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RESOLUTION NO. R-1920-65: A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, PROGRAMMING FEDERAL SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BLOCK GRANT URBANIZED AREA FUNDS (STBG/UZA) FOR ENHANCEMENTS TO THE CITY’S PUBLIC TRANSIT VEHICLE FLEET.
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BACKGROUND: The 2015 - Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) federal transportation funding bill allocates approximately $21 Million in Federal funds per year for the construction of eligible transportation improvements in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Ten percent of this appropriation is used to fund safety projects at 100% of their construction cost.
Every year, the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG) coordinates a regional evaluation process that identifies transportation improvements eligible for federal funding. Eligible projects include road widenings, new road construction, intersection improvements, pavement resurfacing, bridge maintenance or replacements, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, procurement of transit vehicles, and safety improvements. Individual projects are rated and compared to one another using a pre-established criterion. The process ends with the formulation of the region’s transportation improvement program and the decision to use federal funds to pay for a significant portion of the cost of the higher priority projects.
On August 5, 2019, after months of negotiations with the University of Oklahoma, the City of Norman took over the operation of the Cleveland Area Rapid Transit system, including the transfer of a 28-vehicle fleet with nine large buses, five of which need to be replaced because they have reached the end of their service life. The cost of replacement for each of these buses is $500,000.
DISCUSSION: One type of project eligible for funding under the FAST Act is the procurement of transit vehicles. This revenue source can be used to access federal funds that can cover 80% of the cost of a new bus. There are currently no funds in the City’s Capital Improvement Budget for the replacement of transit buses. The buses in question are very difficult and costly to maintain and need to be replaced as soon as possible. The use of federal funds could allow these replacements to occur gradually over the next 3-5 years.
On December 20, 2019, staff will submit seventeen project applications for consideration in the formulation of ACOG’s Three-Year Transportation Improvement Plan Update. (See Attachment No. 1.) Staff wishes to submit a project application for the replacement of one of the five transit buses that has reached the end of its service life, as this category of project competes well under the newly adopted evaluation criteria. One of the requirements for project inclusion is that interested cities submit programming resolutions for each individual project. In the resolutions, the City agrees to the terms and conditions of a federally funded project by stating its willingness to assume the responsibility for the preparation of engineering plans, the purchase of any additional rights-of-way, the relocation of public utilities, and funding of the 20% local share of the construction cost.
In years past, Council has adopted resolutions for the other sixteen projects. The only project that needs a programming resolution in order to be considered in the formulation of the plan update, is the transit vehicle procurement project.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of Resolution R-1920-65 requesting $400,000 in federal funds for the procurement of a new transit vehicle.