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The Rural Context For Transportation Consultations

California is the 3rd largest state in the U.S. in land area, largest in population, and 12th most densely populated. However, approximately 20 percent of California's population and jobs, and 96 percent of the land, is non-urban. About 75 percent of California's roads are rural. Federally owned lands amount to 47 percent of the state's land area.

California is a moderately growing state, as measured by population, with a slowly growing rate of employment. The proportion of the state's jobs in the uniquely rural agriculture and mining sectors is moderate to small (8 and less than one percent, respectively). Most jobs in California's rural areas are in sectors also common in urban areas: construction, transportation & utilities (15 percent); manufacturing (12 percent); business & trade (27 percent); and services & government (37 percent).

Demographically, California's non-urban population is predominately white (82 percent). Compared to the other states, California ranks about in the middle in terms of the proportion of non-urban adults who did not graduate from high school but well above the middle for the proportion (6th highest) who did graduate from college. The 12 percent of California's non-urban people who are poor is less than in many other states. About 40 percent of the state's non-urban population is in non-working age groups (28 percent 18 years or younger, and 12 percent 65 years or older).

Governmentally, California has 57 counties, a fairly manageable number compared to many other states. The state also has 471 municipalities, but no towns or townships. It ranks about in the middle (21st largest) in terms of the number of sub-county governments. California also has 104 federally recognized Indian tribes.

In addition, the 1997 U.S. Census of Governments has identified 136 independent, special-purpose governments in California that have transportation responsibilities. This number is higher than in most other states. These special-purpose governments include 45 for highways, 16 for airports, 12 for water transport, and 63 for transit. California also has 120 other public transit providers serving rural areas and an additional 400 organizations that provide specialized transit services to elderly and disabled populations in those same areas.

California has 22 regional councils that cover approximately 75 percent of the state, and 15 MPOs. These regional units help to coordinate the other local governments and play a role in rural transportation programs as described below.

Of California's 168,378 miles of roads, approximately 11 percent are state-controlled, while 11 percent are federal. Of the total miles of non-federal rural roads, 16 percent are state, 77 percent are county, none are township, and 7 percent are municipal and other.

Processes For Consultation And Cooperation With Local Officials In Non-Metropolitan Areas

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) conducts multi-modal planning and programming. The State's 20-year, long-range, California Transportation Plan contains policy guidance for planning and programming decisions. Under California law, most state and federal transportation funds are programmed through the four-year biennial State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and the four-year biennial State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP), both of which are adopted by the California Transportation Commission (CTC). These, as well as several other plans, provide the building blocks for the Federal/State Transportation Improvement Program (FSTIP).

MPOs and Regional Transportation Planning Agencies (RTPAs)-similar in structure, funding, and responsibility to MPOs--are active in transportation planning. Cities, counties, transit agencies, and other organizations are members of the RTPAs and receive project funding through their RTPA. Twenty-nine RTPAs are rural. RTPAs generally cover single counties and prepare regional transportation plans and transportation improvement programs for those areas. The development of the plans is a cooperative effort between the RTPAs and Caltrans. The transportation projects proposed by a region are approved by the RTPA board, which is comprised of local elected officials and the Director of the local Caltrans district office.

Caltrans uses a variety of participation practices to obtain input in developing the long-range plan. Both a policy advisory committee, including broad statewide and issue-wide representation, and separate technical advisory boards for individual modes have been established. A web page also has been set up to accept input via e-mail, along with a database of interested parties, containing over 2,400 entities, including every city and county and various interest groups with rural interests. Generally, during development and adoption of various planning and programming documents, both drafts and finals are formally circulated and comments are solicited; hearings or public meetings are held on final drafts. The California Transportation Commission approves or rejects each regional transportation plan in its entirety. If accepted, the regional plan is included in the STIP. At the state level, opportunity for public comment of the FSTIP is made using the State Intergovernmental Clearing House Review Process.

Caltrans has Native American liaisons who work directly with the tribal governments and RTPAs to facilitate the consultative process from planning through construction, and some RTPAs have representation from tribal governments on their committees or through interaction on specific projects. Tribal governments also have the option to be directly involved in the transportation consultation process through the Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP), which assists the Tribal Governments to understand and participate in the transportation planning processes.

The Federal Lands Program includes projects in the Indian Reservation Roads program, the Parkway and Park Roads program, and the Public Lands Highway program, which are selected by various federal agencies including the Central Federal Lands Highway Division in cooperation with Caltrans and local government agencies. State concurrence in these selections is required.

A large share of all Statewide Transportation Planning (STP) and other funds are sub-allocated by population to MPOs and RTPAs. As a result of state laws, regional agencies now decide how to program 75 percent of transportation funds. The state determines how the remaining 25 percent of funds are used. Decisions for other programs are guided by state law. Congestion Mitigation and Air quality (CMAQ) funds are sub-allocated to MPOs and RTPAs based on population and severity of pollution. The MPOs and RTPAs make project selections for these programs in consultation with the State and local agencies. Under state procedures relative to the Federal Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation (HBRR) and the Hazard Elimination Safety Programs, selection of projects on the State highway system is made by the State and selection of those on local systems are made by local agencies from a priority list.

In the State-administered Federal Transit Programs, the selection of individual projects for the urban program is made by the State from those that have been selected or endorsed by MPOs or RTPAs. Selection of individual projects for the rural transit program is made by Caltrans in cooperation with MPOs or RTPAs and local transit officials. Most funds are apportioned to counties on the basis of non-urbanized area population. Up to 20 percent of the funds is made available on a statewide discretionary basis, and projects are selected by Caltrans on the basis of criteria set forth in the Program Handbook.

California uses these practices:

State Hearings: Hearings are held on final documents; formal comments are solicited on draft plans.
Roles of RPOs: The RTPAs serve this function.
Allocation of Transportation Funds and Responsibilities: Funds are allocated to RTPAs and regional TIPs are incorporated into the STIP (after approval by the Commission).
State Policy-Making and Advisory Boards: California Transportation Commission; advisory committees for Long-Range Plan.
Other Practices: Web page for comments on Long-Range Plan.

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