Policy Advisory Committee

All items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine and non-controversial by COG staff and will be approved by one motion if no member of the Committee or public wishes to comment or ask questions. If comment or discussion is desired by anyone, the item will be removed from the consent agenda and will be considered in the listed sequence with an opportunity for any member of the public to address the Committee concerning the item before action is taken.

2025-26 TDA Claim City of Firebaugh

2025-30 City of Firebaugh FY 2025-26 TDA Claim Resolution

Action: Approve Resolution 2025-30 adopting the City of Firebaugh’s FY 2025-26 Transportation Development Act claim totaling $580,757.

2025-26 TDA City of Mendota

2025-31 City of Mendota FY 2025-26 TDA Claim Resolution

Action: Approve Resolution 2025-31 adopting the City of Mendota’s FY 2025-26 Transportation Development Act claim totaling $847,804.

2025-26 TDA Claim City of Orange Cove

2025-32 City of Orange Cove FY 2025-26 TDA Claim Resolution

Action: Approve Resolution 2025-32 adopting the City of Orange Cove’s FY 2025-26 Transportation Development Act claim totaling $647,979.

City of Clovis_TDA Triennial Performance Audit_final report_6.13.25

City of Fresno_TDA Triennial Performance Audit_final report_6.13.25

FCRTA_TDA Triennial Performance Audit_final report_6.13.25

Fresno COG RTPA TDA Triennial Performance Audit_final report_6.13.25

Fresno EOC_TDA Triennial Performance Audit_final report_6.13.25

Clovis_Memo for COG Triennial Audit

FAX_Memo for FCOG Re FY2022-24 TPA Audit Findings

Fresno EOC_Memo for COG Triennial Audit

Fresno COG_Memo for COG Triennial Audit

Summary: The Transportation Development Act’s (TDA) Article 4 requires Fresno COG to conduct a triennial performance audit of its own administration and the three transit operators to which Fresno COG allocates funds: Fresno Area Express (FAX), City of Clovis Public Transit, and Fresno County Rural Transit Agency (FCRTA). Fresno COG also requires a triennial performance audit for the Consolidated Transportation Service Agencies (CTSA) within Fresno County to determine if AB 120’s action plan goals are being met. During the audited period, the Fresno County Economic Commission (Fresno EOC) was co-designated with FAX and FCRTA as the CTSA, functioning as a fourth operator. The City of Clovis is the designated CTSA for that community.

The audits are intended to provide an independent, comprehensive review of the recipient’s TDA funds, their management and use. It also provides an opportunity to review service efficacy and to assure compliance with State requirements using TDA performance indicators. Final audit reports for all are attached to this item.

Action: Staff requests TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve the triennial performance audits for Fresno COG, FAX, City of Clovis Public Transit, and Fresno EOC for the three-year period ending June 30, 2024.

2025-26 TDA Claim City of Kingsburg

2025-37 City of Kingsburg FY 2025-26 TDA Claim Resolution

Action: Approve Resolution 2025-37 adopting the City of Kingsburg’s FY 2025-26 Transportation Development Act claim totaling $886,001.

2026 TAMP - FCOG

Summary: The 2026 Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP) is a strategic plan developed by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to guide cost-effective investment in transportation infrastructure. TAMP is required under both State law (California Government Code §14526, modified by Senate Bill 486) and Federal law (23 U.S.C. 119(e)(1), MAP-21 §1106), and is updated every four years. The most recent version was published in 2022.

As part of the TAMP, Caltrans must establish National Performance Management Measures (PM2) for pavement and bridge conditions on the National Highway System (NHS). These measures focus on the percentage of assets in “good” and “poor” condition, based on standards set by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), including the Fresno Council of Governments (Fresno COG), are required to adopt four-year PM2 targets for locally owned NHS assets. Caltrans has provided MPOs with data, tools, and default performance targets based on statewide averages and recent funding levels.

Fresno COG manages approximately 364.5 lane miles of NHS pavement and 287,530 square feet of bridge deck area. Using Caltrans’ Performance Target Analysis Tool (PTAT), the following default targets were generated for our region:

Caltrans offers MPOs two options: a) adopt the state-provided targets, which are based on standardized assumptions and funding data from the State Controller’s Office or b) develop locally derived targets, which would require Fresno COG to estimate future funding by federal work type and conduct additional analysis.

This information was presented to local jurisdictions with NHS assets on May 29. The slides are attached to this agenda item. Based on the discussion and consensus, staff recommends adopting the Caltrans-provided PM2 targets.

Action: Staff requests TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve and submit the performance-setting form with Caltrans-prepared PM2 performance targets for locally owned NHS pavements and bridges.

2025-38 OWP FY 25-26 Amendment No 2 Resolution

Amenbud

Summary: The 2025-26 Overall Work Program Amendment No. 2 amends the budget to include a Sustainable Communities Competitive Grant awarded on July 1, 2025.  The amendment creates Work Element 157, Fresno Metropolitan Light Rail Feasibility Study, and increases the budget $800,000 to $36,796,700.

Action: Staff recommends the Board adopt Resolution 2025-38 approving 2025-26 Overall Work Program Amendment No. 2.

STBG Cumulative Recommendations PDF

STBG Funding Distribution PDF

Summary: On Nov. 21, 2024, Fresno COG’s Policy Board issued a formal call-for-projects for the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) regional bid program, with $35.0 million originally made available for funding this cycle. An additional $3 million in reserves was added to supplement the call for projects. Fresno COG staff received 51 applications by the March 3, 2025 deadline, requesting over $75 million in funding.

The STBG scoring committee convened on June 5 to deliberate on the recommended program of projects.  The scoring committee comprised each respective sector of the county, including urban metro, east side rural, west side rural, transit, county government, Caltrans, and Fresno COG staff. The scoring committee project recommendations are included as an enclosure along with the contingency list, regional bid results by agency, and the total funding distribution results.

Action: Staff requests that TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve the scoring committee’s project recommendations for the 2025-26 Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) Program.  The Committee may provide additional direction at its discretion

2025-26 CMAQ Project Recommendations Categories

Summary: On Nov. 21, 2024, the Fresno COG Policy Board issued a formal call for projects for the 2025–26 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) regional bid program. Initially, approximately $25.2 million was expected to be available for this funding cycle. However, that amount increased by nearly $3 million, bringing the available CMAQ funding to $28 million.

By the application deadline of March 14, 2025, staff received 44 project proposals requesting over $59.7 million in funding.

On June 11, the CMAQ Scoring Committee convened to evaluate and recommend a program of projects. The committee comprised representatives from the City of Fresno, Fresno County, east and west side jurisdictions, Caltrans, Fresno COG, regional transit agency, and a sister Valley metropolitan planning organization (MPO). Out of 44 submitted applications, 26 were selected for full funding.  The recommendations are attached to this report.

Action: Staff and TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve the scoring committee’s project recommendations for the 2025-26 Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality (CMAQ) Program.

Safe Routes to School Application Packet

Summary: The Fresno COG Policy Board and Fresno County Transportation Authority (FCTA) approved the new Measure C regional Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) program after transferring $6 million in Measure C funding from the Senior Scrip, carpool/vanpool and agricultural vanpool programs into the new SRTS program for one-time funding of eligible projects on a competitive basis through the approval of Amendment No. 9 to the 2006 Measure C Expenditure Plan.

The SRTS guidelines prioritize bicycle and pedestrian-friendly projects within one-half mile of a school site and establish a project limit of $1.5 million, among other characteristics. The program is available to 14 jurisdictions in the Fresno region, as outlined in the guidelines. 

The Measure C Safe Routes to School allocation aims to support transportation projects serving primary and secondary students in accessing public school facilities to: 

• Enhance the safety of children walking or biking to school; 

• Prioritize schools with significant safety concerns or risk to children bicycling or walking to school based on crash data, traffic analysis, or traffic behavior around primary and secondary schools; and 

• Support disadvantaged and low-income communities with fewer transportation safety options to ensure all children have access to safe routes. 

The call-for-projects for the one-time funding opens July 11, and applications are due on Sept 12. The SRTS Program policies and guidelines are available at: Fresno County Measure C. The application package is attached with this agenda.   

Action: Information. The Committee may provide additional direction at its discretion. 

Fresno COG VMT Guidelines Update

Summary:  Senate Bill 743 (SB 743, 2013), requires that the traffic congestion metric level of service (LOS) within the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process be replaced with a metric that would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), develop a multi-modal transportation system and increase land use diversity. The Office of Planning and Research (OPR), now Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, recommended vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as the most appropriate metric to measure transportation impacts for developments, considering it is more aligned with the State’s goals of reducing GHG emissions through infill development, active transportation and other sustainable land use and transportation projects.

Fresno COG developed the original SB 743 regional guidelines for Fresno County in July 2020. This document has been serving as a guide to the local governments and consultants for traffic impact studies, along with CEQA-related studies. While the City of Clovis has adopted its own SB 743 guidelines, all remaining 15 agencies have adopted the regional guidelines.

Fresno COG’s activity-based model (ABM) has been used as a primary tool to develop the regional VMT guidelines. From the formulation of the regional, as well as the agency-specific, VMT thresholds to VMT mitigation strategies, the ABM has been the core of these tasks. As the ABM is updated, there is also a need to update the regional guidelines because of changing VMT thresholds. In addition, the SB 743 VMT analysis within CEQA itself has evolved from 2020-2024, justifying changes in the regional guidelines. The updated document will also help phase two of the VMT mitigation program, which Fresno COG will develop in FY2025-26. Information sessions and a workshop were held in October 2024 and June 2025, respectively, to brief the member agencies and developers/consultants on the regional guidelines and resources update.

This guidelines update the screening criteria to help local jurisdictions screen out projects that have less-than-significant VMT impacts. They also provide recommendations for thresholds and methodologies for VMT analysis and provide substantial evidence for a threshold alternative of 13 percent VMT reduction, as opposed to the State’s 15 percent for residential and office projects. The update simplifies the VMT screening maps and aims to overcome some limitations in the original guidelines. A list of updated mitigation measures or strategies are also included within the document. To further assist member agencies and developers, another workshop will be held to provide the training to the preferred consultants who can conduct the VMT analysis on Fresno COG’s behalf.

Fresno COG is not a lead agency for any land use or transportation projects. The recommendations in the regional guidelines are advisory and may be used by member agencies at their discretion, based on their individual growth policies and economic development goals.

Action: Staff requests that TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board accept the updated SB 743 implementation regional guidelines and resources.

Summary: A round-up of community engagement and outreach on the 2026 Measure C renewal effort to date.

Focus Groups

DKS Associates’ subconsultant FM3 conducted a series of seven focus groups in April to gauge perceptions and opinions about Measure C based on geographical and demographic representation. The groups comprised the following:

• Coalinga, Firebaugh, Huron, Kerman, Mendota, San Joaquin, and nearby unincorporated areas
• Fowler, Kingsburg, Orange Cove, Parlier, Reedley, Sanger, Selma, and nearby unincorporated areas
• Clovis and the City of Fresno north of Shaw Avenue
• City of Fresno south of Shaw Avenue
• Spanish-speaking Latinos in rural areas
• Spanish-speaking Latinos in non-rural areas
• Seniors

The results of those groups found that most participants were concerned about roadway conditions:

• Traffic, poor road conditions and potholes, unsafe driving and pedestrian safety are top-of-mind concerns for some residents and were mentioned in every focus group session among the most serious overall problems in Fresno County.
• Participants repeatedly expressed very significant concerns with road conditions throughout the county. This was more pronounced in rural areas and the central area of the City of Fresno but was persistent in every group.
• Issues related to safety for drivers, pedestrians and others were raised very frequently in the focus groups. This issue was not as much of a focal point in past Fresno County transportation research and should be explored further in survey research to confirm the findings from these qualitative sessions.

The complete report is attached for your reference.

Steering Committee

The 24-member Measure C Steering Committee has met three times with its next meeting scheduled for July 10. At that meeting they will receive a report from consultant NCE regarding pavement conditions throughout the County, and estimated costs for maintenance over the next 20 years. The Steering Committee has one vacant seat representing the City of Orange Cove.

The first meeting covered the widest range of topics anticipated of all the gatherings, from the enabling legislation allowing Measure C’s development under the Public Utilities Code, to the current state of transportation funding, and the potential for what a future Measure might look like.

The Steering Committee meeting on May 8 focused on the county’s transit systems. Transit providers gave presentations offering a glimpse into their operations and funding requirements. The third meeting addressed bicycle and pedestrian projects, as well as special programs such as New Technologies, Transit-Oriented Development, Senior Scrip, carpool incentives and vanpool subsidies.

Technical Advisory Committee

Separately, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), comprising professional transportation staff from each jurisdiction in the Fresno region, transit providers and Caltrans, continues to provide technical guidance to the Steering Committee with regard to both funding needs and legal requirements. They will be discussing potential allocation formulas by agency at their next meeting in July.

Online Engagement

Our measurec2026.com website continues to attract visitors with over 16,000 page visits and more than 3,400 active users. The site includes up-to-date information about Measure C programs and projects for each member agency, a two-minute video (also available in Spanish) and a “Build a Plan” section, allowing users to provide fund allocation preferences by category. This is a multilingual site.

The Fresno County Transportation Authority also debuted a comprehensive overhaul of the original Measure C website, measurec.com, which now includes a wide array of additional reporting on multiple programs from the current initiative, including local project highlights from each of the 16 jurisdictions in Fresno County. Both websites are also mutually complementary, linking to each other for easier user reference.

Radio

The renewal effort’s radio spot is running from June 16 to Sept. 10 on four initial stations from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The renewal’s 299 spots have a projected net reach of 444,300 for just over $10,000 on the following stations:

• KMJ-AM
• KMJ-FM
• KSKS-FM
• KMGV-FM

Community-Based Organizations Grantees

Three community-based organizations are receiving grants to provide outreach assistance in varied capacities. The agencies under agreement to encourage community participation in renewal workshops, survey completion and website interactions are as follows:

• Green Building Council
• Vet Net
• Highway City Community Foundation

Others have applied and are pending review

Social Media

Consultants continue to deploy a robust social media program on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Meta numbers as of 6/18 are:

Reach                                Views                                 Engagements

125,491                              99,883.6                             20,787

REACH: The number of social media accounts that saw renewal posts at least once.

VIEWS: This metric counts the number of times renewal video ads were played for at least one minute plus the number of times photos and/or texts were on screen.

ENGAGEMENTS: The number of times someone clicked on a link, reacted, commented or shared a post

Community Presentations/Booths/Community Canvassing

DKS Associates, Fresno COG staff and representatives from JSA and Linguistica have made numerous presentations for community groups and agencies throughout the county. The Linguistica team has also attended several community and pop-up events, conducted door-to-door community canvassing and workshop flyer circulation. These opportunities were used to gather feedback and solicit workshop participation, while administering surveys and answering questions about Measure C’s impact on local communities. Canvassing will continue daily through early August to gather resident’s feedback.

Presentations

City Council/Board meetings:

• Clovis
• Coalinga
• Firebaugh
• Fowler
• Huron
• Kerman
• Mendota
• Orange Cove
• Parlier
• Reedley
• San Joaquin
• Selma
• Fresno County Board of Supervisors

Other presentations:

• Reedley Rotary
• Bike Fresno
• Women in Transportation Symposium
• Fresno Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee
• Central Valley Community Foundation
• Downtown Fresno Partnership

Small meetings with staff and organization representatives:

• Sanger Community Task Force
• Kingsburg Community Task Force
• Kingsburg Constitutionalists of California
• Fresno Sunrise Rotary
• Sanger Rotary
• East Fresno Rotary

Interviews

• GV Wire
• KVPR Public Radio Podcast
• Fresno State Maddy Institute Podcast
• Channels 30, 26 & 47
• Univision

Events

• Earth Day Fresno, April 12
• Reedley Street Fair, May 4
• Kingsburg Swedish Festival, May 17
• Easton Farmer’s Market, May 20 & 24
• Clovis Farmers Market, May 23
• River Park Farmers Market, May 27
• Kerman Farmer’s Market, May 28
• Firewise Community Festival Auberry Park, May 31
• Grocery Outlet Popup in Sanger, June 2
• Clovis Farmers Market, June 6 – staff
• Selma Flea Market, June 15
• Caltrans Kids Day, June 18 – w/staff
• Juneteenth Event, June 21
• Univision Event, June 29
• Riverpark Farmers Market, July 1 – VetNet
• Reedley Block Party, July 2 – VetNet
• Kerman Chamber of Commerce Fireworks, July 3 – VetNet
• Sanger High Fireworks, July 4 – VetNet
• Fresno Grizzlies Game, July 4 – VetNet
• Granite Park 6th Annual Independence Day Celebration, July 5 – VetNet
• Orange Cove 4th of July Celebration, July 5

Linguistica Canvassing/Event stats through June 21

Community Workshops

The public outreach team has completed four workshops; one each in Reedley and Kingsburg and two in Fresno. Each workshop included opportunities for both interactive and print-based polling to assess preferences for investments among the four broad categories: street and road maintenance, bicycle and pedestrian projects, public transit and regional projects, with opportunities to provide additional ideas and needs.

Upcoming Efforts

Additional outreach either conducted, occurring now or planned soon, includes:

• Three additional Community Workshops – Clovis-July15 and West Fresno-July 16
• Community events and canvassing by Linguistica and community-based organization grantees
• Continued city council/board presentations
• Continued organization & CBO presentations
• Social media posts/boosts/ads/events
• Radio ads
• Staff-attended events – five presentations to senior facilities in July 10-29

Action: Information. The Committee may provide additional direction at its discretion.

One County One Plan (4)

Summary: At its regular June 26 meeting, the Policy Board approved an adjusted Measure C project timeline and scope changes in the attached flow chart to consolidate two parallel Measure C processes known collectively as the “One County, One Plan” goal for a 2026 renewal effort.

Since late May representatives from the Fresno County Transportation Authority (FCTA), Transportation For All, the Central Valley Community Foundation and Fresno COG have met at least four times in an effort to consolidate two separate Measure C ballot processes.

In those meetings, there is full agreement on the following principles:

• Having a single measure for voters to consider is essential
• Renewing Measure C is important to every community in the county
• The goal is to have one measure on the November 2026 ballot.

Elected officials will have the final word on the measure and the expenditure plan, after significant community input throughout the process. Discussions in June largely focused on the timeline necessary to ensure that the process Fresno COG and FCTA are following under the California Public Utilities Code Division 15 – specifically Sections 142000-142277 – which requires a full expenditure plan be placed before voters, will be fulfilled,

The groups have tentatively agreed on a revised timeline that significantly accelerates the public input process Fresno COG and FCTA had been following, as illustrated by the flowchart attached to this staff report and is presenting it to the COG Board for review and approval.

The new timeline calls primarily for revisions to the Steering Committee process with a new schedule requiring two-to-three meetings each month for three-hour sessions to address visioning and priorities, category allocations, and implementing guidelines.

The Steering Committee is proposed to require attendance from each member routinely with an allowance of no more than two absences before a member is removed.  Consensus on all issues will be sought routinely; however, a minimum 70 percent threshold will be required for any item/issue to be approved.

The July Fresno COG Policy Board meeting will include an agenda item reporting on the Steering Committee’s progress regarding visioning and priorities as well as category allocations and seeking feedback. Input from jurisdictions at this stage will be critical to the Steering Committee’s discussions and ultimate recommendations.

In August, the Steering Committee’s focus will turn to discussing implementing guidelines, and COG staff will likely need to call a special meeting to review those recommendations.

In August or early September, expenditure plan drafting is expected to begin with the intention of having a draft plan for review by Sept. 11 and a “big-tent” community-wide review/approval event by the end of September.  This would be followed by statistically valid surveying/polling of the plan begins, also in October.

Following survey results and any necessary adjustments, the expenditure plan would come back for approval at a special joint meeting of the FCTA and Fresno COG Boards and then out to the jurisdictions and city councils/Board of Supervisors for approval by resolution. This is anticipated to occur beginning as early as mid-October.

Alongside the entire process, the groups are recommending a facilitation and support or “synthesis” team to reconcile and integrate information from the Steering Committee, along with the public input collected.

In addition, while the DKS scope of work includes drafting the expenditure plan, it is recommended that additional legal and technical resources be available during this stage of the process.

As the Measure C administering agency, FCTA will also have the opportunity to review the terms outlined above and will be kept abreast of developments as they occur.

Action: Information and discussion.  The Committee may provide further direction at its discretion.