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BURLINGTON - GRAHAM METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION METHODOLOGY FOR IDENTIFYING AND RANKING NEW TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM PROJECT REQUESTS Introduction NCDOT developed project prioritization as a collaborative, data - driven, approval process for the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) in 2009. Significant changes were made to the process prompted by House Bill 817 also known as the Strategic Transportation Investments (STI). The bill established funding tiers (Statewide, Regional, and Division) and allocations across all modes. The outcome of the STI process is the draft State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The STI legislation applies uniformly across the state regardless of the boundaries of MPOs. STI requires Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to develop and adopt a local project ranking process for all modes of transportation. In 2017, NCDOT developed new standards based on the findings and recommendations in the Local Input Point Process Verification Report and observed best practices from Strategic Prioritization (SPOT) 3.0 and 4.0. SPOT 5.0 includes the creation of a NCDOT review process that ensures each MPO complies with developing a process for approving Local Input Point methodology used in prioritization. Each MPO must develop, adopt and implement a methodology that maintains criteria transparency, process documentation and maximizes the opportunity for public review and comment. The Burlington- Graham Metropolitan Planning Organization ( BGMPO) Methodology for Identifying and Ranking TIP Project Requests describes the processes that the BGMPO will follow to identify projects that will be submitted for evaluation to NCDOT during the NCDOT Strategic Prioritization Office of Transportation's (SPOT) Prioritization process. When the results of the SPOT Prioritization process are made available, the BGMPO will follow this Methodology to rank projects and assign Local Input Points to high priority projects. This Methodology is designed to address the federal requirement that the TIP be consistent with the projects and investment priorities of the MPO's MTP while being compatible with the state's STI process. The BGMPO retains the authority to develop the TIP for the MPO area as required by federal regulations. Participation in the STI process through submitting projects for evaluation and /or allocating Local Input Points to projects does not require the MPO to include these projects in the TIP. Objective The Methodology described herein is designed to address multi -modal transportation needs, ensure regional balance, and prioritize projects that are needed based on technical criteria. The goal is to produce a project priority ranking which satisfies MPO goals, is simple enough for project -level analysis without requiring unnecessary data collection, and is understandable by the general public. The BGMPO's Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will use the methodology to generate a list of priority projects to submit to the NCDOT SPOT for quantitative scoring. While the methodology is designed to comprehensively address the BGMPO's transportation needs, there will always be factors that are not easily measured but should still be considered in the development of the BGMPO's priorities. The BGMPO TAC will make its recommendation for the prioritization of projects based on the methodology described in this document and in accordance with the BGMPO's adopted Public Involvement Policy. Description of Criteria and Weights NCDOT ranks projects based on two types of criteria: quantitative data - a data - driven, numerically -based measurement (i.e. accidents, congestion, safety, etc.) and, qualitative data - a non - numerically driven measurement. Examples of qualitative data include (but are not limited to): Draft — December 2017 35