US Department of Transportation

FHWA PlanWorks: Better Planning, Better Projects

US Department of Transportation

FHWA Planworks: Better Planning, Better Projects

PRO-4: Approve Project Prioritization

Programming

Description:

At this Key Decision, the approved project list is prioritized using the methodology previously developed. This step is extremely important to maintain consistency between transportation plans and the TIP. This ensures that the projects going into the TIP are consistent with projects from the planning phases (Long Range Transportation and Corridor).

There is information developed in prior Key Decisions that informs this step. In order to effectively execute this step, there is essential information from PRO-2 and PRO-3.

Basics:

The first table describes the purpose and anticipated outcome of a Key Decision. If the decision is federally mandated, the purpose and outcome will relate to the legal intent.

The second table describes roles for key partners with legal decision making authority in the transportation process. The roles indicate the influence a partner can have on a decision, and show each partner where their input is most needed. For a full understanding of roles see the Partner Portal.

Purpose

To develop a prioritized list of projects with associated costs, sequencing, and applicable revenue considerations for immediate programming as funds become available. This project list should be developed in horizon years so that conformity is considered along with fiscal constraint.

Outcome

A prioritized list of projects from the adopted plan that allow the horizon years in the LRTP to reflect the sequencing of projects for the TIP.

Partner	Role Type	Description
MPO	Decision Maker (urban), No Role (rural)	Approves project prioritization that is reasonable and equitable.
FHWA/FTA	Observer	Observes the prioritization of projects from the adopted LRTP.
State DOT	Advisor (urban), Decision Maker (rural)	Provides state perspective on project prioritization.
Resource Agency	Advisor	Advise decision makers so that the prioritized mitigation projects and cost from ecological planning inform the prioritization of projects in the TIP.
Public Transportation Operator(s)	Advisor	Provides transit perspective on project prioritization.

Links to Decisions

This table identifies the connection to other Key Decisions. The linkages highlight the importance of collaboration across transportation phases. Practitioners are encouraged to document the basis of the decision and consider information from previous Key Decisions.

Transportation Phases	Key Decision	What is Linked?	Purpose of Linkage
To Long Range Transportation Planning	LRP-10 - Adopt LRTP by MPO	Plan revenue in horizon years	To ensure that the LRTP fiscal constraint provides input on project prioritization
From Corridor Planning	COR-9 - Adopt Priorities for Implementation	Prioritized list of projects for implementation	To provide input into or validation of the overall project prioritization established at this Key Decision
To Environmental Review/NEPA Merged with Permitting	ENV-1 - Reach Consensus on Scope of Environmental Review	Project prioritization established at this Key Decision point	To inform the scoping step of environmental review about related projects, the selection of logical termini, and funding identified for the project

Questions to Consider

Questions are a way to gather input from partners and stakeholders that can be used to inform the decision. Decision makers can discuss the questions provided to ensure a broad array of interests are considered to support a collaborative process. Questions also allow staff to collect stakeholder interests, ensure these are included in the decision, and provide a response based on the decision outcome. Although Public Transportation is not represented by a PlanWorks Application, the information provided may be useful in a collaborative transportation process.

Category	Questions to Consider
Long Range Planning	Is the project prioritization consistent with the adopted LRTP goals and vision? Does the approved prioritization support LRTP and TIP fiscal constraint?
Programming	Are all projects on the list eligible as programmed? Has the project prioritization considered overall project readiness? How does funding/revenue projections for each funding program and for each federal, state, and local funding source impact the selection of priority projects? Do individual projects generate revenues or pay for themselves during the TIP timeframe? Does this information affect the prioritization of such projects?
Corridor Planning	Is project prioritization consistent with the adopted implementation priorities from relevant corridor planning studies?
Environmental Review	Has the approved project prioritization been documented to inform environmental review on related projects, the selection of logical termini, and funding identified for the project?
Bicycles and Pedestrians	Does project prioritization consider bicycle and pedestrian network connectivity, accessibility, and safety? To what extent does the prioritization further bicycle and pedestrian network goals?
Capital Improvement	Does project prioritization demonstrate compatibility with existing capital improvement plans? Is there an opportunity to coordinate project implementation with capital improvements planned in the region?
Economic Development	Does the prioritization consider economic development risks and opportunities?
Freight	Does project prioritization consider input from freight stakeholders? Will the project prioritization criteria, measures, and methods adequately consider the benefits and burdens of freight and the impact the projects will have on freight movement? Is the project prioritization consistent with that used in existing freight plans? How will project prioritization be communicated to freight stakeholders, including how to explain any tradeoffs made between freight and other interests? Will the project prioritization allow comparison and ranking of projects based on freight performance?
Greenhouse Gas Emissions	What are the potential GHG-reduction impacts for individual projects in the prioritization? Do any GHG projects have the potential to generate revenue? If so, does this impact their priority? How does the timeframe for GHG-reduction impacts affect prioritization?
Health in Transportation	How will the project prioritization affect public health goals, plans, and specific populations? How would health and community stakeholders prioritize the projects? How can project priorities help create strong and lasting support among health stakeholders for project programming process and result? Do any projects have significant health benefits or address urgent health needs? Should any projects be paired or implemented in a specific order to improve health outcomes? Were any changes in priorities since the long-range plan or for tradeoffs made between health considerations and other priorities documented?
Human Environment and Communities	Did human environment and community stakeholders identify impacts in the proposed project area during long range planning? Did human environment and community stakeholders indicate support or opposition for individual project concepts during long range planning? How do human environment issues impact project prioritization?
Land Use	What supporting land use is necessary to achieve individual project anticipated outcomes? Is the anticipated land use in place?
Linking Planning and Operations	Does project prioritization include system performance and benefits of operational improvements? Do the projects identified for programming meet reliability system performance goals or provide a trajectory for meeting longer term goals beyond the TIP timeframe? Are TSMO projects consistent with ITS architecture requirements that must be met before project is incorporated into the TIP/STIP? Does project prioritization consider the funding, revenue potential, and delivery schedules of operational projects?
Natural Environment and Implementing Eco Logical	Is there information about environmental mitigation projects with respect to cost and benefit to consider in project prioritization?
Performance Measures	Have the selected performance measures been used to inform project prioritization?
Planning and Environment Linkages	Has project prioritization been informed by PEL study outcomes?
Public Private Partnerships	Is information on funding, revenue potential, and proposed delivery available from private sector developers to consider during project prioritization? If this information will be available following procurement or financial close, will the TIP/STIP need to be amended? Are there additional federal and state requirements that must be met or implementation authority that must be granted before a P3 project is incorporated into the TIP/STIP? If the private partner depends on TIFIA, Private Activity Bonds, or other U.S. DOT financing, discretionary funding, or grant funding for a portion of the funding amount, what is the status of approvals for this financing? Do the P3 projects identified for programming meet current and/or long term revenue and financing goals?
Public Transportation	How do public transportation plans and operations inform prioritization?
Safety	This Key Decision is not associated with the Application.
Stakeholder Collaboration	Are the priorities consistent with what the stakeholders wanted? If not, what is the reason? When and how will the results of prioritization be communicated to partners and stakeholders?
Transportation Conformity	This Key Decision is not associated with the Application.
Visioning and Transportation	How do the vision implementation priorities relate to the project list drawn from the LRTP? Do the visioning priorities influence the proposed project prioritization?

Data

The following list of data may be needed to support the Key Decision. Practitioners collect this information for decision makers to consider. Although Public Transportation is not represented by a PlanWorks Application, the information provided may be useful in a collaborative transportation process.

Category	Data to Consider
Long Range Planning	Plan revenue in horizon years Project costs
Programming	Availability of all related revenue sources Delivery schedules and revenue earning potential All applicable funding allocations for the State/region Potential cost sharing agreements Legal restrictions for programming funds for each fund program and source Consistency with long range plan fiscal constraint Cost/benefit analysis and funding goals Project readiness
Corridor Planning	Prioritized list of projects for implementation
Environmental Review	Prioritized project funding, readiness, and termini
Bicycles and Pedestrians	Prioritization guidance for bicycles and pedestrians(NCHRP Report 803-ActiveTrans Priority Tool Guidebook)
Capital Improvement	Timelines for planned capital improvements Input from capital improvement partners
Economic Development	Economic development potential of individual projects
Freight	Freight stakeholder priorities Important benefits of freight projects Freight priorities from other plans
Greenhouse Gas Emissions	Total GHG emissions reduction impact of projects related to GHG goals and objectives for the horizon years GHG requirements in the state/region
Health in Transportation	Assessment of how prioritization affects health needs, goals, plans, and specific populations Input from health and community stakeholders
Human Environment and Communities	Human environment input from long-range planning
Land Use	Long-range plan land use assumptions
Linking Planning and Operations	ITS Architecture
Natural Environment and Implementing Eco Logical	Prioritized mitigation projects, per benefit and cost
Performance Measures	Performance measures from the adopted LRTP
Planning and Environment Linkages	PEL studies that address projects considered in prioritization
Public Private Partnerships	Input on revenue generation and project readiness Federal, state, and regional restrictions on P3
Public Transportation	Public transportation plans and operating budgets
Safety	This Key Decision is not associated with the Application
Stakeholder Collaboration	Stakeholder input on priorities Basis of priority decisions for feedback to stakeholders
Transportation Conformity	This Key Decision is not associated with the Application.
Visioning and Transportation	Visioning implementation priorities Documentation of comparison to project prioritization

Links to Applications

The interaction between transportation decision making and other planning processes will ensure that important values and goals outside the transportation process are recognized and considered. Although Public Transportation is not represented by a PlanWorks Application, the information provided may be useful in a collaborative transportation process.

Application	Description
Bicycles and Pedestrians	Identify how project prioritization impacts bicycle and pedestrian network connectivity, accessibility, goals, and vision.
Capital Improvement	Implementation schedules and project readiness offer coordination opportunities for transportation and other infrastructure or Land Use changes. Consider Economic Development decisions as well.
Economic Development	Both the selection and sequencing of projects can impact economic development. Consider giving additional weight to projects supporting economic development goals and minimize negative or adverse impacts.
Freight	Project prioritization is an internal activity with inputs from many specific interests. There is no relationship to other Application topics other than the data provided.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions	Consider how project prioritization impacts potential GHG emissions reductions.
Health in Transportation	Work with the Human Environment and Communities, Stakeholder Collaboration, and Visioning and Transportation Applications to develop community support for incorporating health into projects.
Human Environment and Communities	As individual projects are prioritized, supporting information from long-range plan development will inform issues or support that impacts sequencing. This information may relate to many of the Application topics, depending on specific concerns within the area. Project readiness and trade-off decisions will likely be influenced by the Natural Environment and Implementing Eco-Logical, Safety, and whether or not Public-Private Partnerships are involved.
Land Use	This Key Decision is not linked to any other Application topic.
Linking Planning and Operations	Ensure that project prioritization reflects Performance Measures for system reliability. Consider how prioritization of TSMO projects may support capacity-adding projects identified for Capital Improvement or Economic Development.
Natural Environment and Implementing Eco Logical	Consider the project prioritization relationship to planned or active mitigation projects.
Performance Measures	Ensure project priorities are aligned with performance measures for monitoring and reporting. Applications that represent the regional goals should also be considered at this Key Decision.
Planning and Environment Linkages	Confirm that PEL studies relevant to projects under consideration have been identified and reviewed for impacts to project sequencing.
Public Private Partnerships	Project readiness and funding availability are key considerations during prioritization for the TIP Freight and Economic Development are the most useful comparisons.
Public Transportation	Consider how project prioritization impacts public transportation operations and planning.
Safety	This Key Decision is not associated with the Application
Stakeholder Collaboration	Considering input from stakeholders helps inform/validate that decisions reflect stakeholder priorities. Because transportation priorities effect and support other planning processes such as Land Use, Freight, and Economic Development, stakeholders will inform this broader perspective.
Transportation Conformity	This Key Decision is not associated with the Application.
Visioning and Transportation	As individual projects are prioritized, supporting information from long-range plan development will inform issues or support that impacts sequencing. Visioning may suggest the need for Public-Private Partnerships. Where specific stakeholders are engaged in both visioning and transportation, there may be a relationship; for example, Freight stakeholders.

Examples

In - depth case studies of successful practices in collaborative decision making were used to develop the Decision Guide.Links in this table point to a specific paragraph or section of a case study that supports a Key Decision. It is not necessary to read through an entire case study to find the example; however, full versions are available in the Library.

PlanWorks Case Study Examples:
None.

Other Examples:
None.