At its January meeting, the TPB approved the 2023-2024 appointments to the TPB’s Community Advisory Committee, received an outline and preliminary budget for the FY 2024 Unified Planning Work Program, and information on the Visualize 2050 plan update draft Technical Inputs Solicitation.
Meeting agenda, materials, and recording
Welcome Remarks from TPB Chair Reuben Collins, II
TPB Chair Reuben Collins II, Charles County Board of County Commissioners President, welcomed board members to the first meeting of the new year and stated that he hopes 2023 is when communities in the region bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic and that the region sees a reversal in roadway crashes and fatalities. Chair Collins said that his goal as chair is to efficiently facilitate the overall agenda for TPB assuring that “all regional partners and interests are braided together to create a full version of what a regional approach to transportation planning looks like.”
Chair Collins noted that while TPB member jurisdictions may not always agree on all things, the TPB focuses on taking steps forward on areas of agreement: improving safety, reducing congestion, reducing greenhouse gases, and building a robust public transit system and transit-oriented communities while ensuring equity considerations.
Approval of 2023-2024 Community Advisory Committee Appointments
Marcela Moreno, TPB Transportation Planner, presented the recommended nominations for the Community Advisory Committee. The TPB received 77 applications from across 17 member jurisdictions and 11 Equity Emphasis Areas. Twenty-four CAC members have been selected for TPB approval representing 13 jurisdictions. The TPB unanimously approved the nominations. Chair Collins announced Richard Wallace of Charles County as the new CAC Chair. More information is available under Item 7 on the January TPB meeting page.
Loudoun County Supervisor Kristen Umstattd asked if the TPB members could see which Equity Emphasis Areas were represented in the applications. TPB staff will provide that information.
INFORMATION ITEMS
FY 2024 Unified Planning Work Program
Lyn Erickson, TPB Plan Development and Coordination Program Director, provided an overview of the federal MPO requirements related to the development and implementation of the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), which directs the scope of work for the TPB each fiscal year. Related to the UPWP, Erickson announced that the TPB will have a Federal Certification Review in March 2023, which is an audit of TPB’s work to ensure that all federal requirements are met.
TPB staff will ask the board to approve the UPWP at its March 15 meeting. As with last year’s UPWP, planned work activities focus on the following areas:
- Long-Range Transportation Planning
- Transportation Improvement Program
- Planning Elements
- Public Participation
- Travel Forecasting
- Mobile Emissions Planning
- Mobility and Enhancement Programs
- TPB Management and Support
- Regional Land Use and Transportation Planning Coordination
- Technical Assistance Program
Falls Church City Council Member David Snyder thanked staff for the initiatives around climate and safety and asked if the TPB could receive an update on the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination (MATOC) Program.
TPB Staff Director Kanti Srikanth and TPB Systems Performance Planning Program Director Andrew Meese provided an overview on MATOC. TPB provides funding along with the state DOTs to support MATOC. The program was established after September 11, 2001, with a focus on real-time coordination among the jurisdictions. Through MATOC, jurisdictions in the region have communicated and worked together on incident management, roadway operations, and transit coordination. MATOC has also taken on a role in weather activities and other transportation information and emergency response.
College Park City Council Mayor Patrick Wojahn asked how the UPWP addresses reduction of greenhouse gas in relation to the TPB’s climate goals. Srikanth said that the reduction strategies rely on actions and policy adoption at the local and state level. The TPB, in this scope and prior scopes of work, has been involved in GHG reduction research and data analysis and safety studies to identify crash and fatality reduction strategies, as well as housing and transit studies. TPB members are acting, for example, by improving transit service, setting housing and transit access policies, and the TPB is also examining housing, jobs, and population projections to support these efforts.
In response to a question from Arlington County Board Member Takis Karantonis, Srikanth commented that the TPB would be able to consider conducting studies and analysis on climate and GHG reduction to support member interests and inquiries related to implementing the strategies adopted by the TPB.
NOTICE ITEM
Visualize 2050: Draft Technical Inputs Solicitation
Lyn Erickson presented information on the Visualize 2050 Technical Inputs Solicitation (TIS). The TIS defines the process and schedule for upcoming long-range transportation plan development, air quality analysis, and development of the 2025-2028 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The board will be asked to approve the draft TIS document at its February 15 meeting.
Upon February approval, the Visualize 2050 plan process begins with the following steps:
- February 15, 2023 – TPB publishes a list of exempt (funded) and non-exempt (current project list reorganized) projects. Public comment on the projects will be forwarded to the agencies submitting projects.
- Spring 2023 – TPB staff will facilitate meetings with TPB board members and technical agency staff to discuss potential inputs.
- June 30, 2023 – Preliminary inputs are due to TPB staff for the Visualize 2050 long-range transportation plan and the Air Quality Conformity analysis
- September 2023 – Public comment period on plan inputs/air quality analysis and Air Quality Conformity scope of work
Sakina Khan, District Office of Planning Deputy Director for Citywide Strategy & Analysis, asked how Visualize 2050 is different from Visualize 2045 and what aspect of the plan is being updated. Srikanth responded that the financially constrained element of the plan is being updated at this time. He said that this update of Visualize 2045 would be different and new because it includes a reexamination of all projects and repopulation of the plan with projects more reflective of the TPB’s policy priorities and findings of its previous scenario analysis. Srikanth commented that Visualize 2050 would represent extension of the horizon year of the plan to 2050 and use a new round of Cooperative Forecast, 10.0. He said that newer policy priorities such as the current TPB-adopted Aspirational Initiatives and climate change strategies will carry over to Visualize 2050.
Committee Reports
TPB Technical Committee, TPB Community Advisory Committee, Steering Committee, and Director’s reports from January are available on the January TPB meeting page.
The TPB recognized Ashley Hutson for serving as TPB Community Advisory Committee Chair from 2021-2022. In thank you remarks to the board, Hutson said that she is “hopeful that the connections between the TPB and the CAC will continue to strengthen in the coming years.”
Director’s Report
TPB Staff Director Kanti Srikanth announced that the application period is open through March 3 for the Transportation Land-Use Connections (TLC) Program and the Regional Roadway Safety Program (RRSP). Both programs have the same application timelines and one application form. New for this year is that planning projects are now eligible to receive up to $80,000 in technical assistance, an increase of $20,000 from previous years.
Srikanth also shared an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) final rulemaking “Control of Air Pollution from New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards.” This final rule adopts new, stronger emissions standards to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from heavy-duty vehicles and engines beginning with Model Year 2027. The rule, supported by a TPB letter to the federal docket, is the first of three major actions being taken under EPA’s “Clean Trucks Plan.” According to a TPB staff memo, the EPA estimates that by 2045, heavy-duty Nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions will be almost 50 percent lower than they would have been without the new rule.
Also in the Director’s Report is a list of 2023 TPB Board, TPB Technical Committee, and TPB Steering Committee meeting dates. 2023 TPB board meetings currently scheduled for virtual format are the February, September, and November meetings.
Srikanth welcomed new COG Executive Director Clark Mercer. It is anticipated that Director Mercer will address the TPB at its March meeting.
NEXT MEETING
The next TPB meeting is scheduled for February 15 at 12:00 P.M. The February meeting will be virtual. A YouTube livestream option is available for all TPB board meetings.
Note: Item 9 on the January 18 TPB agenda (Visualize 2045 Phase II Environmental Justice Analysis) will be presented at a future meeting.