AASHTO Journal - Oklahoma DOT Issues More than $36M in TAP Funding

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is distributing more than $36 million in Transportation Alternatives Program or TAP funding to 43 local projects that encompass sidewalks, safe-routes-to-school, pedestrian and bicycle trails, plus environmental or historical preservation endeavors as well.

[Above photo by Oklahoma DOT]

“This plan is designed to help improve community connectivity as well as active transportation infrastructure that is not on the highway system,” said Tim Gatz, executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, in a statement. “These projects highlight the important partnerships we have with communities across the state.”

[Editor’s note: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently issued of its “State DOT 2-Minute Update” video series focused on the Oklahoma DOT, detailing the department’s initiative to improve safety on over 5,000 miles of rural two-lane highways by adding safety shoulders to reduce high fatality and severe crash rates.]

The agency said the 2024 TAP application process proved “highly competitive” with a total of 87 eligible project submitted for review. Oklahoma DOT noted that it worked with the Transportation Alternative Advisory Committee, which is comprised of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Oklahoma Department of Health, Safe Routes Partnership, and the American Association of Retired Persons to review and score those TAP applications.

The agency noted that the TAP began in the 2012 reauthorization of surface transportation programs, when the U.S. Congress approved the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century” or MAP-21 Act, which consolidated several previous transportation, trail, and safe-routes-to-school project categories into one program to allow more flexibility at the state and local levels.

Through TAP, federal funds provide 80 or 90 percent of the total cost of the projects – depending on the population of the municipality – with the remaining funds provided by the communities applying for the TAP funds.

Other state departments of transportation also made recent TAP disbursements.

For example, the Kansas Department of Transportation recently issued $31.5 million in TAP funding to 31 projects statewide to create safer, more walkable and bike-friendly routes. Since 2019, via the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation or IKE program, Kansas has awarded more than $95 million for 122 TAP projects, the agency said – benefiting both urban and rural communities.

Calvin Reed, Kansas DOT secretary, noted that this year’s announcement marks the largest TAP grant award made by Kansas since the launch of this federal program. “By partnering with local communities, we can enhance our state’s transportation infrastructure while improving accessibility and fostering more connected neighborhoods,” he said.