up for success.

All communities deserve an equal opportunity to obtain federal funds. Flickr photo by Ken Lund.

The 2021 infrastructure law, called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA, provides a wide range of funding opportunities for communities to access and leverage at their discretion. Given this structure, the IIJA has the potential to increase direct funding to local, tribal, and regional government entities. Direct access to funds could empower communities to pursue dedicated funding for projects most important to them at the local level, such as advancing equity, sustainability, safety, and connected communities. 

There are various requirements to be eligible to access the IIJA’s funds. These requirements are intended to ensure federal funds are used responsibly and with accountability. However, they also cause grant applications to be costly and time-consuming tasks.

This rigorous application process can exclude the very communities that need federal funding the most. That poses a challenge for the Biden administration, particularly in their ability to reach their goal laid out under the Justice40 initiative, which states that 40 percent of the benefits of certain federal investments will go to communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution.

Even if a disadvantaged community is able to overcome the barriers of federal grant applications, having the resources to execute the funded project is a second hurdle to overcome. When a disadvantaged community lacks the resources to effectively administer their awarded grant, they risk being disqualified for future funding opportunities due to poor grant management. 

In order to make good on its goals for the transportation system, how is the administration closing these funding gaps?

Enter the Thriving Communities Program

To address the inequities in the grant applications process, the Biden administration created the Thriving Communities Program. Funded with $25 million through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s new Thriving Communities Program (TCP) aims to ensure that disadvantaged communities adversely or disproportionately affected by environmental, climate, economic, and human health policy outcomes have the technical tools and organizational capacity to compete for federal aid and deliver quality infrastructure projects that enable their communities and neighborhoods to thrive.

In addition to assisting with writing IIJA grant applications, the TCP will provide technical assistance, planning, and capacity building support to teams of communities who have historically experienced underinvestment and are awarded a grant. This will provide underinvested communities with the staffing or technical expertise required to scope, fund, and develop infrastructure projects that advance the community’s needs. The TCP will provide two years of deep-dive assistance to communities awarded IIJA funds. 

In total, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) anticipates that its Thriving Communities Program will be able to fund and assist a minimum of 30 disadvantaged communities. The White House Council on Environmental Quality indicates that 30 percent of America’s population resides in what is defined as disadvantaged communities, based on socioeconomic, environmental, health, climate, energy, and infrastructure indicators.

The professional services offered by the TCP to selected communities would help community partners to plan and develop a pipeline of comprehensive transportation, housing, and community revitalization activities. There is no cost to receive these professional services and project planning support. However,  interested applicants must identify community partners and submit a Letter of Interest (LOI) by December 6, 2022 to be considered for selection.

The bottom line

The minimum 30 communities the USDOT anticipates funding through the TCP would only be a drop in the bucket, but it’s a small step in a positive direction for our nation’s communities. To build on these small beginnings, future federal appropriations should be allocated to expand upon this progress.

Without programs such as the TCP, the federal government would be unable to count on communities to help achieve fundamental goals, like Justice40. But in four years, the IIJA will expire, and the TCP could expire with it. To sustain local capacity building, the TCP should be permanently absorbed into the federal transportation program as part of the next infrastructure law. This will help ensure that federal funding is distributed equitably—not skewed to the communities with the most resources.

Transportation for America members have access to exclusive resources that provide further detail on this topic. To view memos and other members-only resources, visit the Member Hub located at t4america.org/members. (Search “Member Hub” in your inbox for the password, or new members can reach out to chris.rall@t4america.org for login details.) Learn more about membership at t4america.org/membership.

New yearlong fellowship will help individuals build skills in creative placemaking and transportation planning

Arts & Culture

T4America is proud to announce the creation of a new yearlong Arts, Culture, and Transportation (ACT) Fellowship to help those already working at the nexus of arts and transportation take their work to the next level.

This new fellowship, created with funding from the Kresge Foundation, builds upon the deep knowledge and expertise T4America has established over the last four years in arts and culture in transportation. The fellowship, which will be filled by a class of approximately 10-15 professionals already working at the intersection of the arts and transportation, will help them elevate their work to the next level.

Over the last year, we provided training to three communities to help them build connections between local arts agencies and departments of transportation. This ACT fellowship expands the scope of that type of training to help a wide range of individual transportation and community leaders from across the country share creative placemaking practices and challenges with their peers. Fellows will learn from one another and develop the tools and expertise to train novices who want to learn more about this emerging practice.

We are now accepting applications from interested teams of candidates (at least two but no more than four people per team) from the same locality. We recommend that your team has a mix of unique or shared experiences in the arts & culture, transportation, and community development sectors.

Apply as a team

For more information, or to ask questions that you encounter while preparing your application, watch our webinar Watch here >>

Fellows will deepen their creative placemaking skills and knowledge of the transportation planning and design process. Fellows will remain employed by their organizations and agencies during the fellowship.

Teams should apply if their goals include any of the following:

  • Strengthening skills to develop equitable transportation projects that better serve your local community.
  • Gaining mentorship and learning from peers and nationally recognized thought leaders in creative placemaking and transportation.
  • Peer-learning through a curated fellowship cohort.
  • An opportunity to workshop your projects through hands-on, in-person convenings.
  • Becoming leaders at the intersection of arts, culture and transportation. You’ll have the chance to apply what you’ve learned by delivering technical assistance through T4America’s future workshops.

The ACT fellowship will include an online distance learning component and three in-person convenings. T4America and SGA staff, as well as a team of national experts, will educate fellows on best practices in various areas of transportation, arts, and culture, while fellows will have an opportunity to share their own challenges and learn from one another and from the cities that host the in-person convenings.

The next step for creative placemaking in transportation

The ACT Fellowship is the next logical step in T4America’s work to help transportation professionals learn how to harness the power of arts and culture to develop transportation projects that better serve those who use them.

  • Released three years ago, The Scenic Route: Getting Started with Creative Placemaking in Transportation, introduced transportation planners and local leaders to the concept, shared successful case studies, and provided guidance to transportation professionals on working with artists.
  • A year later, our Arts, Culture and Transportation: A Creative Placemaking Field Scan explored how artists contribute to transportation solutions, identifying seven challenges and seven solutions involving artists. Our Cultural Corridor Consortium, also launched two years ago, supported three cities per year with direct funding, technical assistance, and peer learning opportunities to incorporate artistic practice into transportation projects.
  • Last year, our State of the Art Transportation Trainings educated transportation professionals in three cities on artistic practice and educated arts administrators and artists on transportation planning, while helping both collaborate more effectively with one another.
  • And most recently, we launched artist-in-residency programs at the DOTs in Washington state and Minnesota to bring a creative approach to their work and embed artistic practice in both agencies.

Please email Ben Stone, director of Arts & Culture, with any questions.

Webinar recap on State of the Art Transportation Training

Catch up with our webinar on new creative placemaking technical assistance workshops

This past Tuesday, Ben Stone, T4America’s Director of Arts & Culture, and Patricia Walsh, Americans for the Arts’ Public Art Program Manager, spoke about our upcoming State of the Art Transportation Training. During the webinar we discussed the opportunity for three communities in 2018 to gain hands-on technical assistance to improve collaboration between local arts agencies and departments of transportation. The ultimate goal: use art to better address transportation challenges.

In the webinar, we explored relevant case studies, reviewed the application process, and answered questions. If you missed the webinar, you can find a recording below.

FAQs:

Where can I find more information on this opportunity?

Visit our State of the Art Training webpage to learn more about this opportunity and view the full webinar recording if you missed it. On the webpage you can find the PDF application and the link to apply. We recommend having your responses prepared in advance of starting the online application form.

Who are these workshops geared towards?

Please find more details of the eligibility requirements in the PDF application, but if you are looking to collaboratively and creatively solve your community’s unique transportation challenges and put into practice the concepts T4America explored in our recent Creative Placemaking Field Scan, we encourage you apply. As a reminder, the deadline to apply is 5:00 p.m. EST, February 23, 2018.

Am I eligible to apply if my organization doesn’t have a transportation agency?

A chief goal of the State of the Art Transportation Training is to improve collaboration between local arts agencies and departments of transportation to better address transportation challenges. We recommend that you demonstrate in your application the role of local transit agencies (or the local equivalent) in helping to address your transportation challenges.

Additional questions? Feel free to email Sophie Schonfeld.

Photo courtesy: Jade District

Get more out of transportation by incorporating art

A new opportunity for your transportation agency to become State of the Art

If there’s one industry that’s ruled by forms and regulations, it’s transportation. The ideal width of a bike lane, font on a street sign, and the length of a light-rail platform are all laid out in design manuals. And while there are often important safety and accessibility reasons for these standards, it doesn’t inspire a lot of creative thinking.

And that’s where art comes in–artistic involvement can help solve entrenched transportation problems by thinking outside the manual. It can help heal communities divided by destructive infrastructure, generate more local buy-in for transportation projects, bring diverse constituents to the table, and create a sense of place that reflects local values of the communities transportation systems serve.

To help communities better integrate artistic and cultural practices in transportation projects, Transportation for America is pleased to announce our State of the Art Transportation Trainings, a new technical assistance program made possible through funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and ArtPlace America, in collaboration with Americans for the Arts.

To learn more about this opportunity, register for our information webinar on Tuesday, February 6 at 3 p.m. EST.

“An artist thinks differently, imagines a better world, and tries to render it in surprising ways. And this becomes a way for his/her audiences to experience the possibilities of freedom that they can’t find in reality.”

– Guillermo Goméz-Peña

Next Tuesday, Ben Stone, T4America’s Director of Arts & Culture, and Patricia Walsh, Americans for the Arts’ Public Art Program Manager will be speaking about collaborating with artists to solve your community’s unique transportation challenges. In the webinar, we will explore case studies, review the application process, and answer your questions.

This is an excellent opportunity to see how your city can leverage creative placemaking in transportation projects and get tailored advice for your city’s unique challenges.

You can find more information about the application and the program on our website.

Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. EST, February 23, 2018!

The application process is online and can be completed via this form at https://t4america.org/creative-placemaking-workshops/apply/ . We recommend downloading the full application information (pdf) and preparing your responses before submitting the online form.

New creative placemaking technical assistance workshops available

T4America is eager to help communities better integrate artistic and cultural practices into the planning and construction of transportation projects, and is now offering free workshops to help three communities build their capacity to do so.

Transportation for America is pleased to announce State of the Art Transportation Training, an exciting opportunity for local transportation agencies to learn about creative placemaking and obtain technical assistance in using artistic and cultural practices to address local transportation challenges.

With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and in partnership with Americans for the Arts, T4A will award technical assistance to three communities in 2018 in the form of workshops to help them build capacity in artistic and cultural practices.

LEARN MORE & APPLY

 

This is an excellent opportunity to learn how your community can integrate creative placemaking in transportation projects, receive hands-on technical assistance geared towards addressing your community’s unique challenges, and put into practice the concepts T4America explored in our recent Creative Placemaking Field Scan. We are especially committed to funding collaborative projects that expand transportation opportunities and local control for low-income people, recent immigrants, and people of color living in communities that have experienced disproportionate disinvestment.

Transportation systems can and should be a powerful tool to help people access opportunity, drive economic development, improve health and safety, and build the civic and social capital that bind communities together. And when artists team up with transportation professionals at a project’s outset, their collaboration can lead to new, creative, and more comprehensive solutions to today’s transportation challenges. Learn more and apply today for this free technical assistance opportunity.

Applications are due by February 23, 2018

The application process is online and can be completed via this form at https://t4america.org/creative-placemaking-workshops/. We recommend downloading the full application information (pdf) and preparing your responses before submitting the online form.

The application deadline for this opportunity is Friday, February 23, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. EST.

We are planning for an informational webinar about the opportunity on February 6, 2018. Register here.

Note: Unfortunately, due to our previous work with projects in Los Angeles, Dothan, Indianapolis, San Diego, Nashville and Portland, OR, proposals from those cities are not eligible.

Helping Des Moines get more from its transportation money

Through the support of the Kresge Foundation, T4America is helping the Des Moines Area MPO better measure and assess their transportation spending to bring the greatest return possible for citizens.

When it comes to decisions about what transportation projects to build and where, the general public’s perception is that those decisions are made in a murky, mysterious, political process that has little to do with tangible, measurable benefits. Performance measurement is a way to start to change this perception and make spending more focused on and accountable to accomplishing tangible goals.

As the survey we released earlier this year shows, the vast majority of MPOs want to find ways to do more with performance measurement, but they’re eager for some help — which the Kresge Foundation has enabled T4America to provide for six regions across the country. And in our first day-long workshop with staff from the Des Moines Area MPO in Iowa, stakeholders from member communities, and elected officials — including Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie — our team keyed in on helping everyone agree on what’s working and what’s not working as the MPO decides how to select and fund transportation projects in the future. 

What did we learn? These stakeholders in Des Moines want to put more of an emphasis on maintaining the transportation system that’s already moving people within and through the region. The group is also interested in finding ways to emphasize improving equity and access for people of different means and needs as they make decisions about what to build and where.

Ultimately, Des Moines would like to put more tools in their toolbox to build and maintain a transportation system that’s transparent, accessible, and cost-effective. T4America is excited to continue working with Des Moines and we look forward to reporting on their progress throughout the year. 

Are you interested in similar technical assistance on performance measures? Inquire here.

Six metro areas selected to receive in-depth, hands-on assistance with performance measures

T4America is proud to announce the six recipients of a new technical assistance program aimed at helping metro areas better measure and quantify the multiple benefits of transportation spending decisions.

Through the support of the Kresge Foundation, T4America will be working with six metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) over the coming year to help them better measure and assess their transportation spending to bring the greatest return possible for citizens. After a competitive process conducted last month, T4America is awarding assistance on performance measures to these six MPOs across the country:

  • The Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization in Des Moines, IA
  • The Michiana Area Council of Governments in South Bend-Elkhart, IN
  • The Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization in Southwest Florida
  • The Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission in Roanoke Valley, VA
  • The Imperial Calcasieu Regional Planning and Development Commission in Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana
  • The Rapides Area Planning Commission in Alexandria/Pineville, LA

Why performance measures? To the general public, the perception is that the decisions about what to build, where and how are made in a murky, mysterious, political process. And once we do build new transportation projects, there’s little confidence that we ever go back and determine if it brought the benefits that were promised. Performance measurement is a way to start to change this perception and make spending more focused on accomplishing tangible goals.

As the survey we released earlier this year shows, the vast majority of MPOs want to find ways to do more with performance measurement, but they’re eager for some help. This new assistance program is specifically designed to help MPOs successfully respond to federal, state and local requirements — or go beyond them.

Over the next year, these six MPOs will receive hands-on technical support in meeting the new federal requirements and also with developing measures that address other goals for their regions, like increasing access to jobs and other services, supporting community-driven creative placemaking, improving public health, and supporting social equity, among others

“There will never be enough transportation dollars to get to every project idea — everyone has to do a better job of identifying the most beneficial projects. These six MPOs share a commitment to using performance measures to better serve their region’s goals and improve the accountability and effectiveness of their transportation programs,” said Beth Osborne. “They are already looking for ways to integrate these goals more directly into the decisions they make about which transportation investments to prioritize. With the support of the Kresge Foundation, T4America is excited to be able to help them do so.”

Congratulations to these six regions. T4America and our team of experts look forward to working with you over the coming year.

New technical assistance opportunity for MPOs interested in performance measures

Today T4America is launching a new technical assistance program to help metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) go further with measuring and quantifying the multiple benefits of transportation spending decisions to help ensure that every dollar is aligned with the public’s goals and brings the greatest return possible for citizens.

Similar to the Transportation Leadership Academy we did in partnership with FHWA last year, this new technical assistance program is geared toward helping a handful of metro areas implement a data-driven approach to assessing the costs and benefits of transportation spending — a process known as performance measurement.

MAP-21, the federal surface transportation law passed in 2012, created new requirements for metro regions to start using performance measures that are largely focused on the highway network on conventional things like safety, condition of roads & bridges, etc. (Though the included measures for traffic congestion, as we’ve shown, have a huge impact on how we choose to “solve” that particular problem.)

USDOT finalized the requirements for all of the new measures on January 18, 2017 and will require all 400-plus MPOs and 50 state departments of transportation (DOTs) to develop transportation performance measure frameworks.

Our team has designed a suite of tools to help MPOs not only satisfy the modest new federal requirements, but also go beyond them into other areas such as public health, access to opportunity, social equity; and to help them translate their big picture targets and goals into specific criteria for choosing and prioritizing what transportation projects to build and where.

Find out more and apply today.

Apply Here

 

New national survey on performance measures

Some metro areas have already been going far beyond the federal government’s modest new requirements to assess their transportation investments in terms of more ambitious goals like return on investment, public health and access to jobs. To establish a clear state of the practice and answer some key questions, T4America conducted this national survey of 104 MPOs from 42 states in 2016, also being released today.

Interested in learning more about or applying for this year’s TIGER grants? Join us on 3/24

Though the future of the program is perpetually up in the air, $500 million in competitive federal funding is available for smart, local transportation projects this year in the TIGER program, and Transportation for America is here to help you learn more about the program.

Is your community interested in applying for a TIGER transportation grant? Are you looking for help and support in preparing the best possible grant application?

The fiercely competitive TIGER program is one of the few ways that local communities of almost any size can directly receive federal dollars for their priority transportation projects. Projects vying for funding compete against each other on their merits to ensure that each dollar is spent in the most effective way possible, spurring innovation, stretching federal transportation dollars further than in conventional formula programs, and awarding funding to projects with a high-return on investment.

But the program is, as stated above, fiercely competitive. Over the life of the program, the requests for funding have been 50 times greater than what’s been available. There are far more losers than there are winners in the TIGER program. Being prepared with the best possible project and application is key to winning, and T4America can help.

Join us for a free, public webinar on Thursday March 24 at 4 p.m. EST on the latest round of TIGER funding with some pointers from T4America senior policy advisor and USDOT veteran Beth Osborne, and Smart Growth America director of research Michael Rodriguez on how to win funding for your project.

Register for Webinar

The webinar itself will cover what makes applications competitive, what USDOT has been looking for throughout the program’s seven rounds so far, the role of the benefit-cost analysis, the importance of the non-federal match (i.e., local dollars brought to the table), how shovel-ready a project needs to be, the importance of support from local elected officials, and typical mistakes to avoid, among other helpful areas of interest.

During this discussion, we’ll also have information about T4America’s technical assistance offerings and opportunities for professional consulting on your project. Our technical assistance program can actually help with grant application writing, review, and drafting of the benefit-cost analysis. We can also provide detailed advice and valuable insight into the TIGER process for those that might just want more details than a webinar would provide. 

Benefits for T4America members

T4America members also have the option of receiving limited free technical assistance for TIGER. Logged-in members will see information about that below. Interested in joining as a T4America member? Find out more information here.

[member_content]Transportation for America members interested in applying for TIGER receive the option of an hour with Beth Osborne to walk through your project and talk about strategy for their application. If you’re interested in scheduling this, get in touch with Erika Young at erika.young@t4america.org or 202-955-5543 x239[/member_content]