                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

STATEWIDE PRIORITIZATION PROCESS FOR PROJECT SELECTION (§ 33.2-214.1)

A. The General Assembly declares it to be in the public interest that a
prioritization process for projects funded by the Commonwealth Transportation
Board be developed and implemented to improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of the state&#8217;s transportation system, transportation safety,
transportation accessibility for people and freight, environmental quality, and
economic development in the Commonwealth.

B. Subject to the limitations in subsection C, the Commonwealth Transportation
Board shall develop, in accordance with federal transportation requirements, and
in cooperation with metropolitan planning organizations wholly within the
Commonwealth and with the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, a
statewide prioritization process for the use of funds allocated pursuant to §§
33.2-358, 33.2-370, and 33.2-371 or apportioned pursuant to 23 U.S.C. § 104.
Such prioritization process shall be used for the development of the Six-Year
Improvement Program pursuant to § 33.2-214 and shall consider, at a minimum,
highway, transit, rail, roadway, technology operational improvements, and
transportation demand management strategies.

   1. The prioritization process shall be based on an objective and quantifiable
   analysis that considers, at a minimum, the following factors relative to the
   cost of the project or strategy: congestion mitigation, economic development,
   accessibility, safety, and environmental quality.

   2. Prior to the analysis in subdivision 1, candidate projects and strategies
   shall be screened by the Commonwealth Transportation Board to determine
   whether they are consistent with the assessment of capacity needs for all for
   corridors of statewide significance, regional networks, and improvements to
   promote urban development areas established pursuant to &#xA7; 15.2-2223.1,
   undertaken in the Statewide Transportation Plan in accordance with &#xA7;
   33.2-353.

   3. The Commonwealth Transportation Board shall weight the factors used in
   subdivision 1 for each of the state&#8217;s highway construction districts.
   The Commonwealth Transportation Board may assign different weights to the
   factors, within each highway construction district, based on the unique needs
   and qualities of each highway construction district.

   4. The Commonwealth Transportation Board shall solicit input from localities,
   metropolitan planning organizations, transit authorities, transportation
   authorities, and other stakeholders in its development of the prioritization
   process pursuant to this section. Further, the Board shall explicitly consider
   input provided by an applicable metropolitan planning organization or the
   Northern Virginia Transportation Authority when developing the weighting of
   factors pursuant to subdivision 3 for a metropolitan planning area with a
   population over 200,000 individuals.

C. The prioritization process developed under subsection B shall not apply to
the following: projects or activities undertaken pursuant to &#xA7; 33.2-352;
projects funded by the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality funds apportioned to
the state pursuant to 23 U.S.C. &#xA7; 104(b)(4) and state matching funds;
projects funded by the Highway Safety Improvement Program funds apportioned to
the state pursuant to 23 U.S.C. &#xA7; 104(b)(3) and state matching funds;
projects funded by the Transportation Alternatives funds set-aside pursuant to
23 U.S.C. &#xA7; 213 and state matching funds; projects funded by the
revenue-sharing program pursuant to &#xA7; 33.2-357; and projects funded by
federal programs established by the federal government after June 30, 2014, with
specific rules that restrict the types of projects that may be funded, excluding
restrictions on the location of projects with regard to highway functional
classification. The Commonwealth Transportation Board may, at its discretion,
develop a prioritization process for any of the funds covered by this
subsection, subject to planning and funding requirements of federal law.

HISTORY: 2014, c. 726; 2015, c. 684; 2016, c. 129; 2017, cc. 166, 273.