The federal government is advancing early efforts to enhance rural infrastructure nationwide. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently announced a Notice of Request for Information (RFI) for the Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success (ROUTES) initiative. Comments are due April 24.
Established in 2019, the ROUTES initiative drives development of user-friendly tools and information, aggregate USDOT resources and provide technical assistance to support rural and Tribal communities in bolstering and expanding critical transportation infrastructure. The results from the RFI are expected to inform future USDOT funding opportunities, guiding rural transportation infrastructure development and implementation for years to come.
USDOT is specifically interested in insights into rural community needs and experiences with transportation infrastructure. This should include any information regarding the condition of relevant infrastructure, its effect on safety and road user behavior and how its use impacts the community.
Other comments and data of interest should revolve around addressing unmet needs in rural transportation and barriers rural communities face in addressing these needs. In addition, USDOT is interested in stakeholders’ experiences with applying to and using USDOT competitive grant and credit programs. The department is also seeking out new opportunities to enhance its services and technical assistance to rural communities.
The RFI features nine specific questions to guide public input regarding technical information, regulatory citations, data or other supporting evidence. The questions are split across two topic areas: Identifying Unmet Needs in Rural Transportation and Addressing Unmet Needs Through USDOT Grant sand Resources.
The first category features the following questions:
- What challenge sand opportunities do rural areas face related to infrastructure condition, usages, safety and technology?
- What types of infrastructure projects, services, or technology are most needed in rural communities to meet national transportation priorities such as safety and economic competitiveness? What types of projects or services do rural communities find most challenging to fund? What are barriers to funding these projects?
- How could improved multimodal passenger and freight transportation—including road, rail, transit, aviation, maritime, pipelines and other forms of transportation—better contribute to the economic competitiveness of rural communities? What industries are most in need of these improvements?
- What data has been used to inform rural transportation decision making and grant development, and what additional data would have been helpful but was nonexistent or difficult to access?
- How can rural communities better engage with Federal, Tribal, State and regional entities – such as other Federal agencies, State DOTs, regional planning organizations, and metropolitan planning organizations – to maintain and upgrade local transportation?
The second topic covers the following:
- What additional resources or direct technical assistance could ROUTES provide to support rural communities? Of the existing resources ROUTES provides, what is most useful?
- What challenges do rural communities face when applying for USDOT grants and financial assistance? What challenges do rural communities encounter after being awarded a DOT grant or financial assistance?
- What types of technical assistance would be effective for navigating the Federal grant process, including pre-award activities, project delivery, and project evaluation?
- How do the definitions of “rural” across USDOT grant programs reflect the reality of rural communities? How do these definitions influence the allocation of rural funding?
Photo by Tom Fisk from Pexels
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