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Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy Roundtable

August 28, 2024 2:00 pm

COG Sequoia Conference Room | 2035 Tulare St., Suite 201, Fresno, CA

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accommodations
The Fresno COG offices and restrooms are ADA accessible. Representatives or individuals with disabilities should contact Fresno COG at (559) 233-4148, at least 3 days in advance, to request auxiliary aids and/or translation services necessary to participate in the public meeting / public hearing. If Fresno COG is unable to accommodate an auxiliary aid or translation request for a publichearing, after receiving proper notice, the hearing will be continued on a specified date when accommodations are available..

THE RTP ROUNDTABLE MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE IN PERSON AND VIA ZOOM.

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Summary: The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) Programming Technical Working Group developed an RTP Project Evaluation Criteria Focus Group to discuss in-depth revisions and updates to the 2026 RTP Project Evaluation Criteria. The 2026 Project Evaluation Criteria will be used to score the priority of projects submitted during the RTP Call for Projects process that will begin on October 1st, 2024 in terms of forecasted funding available through the sunset year of the RTP (2049).  The RTP Programming Technical Working group met on three separate occasions, July 23rd, August 1st and August 13th.

The RTP Programming Technical Working Group consisted of representatives from Fresno, Clovis, Fresno County, a rural westside representative, a rural eastside representative, a transit representative, Caltrans, as well as a few representatives from various non-governmental organizations with interest in bike/ped, air quality, health, and transportation equity.  The RTP Programming Technical Working Group collaborated on the revisions made and are in agreement with the totality of the revised document.

Highlights of the revisions made include:

  • Revisions to the project topic score weight
  • Updated the Bike/Pedestrian Connectivity question based on feedback from the Programming Technical Working Group
  • Removed Climate Adaptation question 9 from the Road-Capacity Increasing category
  • The rephrased several questions in several categories
  • The remaining revisions were mostly grammatical in nature; word choice, sentence structure, clarifications, etc.

It is important to note that this criteria will be used solely to determine a project’s ranking in the RTP in terms of projected funding; not actual funding available during a program Call-for-Projects.  The criteria will be used to create the RTP’s constrained and unconstrained list of projects.

The RTP Programming Technical Working Group recommended approval of the 2026 RTP project evaluation criteria.

Action: Staff recommends that the RTP Roundtable recommend approval of the final draft of the 2026 RTP Project Evaluation Criteria to the TTC/PAC and COG Policy Board.

Summary: California Government Code Section 65080 requires each RTP to include a Policy Element that describes the transportation issues in the region, regional needs, and is consistent with the Financial Element. The Policy Element is one of the first components of the RTP to be developed, and its purpose is to identify legislative, planning, financial and institutional issues and requirements, as well as any areas of regional consensus. Staff will present Fresno COG’s Vision Statement, Goals, and Policies that form the Policy Element for the RTP/SCS and will ask for input on any possible changes that Roundtable members may have.

Action: Information Only. Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Roundtable.

Summary:  Fresno Council of Governments (Fresno COG) contracted with Rea & Parker, a qualified consultant with substantial experience in designing and conducting opinion surveys to conduct research within the Fresno County region. They were direct to enlist survey participants reflective of the county’s demographics, including the non-English speaking populations, from urban and rural areas of the region. They asked participants to rank defined values and transportation funding priorities and develop the findings report.

The survey data collected informs the Fresno COG Regional Transportation Plan by identifying and ranking Fresno County residents’ transportation spending priorities and their community values. The survey findings will be presented at the meeting by Rea & Parker associates.

Action: Information Only. Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Roundtable.

Summary: This outreach effort is designed to gather transportation project suggestions from our region’s residents via hard copy or online survey. It will be conducted from September 13 through October 31 to assist member agencies with community outreach prior to responding to the RTP call-for-projects December 1 deadline, and to provide an opportunity for community members to participate early in the RTP planning process.

For this community engagement effort, the four mini-grants, under the guidance of Fresno COG’s public outreach consultant, Southwest Strategies, will assist Fresno COG using several strategies:

  • Online community survey available in English, Spanish, Punjabi and Hmong
  • E-newsletters
  • Social media posts and ad purchases in English and Spanish, Punjabi and Hmong as needed
  • Flyers and fact sheets that include QR code links to the surveys in all languages
  • Requests to members agencies, transit agencies, the RTP Roundtable membership and other government and community agencies to share social posts, emails, flyers with their contacts
  • Booths at community events across the county
  • Virtual and in-person meetings and workshop to present the RTP Update and the survey opportunity

COG will forward all project suggestions to corresponding local agencies for review and consideration prior to their RTP project submittal’s due date.  The list of projects and location mapping will be available to the public on Fresno COG’s PlanFresno.com website on or before November 15.

Action: Informational Only. Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Roundtable.

Upcoming Meeting Dates:

September 25, 2024

October 23, 2024

November 20, 2024

Upcoming Subcommittee Meetings:

Environmental Justice Subcommittee – September 18th, 2024, at 1:30pm

This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the Roundtable on items within its jurisdiction but not on this agenda.

Note:  Prior to action by the Roundtable on any item on this agenda, the public may comment on that item. Unscheduled comments may be limited to 3 minutes.

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