MAP-21 established a new program to provide
for a variety of non-motorized and non-highway projects, including many that
were previously eligible activities under separately funded programs. The
Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) combines and replaces
pre-MAP-21 programs including Transportation Enhancements, Recreational Trails,
Safe Routes to School, and several other discretionary programs, wrapping them
into a single funding source.
The TAP provides funding for programs and projects
defined as transportation alternatives, including on- and off-road pedestrian
and bicycle facilities, infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access
to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement
activities, and environmental mitigation, trails that serve a transportation
purpose, and safe routes to school projects.
Construction projects must have a construction cost of at
least $50,000, but may not exceed $1 million, unless the project is of
exceptional regional or statewide significance. Key criterion in the review of
applications will be readiness for implementation and safety. Other
criteria include, but are not limited to, consistency with local regional
plans, collaboration with stakeholders, statewide or regional significance, and
the sponsor’s demonstrated ability to successfully deliver the project.
Projects will be selected on the degree to which the sponsor addresses all
selection criteria outlined in the TAP Guidelines, including their ability to
deliver projects within the first two years of the 2017 TIP.
On
January 10, 2017, the 2016 Statewide TAP Awards were announced via the following Press Release. The listing of approved projects can be found in the following link: 2016 Approved TAP Projects
TA Set-Aside
In late 2015, federal legislation
eliminated the TAP and replaced it with the Transportation Alternatives
Set-Aside of the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (TA Set-Aside).
Information about the TA
Set-Aside, including information on the 2018 Statewide Application Round, is
available on PennDOT’s
TA Set-Aside Funding Site.