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SMART_SCALE_PRESENTATIONTHE BASICS OF SMART SCALE Carson Eckhardt, District Transportation Planner •SMART SCALE is a funding program with a goal of finding the most efficient transportation projects with a limited funding pool. •SMART SCALE utilizes VTrans as the basis for these projects. These needs are referred to as VTrans Mid-term Needs.These needs provide the initial eligibility for a project. •SMART SCALE is a collaborative effort between the locality, and VDOT, DRPT (Department of Rail and Public Transportation) and OIPI (Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment). Virginia Department of Transportation What is SMART SCALE? •The SMART SCALE process can be summarized as such: •Eligibility / Funding –Conducted by VDOT, DRPT and OIPI •Project Application –Conducted by Localities •Project Screening –Conducted by VDOT, DRPT and OIPI •Prioritization / Programming –Finalized by CTB Approval •For localities, your timeline will start March 1st with the Pre- Application process and last until August 1st with the final application deadline. Virginia Department of Transportation The SMART SCALE Process Virginia Department of Transportation SMART SCALE Schedule •Projects are scored based on six data-driven factors. These are: •Safety •Congestion •Accessibility •Land Use (Changed as of Round 6) •Economic Development •Environmental •These 6 categories all have internal measures within them. Each measure has a different weight within that category. Virginia Department of Transportation How are projects scored? •Projects in different parts of the state are scored differently. This means that some factors have more weight in final scoring than others. •The Lynchburg District only has to worry about Categories C & Category D. Virginia Department of Transportation Factor Weighing Factor Congestion Mitigation Economic Development Accessibility Safety Environmental Quality Category C 20 percent 25 percent 15 percent 30 percent 10 percent Category D 10 percent 30 percent 10 percent 40 percent 10 percent Virginia Department of Transportation Factor Weightings Across the Commonwealth •The two main funding streams in the SMART SCALE system are: •District Grant Programs (DGP). Only open to localities and projects compete with other projects in the same district. •High-Priority Projects Program (HPPP). Projects under this funding stream compete with other projects across the whole Commonwealth. •SMART SCALE also has application caps based on population: •Maximum Number of Pre-Applications: 5 •Maximum Number of Applications: 4 Virginia Department of Transportation How are Projects Funded? •With the changes to Round 6 of SMART SCALE, there will be more internal review and validation from VDOT. •As SMART SCALE is a data-driven process and study data used for projects must be up to date for departments within VDOT to check off on the project submission. Virginia Department of Transportation Summary of Round 6 •The upcoming schedule for SMART SCALE is the following (can be found on the SMARTSCALE website at https://smartscale.org ) •Feb 28th, 2024: Pre-App Round 6 Training (2pm –4pm) •March 1st, 2024: Pre-Apps Open •April 1st, 2024: Pre-Apps Close •July 15th, 2024: Supporting documentation due for all applications •August 1st, 2024: Round 6 Full Applications due. Virginia Department of Transportation Upcoming Schedule Carson Eckhardt, District Transportation Planner Carson.Eckhardt@vdot.virginia.gov 434-473-0946 Virginia Department of Transportation Any Questions?