BACKGROUND

Multimodal transportation infrastructure and services are built, owned, maintained, and operated by multiple levels of government and the private sector with a complex mix of interdependent funding and financing sources. This paradigm presents challenges for project development, operations, and service delivery. Navigating this complexity requires creative strategies to leverage all eligible resources available.

In the face of this complexity, transportation agencies at all levels need assistance to understand the increasingly interdependent funding and financing options available to them. Challenges presented by the current funding and financing structure include:

• Less certain revenue streams from federal and state formula grants as use of discretionary and competitive grants increase;
  
• Changing relationships and expectations among levels of governments;
  
• Tension among competing policies and priorities at different levels of government;
  
• User-fee revenue not keeping up with needs;
  
• Evolving stakeholder values and goals for the transportation system; and
  
• Emerging technologies (such as connected and automated vehicles) that may require smart infrastructure.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this research are to:

1. Detail the funding and financing from local, regional, private, state, and federal sources for transportation, how they are used, and their interdependence;
   
2. Identify the challenges, constraints, or conflicts transportation agencies experience with interdependent funding and financing sources for current and future needs;
   
3. Document current practices and strategies used by local, regional, state, and private transportation agencies to navigate these funding and financing sources; and
   
4. Identify alternative approaches that local, regional, state, and private transportation agencies are considering to address these challenges and constraints.

TASKS:

Phase I

Task 1: Project Kick-off and Financial Data Collection and Analysis

Within fifteen days of contract execution, the research team shall deliver the Amplified Research Plan for panel review and NCHRP approval. The research team shall participate in a project kick-off meeting arranged by NCHRP following the approval of the Amplified Research Plan. 

The research team shall also review transportation funding and governance to identify the sources of funding and finance by mode and how they have evolved since establishing the Interstate Highway System, focusing on interdependence. The research team shall develop and deliver White Paper #1 that documents, analyzes, and effectively portrays the interdependent systems of transportation funding and finance across all levels of government. This work shall establish as clearly and comprehensively as possible (1) the current blend of transportation funding and finance sources; and (2) how this amalgam has evolved.

Deliverables:

•        Amplified Research Plan

•        Kick-off Meeting and Summary Notes

•        Draft White Paper #1

•        Final White Paper #2

Task 2: Identify and Review Existing Grey and Scholarly Research; Document the Evolution of Transportation Funding and Ownership Complexity

The research team shall identify scholarly research and information produced outside of traditional publishing and distribution channels to inform the research effort on transportation funding and governance. This comprehensive and strategic examination of the grey and

scholarly literature shall build on and complement Task 1 and the profiles developed of current and historical transportation funding interdependencies across government levels and modes. The research team shall prepare White Paper #2 that:

• ·       Establishes how and why the funding of U.S. transportation systems is an inherently collaborative, complex, intergovernmental, and interdependent enterprise;
• ·       Provides an in-depth discussion of the drivers and mechanisms of funding interdependency, as documented by different stakeholders and organizations in the literature;
• ·       Develops and organizes a working inventory – drawn from the literature – of the challenges and constraints that funding interdependency creates for transportation agencies, government organizations, and their private sector partners; and
• ·       Develops and organizes a working inventory – drawn from the literature – of different stakeholders' strategies and practices to manage or navigate funding interdependence and its associated challenges effectively.

Deliverable:

•        Draft White Paper #2

•        Final White Paper #2

Task 3: Initial Consultation on Challenges and Strategies

The research team shall identify the challenges and constraints of the interdependent transportation ownership, funding, and financing paradigm using a multi-step process. The research team shall: 

1. (1)   Mine the information collected in the literature to identify the challenges documented in the literature on interdependent funding, and
2. (2)   Use the information gained from these activities to explore the challenges and constraints in greater detail in a series of twenty interviews with current finance and project programming staff at public sector transportation owners at different levels of government.

The research team shall interact with stakeholder agencies, providing a spread of geographical contexts, different sizes, and scales, covering all modes, and emphasizing local and regional representation in addition to the state level in outreach design and the stakeholder identification process. 

Before the Task 3 interviews, the research team shall develop an interview guide that will:

• ·       Contain a brief overview of the research;
• ·       Describe the types of issues to be explored in the discussions, balancing between program and project level investigation and research outcomes; and
• ·       Provide a list of specific questions exploring different facets of the challenges and constraints of interdependent funding. 

The interview guide shall include questions exploring problem-solving, strategy identification, and how agencies demonstrate trade-offs at the program and project level when making decisions and preparing federally required planning documents. The research team shall share the interview guide with the project panel for their feedback and NCHRP approval before conducting the interviews. Interviews shall be conducted virtually.

Deliverables:

•        Interview Guide

•        White Paper #3

Task 4: Pilot Focus Group

The research team shall prepare a Pilot Focus Group Discussion Guide identifying the topics and areas of exploration for qualitative focus group research among cohorts of public sector officials from peer organizations; conduct and document an initial pilot focus group session; refine the Discussion Guide and recommend agency types for the Phase 2 focus group research. The research team shall use Task 4 to prepare for the execution of Task 6 by developing, testing, and refining a discussion guide for a pilot focus group. The research team shall prepare White Paper #4, conveying the findings of the pilot focus group session and recommended enhancements to the Guide for review by the project panel. The research team shall respond to comments from the panel in the Interim Report.

Deliverables:

•        Pilot Focus Group Discussion Guide

•        White Paper #4

Task 5: Interim Report

The research team shall develop an Interim Report reflecting on learnings from the previous tasks. An updated Phase II Research Plan shall be developed and submitted with the Interim Report. The research team shall present findings to NCHRP at an in-person interim meeting. NCHRP approval of the interim report and updated Phase II Research Plan is required before work on subsequent tasks may begin.

Deliverables:

•        Interim Report with an Updated Phase II Research Plan

•        Interim Meeting Summary

Phase II

Task 6: Finalize Revised Phase II Work Plan, Taxonomy, and Use Cases

The research team shall finalize the revised Phase II work plan according to panel feedback and NCHRP approval. In the revised work the research team shall present the taxonomy and use cases that will guide the remainder of the tasks. A virtual call with the panel shall be held to present the final work plan, taxonomy, and use cases.

Deliverables:

•        Finalized revised workplan, taxonomy, and proposed use cases

Task 7: Pilot Use Cases of Interdependence

The research team shall develop a template for the use cases; and to research and document an initial use case of interdependence in transportation funding for review by the project panel before completing the remainder of the use cases proposed. Topics may include:

• ·       Stakeholders and relationships
• ·       Sources and causes
• ·       Related processes
• ·       Local context
• ·       Strategies and solutions
• ·       Outcomes
• ·       Implications

The Pilot Use Case shall be a concise document of three pages in length. As part of the Pilot Use Case, the research team shall develop an engaging infographic that depicts the funding interdependency for an audience of practitioners. Additionally, the research team shall develop matricies or “crosswalks” for the different use cases that summarize the strategies used to manage the interdependency by stakeholders at all levels of government, together with the outcomes and implications of the interdependency that accrue to these different levels of government.

Deliverables:

•        Draft pilot use case

•        Final pilot use case 

Task 8: Complete Remaining Use Cases and Refine Draft Guidebook Outline

Upon finalizing the Pilot Use Case, the research team shall begin compilation of the remaining use cases following the same template and including the same visual and tabular components. The research team shall deliver the completed use cases to NCHRP in batches of four in a cadence of two-month intervals. An optional virtual call with the panel may be held to discuss first batch before completing the remaining batches. The research team shall also finalize the draft guide outline.

Deliverables:

•        Use cases batch 1

•        Use cases batch 2

•        Use cases batch 3

•        Final guide outline

Task 9: Draft Guidebook and Infographic Briefing Materials

The research team shall integrate the findings of the Phase I research with the Phase II research and use cases into a guide intended for use by transportation finance and policy practitioners working for state departments of transportation and their stakeholdres at all levels of government, and including elected officials and legislative staff, consultants and academicians. The research team shall aim to complete the guide in no more than 60 pages to enhance its usability. 

Deliverables:

•        Draft guide and infographics

Task 10: Final Guide and Other Final Deliverables

The research team shall deliver a final guide following panel review and NCHRP approval. In addition, the research team shall prepare a PowerPoint presentation and speaker notes providing an overview of the research effort, a TR News Highlight, and an Implementation Plan.

Deliverables:

•        Draft final guide

•        Final TR News Highlight

•        Final PowerPoint presentation

•        Final Implementation Plan

STATUS: Final deliverables pending.