{"id":151788987,"date":"2009-10-23T19:36:27","date_gmt":"2009-10-23T19:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=151788987"},"modified":"2009-10-23T19:36:27","modified_gmt":"2009-10-23T19:36:27","slug":"congestion-mitigation-and-air-quality-cmaq-nonimprovement-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=151788987","title":{"rendered":"Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) [Non]Improvement Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the League of American Bicyclists:<\/em>
\n
…
\nBACKGROUND<\/b><\/p>\n

In 1991, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) created the Congestion
\nMitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program to fund transportation projects
\ndesigned to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion. Bicycle and Pedestrian projects
\nare explicitly recognized at the federal level as eligible. Eligible projects include new bike and
\nwalking facilities and promotion projects (FHWAa, 2008).<\/p>\n

All CMAQ projects must be part of a state\u2019s transportation plan and region\u2019s transportation
\nspending plan, called the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). As with other federal
\nfunding sources, states and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) that have made cycling
\nwalking priorities in their planning will have an easier time using CMAQ funds on bike\/ped
\nprojects. States disperse the funds — sometimes allocating them directly, and sometimes suballocating
\nto MPOs — and are then reimbursed by the FHWA after the work is complete. CMAQ
\ntypically covers 80 percent of the project cost, with the remaining 20 percent coming from the
\nstate, MPO or public\/private partners.<\/p>\n

Where and how much<\/b><\/p>\n

All 50 states and the District of Columbia receive CMAQ funds. Funds must be spent in regions
\nthat do not meet national air quality standards for ozone and carbon monoxide levels (\u201cnonattainment\u201d
\nareas) or have recently become compliant (\u201cmaintenance\u201d areas). [Baltimore is a non attainment area]<\/em><\/b>. If a state does not have these areas, CMAQ funds are treated as part of the
\nSurface Transportation Program (STP) and can be used anywhere in the state.
\n
…
\nOvercoming Barriers<\/b><\/p>\n

While some MPOs are eager to spend CMAQ money on bike\/ped projects, others are more
\nresistant. According to a comparative case-study, almost 45 percent of the money spent on
\nbike\/ped in the Sacramento, Ca. area comes from the CMAQ program, while Baltimore, Md. did
\nnot spend any CMAQ funds on bike\/ped projects as of spring 2009.<\/em><\/b> Officials in the two locations
\nsaw bike projects very differently. In Sacramento, reviewers saw bike projects as the ideal use
\nfor CMAQ money, saying that the CMAQ program \u201calmost earmarks money\u201d for bike\/ped
\nprojects. But in Baltimore, planners questioned the competitiveness of bicycling projects
\nbecause they felt it was difficult to show their impact on air quality (McCann, 2009).
\n
…
\nNearly all states have under-spent their CMAQ funding. The money is there. It is a matter of
\npriorities. Bicycle and pedestrian projects are a great choice because their cost benefit ratio is
\nbetter than for other project types. [Maryland has underspent to the tune of $1.4M]<\/em><\/b>
\n
…
\n\u201cYou could spend your whole budget
\non a few miles of HOV lanes,\u201d one planner
\nsaid, or you could complete a number of
\ndifferent bicycle and pedestrian projects.
\n
…
\nFY 2009 Baltimore, Maryland Application \u2013 November 4, 2008
\nBicycling projects are grouped under \u2018other\u2019, with no bicycle specific instructions.<\/em><\/b> They ask
\ngenerally for the type and description of the project, how it will reduce emissions, an estimate
\nof reductions, and cost effectiveness calculations.
\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.bikeleague.org\/resources\/reports\/pdfs\/lab_cmaq.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The CMAQ Spending Story<\/b>
\nIn our case studies, the difference between the regions is most starkly illustrated in
\nthe way they spend air quality funds distributed under the CMAQ program. In the
\nSacramento region, almost 45% of federal funds spent on bike\/ped projects comes
\nout of the CMAQ program. In the Baltimore region, no CMAQ dollars go to bike\/ped
\nprojects. In interviews, an official in Sacramento explained that the CMAQ program
\n\u201cin a way almost earmarks money for bike\/pedestrian [projects],\u201d (N. Kays, personal
\ncommunication, 2007) because these projects are beneficial to air quality,
\ninexpensive, and easy to implement. In Baltimore, officials said it is difficult to show
\nair quality impact with bicycle and pedestrian projects, making them less competitive
\n(J. Bridges, personal communication, 2008).
\nhttps:\/\/pubs.its.ucdavis.edu\/publication_detail.php?id=1304<\/a>oldId.20091023193627353<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the League of American Bicyclists: … BACKGROUND In 1991, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) created the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program to fund transportation projects designed to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion. Bicycle and Pedestrian projects are explicitly recognized at the federal level as eligible. Eligible projects … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) [Non]Improvement Program”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151788987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biking-in-the-metro-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151788987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=151788987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151788987\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=151788987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=151788987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=151788987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}