The H-GAC’s 2045 Regional Transportation Plan includes recommendations for a high-capacity transit network to support economic growth, mobility and quality of life in the region. The recommendations included a fiscally constrained Priority Network developed through robust collaboration with the High-Capacity Transit Task Force created by the Transportation Policy Council in 2017. One of the key recommendations is to conduct feasibility studies on the corridors included in the High-Capacity Transit Priority Network to examine issues related to implementation and funding in further detail. The Transportation Policy Council has allocated $2,500,000 in the Transportation Improvement Program for the feasibility studies.

Staff requests to enter into a $2,500,000 Advance Funding Agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation to fund the H-GAC’s High-Capacity Feasibility Studies Bundle, which will support the following studies:

• The Outer Westpark feasibility study will explore the extension of Metro’s planned Bus Rapid Transit paralleling the Westpark Toll Road westward into Fort Bend County.
• The regional bus study would address a service gap that currently exists outside of the region’s core and has potentially rapid implementation.
• Additional corridors from the High-Capacity Priority Network identified through stakeholder coordination.

Federal - Surface Transportation Block Grant Funds: $2,500,000

Yes

Request authorization to enter into an Advance Funding Agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation in the amount of $2,500,000 to fund the High- Capacity Transit Feasibility Studies Bundle. (Staff Contact: Craig Raborn)