At its meeting on June 24, the Transportation Policy Council approved amendments to the 2023-2026 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and the 2045 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). It also approved a new air quality conformity analysis for the region.

Later, TPC members received an update on new goals for participation of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises over the next three fiscal years. Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (or DBEs) are for-profit small businesses at least 51% owned, managed, or controlled by minorities, women, or other historically disadvantaged groups. Transportation agencies that receive federal funds are required to set goals to ensure DBEs have a reasonable opportunity to participate in federally assisted program contracts.

H-GAC has set a goal of 25% DBE participation in its transportation procurement and contract opportunities from fiscal year 2023 to 2025. In June, the agency hosted a workshop and a virtual public meeting about the DBE goals, and it accepted public comments June 13-July 13. The goal was approved by the H-GAC Board of Directors at its July meeting and is set to be approved by the TPC at its July 29 meeting. 

Policy council members next heard H-GAC staff's latest efforts on developing a selection process for the next Call for Projects. H-GAC held workshops in June and gathered statements of interest in July from local governments in the region, and they developed an initial list of improvement projects that could be evaluated for programming in H-GAC's long-range transportation planning programs.

This initial list, though not official, will help staff understand the transportation projects communities in the region are prioritizing. As it finalizes its project selection process, H-GAC also hopes to use this initial list as a starting point to link projects with funding opportunities for new programs by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Additional items the policy council discussed included an update on the FY 2023 Unified Transportation Program and the results of Commute Solutions' Future of Work Survey to understand how the pandemic has impacted employer operations in the region and how they plan to operate moving forward.

The next TPC meeting is scheduled to take place at 9:30 a.m., Friday, July 29. The meeting agenda can be viewed online at www.h-gac.com/transportation-policy-council/meeting-agendas. To view or listen to the video recording of the latest TPC meeting, click here.