New CRS Report on Metro Transportation Planning.

Report is HERE.

Interesting take on MPO planning grants for sustainability and Congressional earmarking (pgs 16-17):

"From the brief descriptions available, the planning grants announced by the Obama Administration do not appear to be much different than the intent of those available under a program established in TEA-21 and continued in SAFETEA—the Transportation, Community,and System Preservation (TCSP) Program. As enacted, the TCSP program provides relatively small discretionary grants for research and planning to states, MPOs, and local governments to establish “a comprehensive program to address the relationships among transportation,community, and system preservation plans and practices and identify private sector-based initiatives to improve such relationships” (SAFETEA, Section 1117). Although FHWA administers the program in cooperation with other DOT modal administrations and EPA, over the life of the program, TCSP grants in most years have been awarded by congressional designation (earmarks) in appropriations legislation. The exceptions to this were FY1999, FY2000, and FY2007 when some or all of the program’s funds were allocated by the Secretary of Transportation. Partly due to the way the program was originally conceived and partly because most of the funds have been earmarked, the TCSP program has generally served as a pot of funding to be used for almost any surface transportation purpose. Without a clear purpose, it is difficult to evaluate the success of the projects being supported and the success of the program as a whole. Similarly, it could be argued that without a clear understanding of what is meant by“sustainability” and “livability,” the new planning grants might go for almost any purpose, and the success or failure of funded projects difficult to judge. Congress might also be concerned with the basis on which these new planning grants are to be distributed.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.