What Is The Request And What Will We Get For The Funds?
We request funding in FY 2015 for the following programs: $100.0 million for the Emergency
Relief (ER) program; $190.0 million for theTerritorial and Puerto Rico Highway Program;
$67.0 million for the Construction of Ferry Boats and Ferry Terminal Facilities Program; $11.0 million for the On-The-Job Training (OJT) Program; $11.0 million for the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program; $10.0 million for the Highway Use Tax Evasion Projects Program; and $3.0 million for the Other Safety-related Programs. The funding levels and eligibilities are the same as those provided by MAP-21, with the exception of the OJT and DBE programs which were both increased by $1 million. Additionally, new programs, Ladders of Opportunity and the Performance Management Data Support Program (PMDSP) are requested at $100 million and $10 million, respectively, for FY 2015.
What Is The Program?
This program category contains eight separate programs that will provide disparate functions to assist federal highways. This includes assistance: to States and localities for the repair of damage to Federal-aid highways from natural events and catastrophic failures due to an external cause; for Puerto Rico and US territories to build vital transportation infrastructure important for their mobility needs and to serve national defense and global trade needs; to construct ferry boat and ferry terminals; for States to enhance the development of our nation’s highway construction industry workforce; for States to assist certified DBE firms in becoming competitive when seeking to obtain highway and bridge construction contracts; to support highway use tax evasion enforcement efforts; and to support four safety activities for conducting transportation safety outreach, training, and educational activities. Ladders of Opportunity would provide enhanced developmental opportunities for disadvantaged persons to qualify them for and place them in transportation jobs, and engage large metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in pilot activities that identify and implement approaches to enhance transportation connections to economic opportunities. The PMDSP would provide comprehensive resources and analytical tools for use by States and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) in responding to Moving Ahead for Progress (MAP-21) requirements particularly for implementation of a performance-
based Federal highway program and for the Federal Highway Administration in support of its
mission.
Why Is This Particular Program Necessary?
These programs provide vital assistance to States, territories, and localities to build; repair; protect the future of; prepare the workforce; and assist businesses to compete in supporting our critical highway transportation infrastructure. The workforce component of Ladders of
Opportunity provides incentives and resources for States to enhance their efforts to ensure that a competent workforce is available to meet highway construction hiring needs, and to address the historical under-representation of disadvantaged populations in highway construction skilled crafts. The connectivity component of Ladders of Opportunity will help MPOs identify areas where the transportation network fails to provide good connections between their residents and economic opportunities and implement approaches to enhance connectivity. The PMDSP is necessary for States, MPOs and FHWA to address MAP-21 performance management
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requirements, as well as to improve policy, operational and capital changes and investments to optimize the national transportation system. It builds on years of FHWA’s development and use of performance measurement tools to create a robust, comprehensive and high quality data and analytical system for planning and decision-making.
How Do You Know The Program Works?
These long-standing programs perform the following vital functions: help States, territories, and localities repair damage to Federal-aid highways from natural events and catastrophic failures due to an external cause; build vital transportation infrastructure in Puerto Rico and the US territories that is important for their mobility needs and to serve national defense and global trade needs; construct ferry boat and ferry terminals; enhance development of our nation’s highway construction industry workforce; assist certified DBE firms in becoming competitive when seeking to obtain highway and bridge construction contracts; support highway use tax evasion enforcement efforts; and conducting transportation safety outreach, training, and educational activities. The workforce component of Ladders of Opportunity will provide funds only to those States that have committed themselves to effectively addressing the program’s purpose. The connectivity component of this proposal is designed to bring additional analysis and performance measurement to bear in the development of projects that fill critical gaps in transportation
services that connect people to economic opportunities. Regarding the PMDSP, good data is critical to performance management. Incomplete data may not capture the true performance of the transportation network and may provide misleading information when analyzed.
Why Do We Want/Need To Fund The Program At The Requested Level?
These diverse programs serve key functions that provide long-standing, positive impacts on the U.S. highway infrastructure. Funding Ladders of Opportunity at $100 million will incentivize States and MPOs to achieve meaningful results in transportation workforce development for disadvantaged persons and the enhancement of transportation and economic opportunity connectivity. By funding the Performance Management Data Support Program at $10 million, the resulting data and analytical tools can yield significant savings, for State DOTs and others, above and beyond the cost of this program. Use of data by USDOT and its operating
administrations, as well as States and local government where applicable, can identify the difference between operational and policy improvements and where capital investment is
actually needed. Collection of data and development of analysis tools at the national, rather than State or local, level can also create significant economies of scale that reduce the overall
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