Draft 2009 Federal Transportation Improvement Program available for Public Review
The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments is now accepting public comment on the Draft 2009 Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) (scroll below to download the document).  The draft FTIP is being released for a required public comment period of thirty (30) days. 

Written comments should be submitted to SBCAG by 5PM on July 16th.  A public hearing on the FTIP will be scheduled at 10AM (Time Specific) for the July 17th SBCAG Board meeting in Santa Maria, CA to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on the adequacy of the FTIP document or how federal transportation funds are being expended in Santa Barbara County.  

Following the public hearing, the SBCAG Board of Directors will consider the FTIP for approval.  The 2009 FTIP will then be submitted to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), to be included in the Statewide Federal Transportation Improvement Program which will subsequently be submitted to the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration for approval.

Please submit comments to Sarkes Khachek, Transportation Planner, at skhachek@sbcag.org or by telephone at 805-961-8913.

What is the Federal Transportation Improvement Program?
Every year the Federal Government provides states, counties, cities and transit agencies with funding for transportation projects throughout the country that help improve the mobility of residents.  The funding is received by the federal government through federal gas taxes.  Types of projects include highway, local roadway, public transit, pedestrian, bicycle projects.  These federally funded projects need to be identified in a document that allows the public an opportunity to see what projects are being funded, which federal funding programs are involved, and when the projects will be delivered.  The Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) is the document that meets this purpose. 

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) is the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Santa Barbara County and its incorporated cities and must carry out transportation planning and programming responsibilities specified in federal regulations.    Among SBCAG’s many responsibilities includes preparation and adoption of a multi-year FTIP once every four years. 

The FTIP serves as a short-term program for the use of anticipated federal transportation funds to maintain, operate and improve the region’s multi-modal circulation system.  The FTIP identifies all federally funded highway, transit and other surface transportation projects in the county (along with their funding sources) that are scheduled for implementation in the following four years, FY 08/09 to FY 11/12.  It also includes projects are subject to federally required action or are regionally significant.  The FTIP must be financially constrained by year.  This means that the amount of funding devoted to projects must not exceed the amount of estimated funding available.  Only projects listed in the FTIP are eligible to receive federal transportation funding.