DDOT Accepting Applications for 2018 Transportation Alternatives Projects

Getting Money from the TAP
Image: Author

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) began accepting applications for the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), which is a federal program under the 2015 FAST Act through the Federal Highway Administration that provides funding to projects considered "alternative" to traditional highway construction.

Approximately $1.1 million in funding will be available through a District-wide competitive process.

Transportation Alternative projects categories are geared towards bicycle and pedestrian activities, community improvements, environmental mitigation, and recreational trails. The projects must be consistent with the District initiatives like MOVE DC, Sustainable DC, and other plans.

The District's Delegate to Congress, Elenor Holmes Norton, held a public meeting last October to discuss how TAP funds could be used in the District.

TAP program participants can include local governments, regional transportation authorities, transit agencies, natural resource or public land agencies, school districts, Tribal governments and other appropriate local or regional governmental entities. While non-profits are not eligible to be direct grant recipients of TAP funds they may partner with eligible participants such as a government agency as a co-sponsor.

According to the DDOT website, projects will be reviewed through a competitive process and selected based upon a number of criteria including the project’s expected benefits to the community, feasibility and project readiness, consistency with agency plans and missions, and the sponsor’s demonstrated ability to manage a federal-aid project.

TAP projects may support the following:

• Facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other non-motorized forms of transportation
  This includes the planning, design, and construction of on-road or off-road facilities. Projects may include sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, bicycle parking, pedestrian and bicycle signals, traffic calming techniques, lighting and other safety infrastructure, and upgrading facilities for compliance with ADA requirements.
• Recreational Trails
  Eligible projects include the provision and maintenance of recreational trails for both motorized and non-motorized use. This includes pedestrian uses (hiking, running, wheelchair use), bicycling, in-line skating, skateboarding, equestrian use, off-road motorcycling, or all-terrain vehicle riding. This includes the maintenance and restoration of existing trails, the development of trailside and trailhead facilities, the purchase of construction of maintenance equipment, the construction of new trails, the acquisition of easements, and trail condition assessments.
• Safe routes for non-drivers
  Eligible cost include the construction, planning, and design of infrastructure-related projects and systems that will provide safe routes for non-drivers, including children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities to access daily needs.
• Conversion and use of abandoned railroad corridors for trails
  This activity provides for the acquisition of abandoned railway corridors for the development of pedestrian or bicycle trails. Intent must be shown that a pedestrian and bicycle trail will be built within ten years of the acquisition of the corridor. Projects in this category must serve as a mode of transportation and cannot be solely for recreational users.
• Community Improvements
  This includes vegetation management, environmental mitigation or pollution prevention, streetscape improvements and historic preservation
• Safe Routes to School (SRTS)
  Eligible projects for SRTS sidewalk improvements, traffic calming, pedestrian and bicycle crossing improvements, on-street bicycle facilities, off-street bicycle and pedestrian facilities, secure bicycle parking facilities, and traffic diversion improvements in the vicinity of schools.

Applications will be accepted starting April 17, 2017, through May 15, 2017. In June 2017, a selection panel will review submitted projects. An official announcement of selected projects will be made in August.


A version of this post originally ran on DDOT's website.