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Kansas

The Rural Context For Transportation Consultations

Kansas is the 13th largest state in the U.S. in land area, 32nd largest in population, and 11th least densely populated. Approximately 60 percent of Kansas's population and jobs, and 99 percent of the land, is non-urban. Approximately 92 percent of Kansas' roads are rural. Federally owned amount to less than one percent of the state's land area.

Kansas is a slowly growing state, as measured by population, with a moderately growing rate of employment. The portion of the state's jobs that are in the uniquely rural agriculture and mining sectors is moderate to small (9 and 1 percent, respectively). Most jobs in Kansas's rural areas are in sectors also common in urban areas: construction, transportation & utilities (13 percent); manufacturing (17 percent); business & trade (25 percent); and services & government (36 percent).

Demographically, Kansas's non-urban population is predominately white (94 percent). Compared to the other states, Kansas ranks relatively low (14thlowest) in the proportion of non-urban adults who did not graduate from high school, and in the middle in the proportion who did graduate from college. The 11 percent of Kansas's non-urban people who are poor is near the middle, compared to other states. About 44 percent of the state's non-urban population is in non-working age groups (29 percent 18 years or younger, and 15 percent 65 years or older).

Governmentally, Kansas is complex. The state has 105 counties, a fairly large number compared to many other states. The state also has 627 municipalities and 1,370 towns or townships for a total of 1,997 sub-county divisions. It has the 5th highest number of sub-county divisions. Kansas also has 4 federally recognized Indian tribes.

In addition, the 1997 U.S. Census of Governments has identified one independent, special-purpose government in Kansas that has transportation (highway) responsibilities. This number is much lower than in most other states. Kansas also has 75 other public transit providers serving rural areas and an additional 30 organizations that provide specialized transit services to elderly and disabled populations in those same areas.

Kansas has 7 regional councils that cover approximately 50 percent of the state, and 5 MPOs. These regional units help to coordinate the other local governments.

Of Kansas's 133,825 miles of roads, approximately 8 percent are state-controlled, while none are federal. Of the total miles of rural roads, 8 percent are state, 82 percent are county or township, and 10 percent are municipal and other.

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

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) conducts multi-modal transportation planning, which produces a 20-year long range plan. In addition to the federally required three-year STIP, KDOT publishes a five-year capital improvement program for scheduled improvements to the State Highway System. KDOT also works with local units of government to develop a five-year improvement program for federal-aid projects. These documents are updated annually. In Kansas, rural public transportation is administered by 15 Coordinated Transit Districts (CTDs) that work directly with KDOT in planning.

Representatives from all jurisdictions and all modes of travel, including highway, air, rail, water and transit, are included in development of the Long-Range Plan. In developing the Long-Range Plan, KDOT conducted an extensive public outreach effort including surveys, public forums, and stakeholder meetings. Also, Major Investment Studies solicit input from advisory committees comprised of local officials and citizens' groups. Advanced Preliminary Engineering Studies, similar to Major Investment Studies, are used to identify key issues and concerns associated with anticipated future major improvements.

KDOT's public involvement efforts directly contribute to the State's processes for consultation and cooperation with local officials in non-metropolitan areas. KDOT adopted a Public Involvement Plan in 1997, and within the last two years Public Involvement staff has been hired for the headquarters and all six district KDOT offices. In the fall of 2000, KDOT will have in place a statewide customer service line, the KDOT Connection. The toll-free line will route the caller to the closest district office, allowing local KDOT employees to address the caller's local issues.

On a continuous basis, KDOT's Public Involvement Program seeks to accept and share input from the public on KDOT's programs, processes and projects. Local officials and the general public are encouraged to participate in any public involvement opportunity. This opportunity allows rural officials to provide ongoing input to KDOT regarding improvements to the State Highway System. . The STIP is made available for public comment before being finalized. The rural areas within the planning boundary of an MPO have representation on all MPO committees and forums through both professionals and elected officials.

In addition to the formal public involvement program, KDOT offers numerous opportunities and makes many efforts to provide the public with "access to its processes." During the course of a year, the public makes thousands of contacts with KDOT employees at all levels, particularly at the Area Engineer and District Engineer levels. At headquarters in Topeka, the public's concerns are addressed daily in the form of individual and group meetings with KDOT management, e-mail contacts, telephone calls and letters.

Several major public involvement efforts have been undertaken in previous years, including a very extensive public survey in 1997 and 1998. A second survey is currently underway to determine whether the public's attitudes have changed and to determine what kind of job the public believes the agency is doing. The results of the surveys will serve as input to the ongoing effort to update and/or change KDOT's priority formulas that are used to select highway and bridge construction projects. The survey results will also serve as important input for the Long-Range Transportation Plan update, which began, in late summer of 2000.

During 1998, a massive public involvement effort was conducted as part of the Governor's Transportation 2000 (T2000) initiative to "seek the input, advice, and dreams of Kansas citizens, communities, regions, and advocacy groups." Over 500 presentations were made to the T2000 Study Group by local officials, businesses, and private citizens concerning transportation needs, at 12 meetings, attended by more than 2,500 people, held around the state. Input from these meetings was instrumental in passage and design of the Comprehensive Transportation Program (CTP) passed by the Kansas Legislature in May 1999.

Portions of federal and state transportation funds are made available to cities and counties through programs that are to be used for road improvements under their jurisdiction. Funding for federal programs, specifically the Bridge and Surface Transportation Programs, is made available in support of projects that are programmed by cities, counties and MPOs in their own Transportation Improvement Programs. Local officials are responsible for determining priorities when submitting improvement projects for roads under their jurisdiction that use federal funds and are included in the STIP. Local officials also are encouraged to submit improvement projects annually in order to update these programs. The Bureau of Local Projects administers the portions of KDOT's local assistance program for sharing federal funds with cities and counties for street and road improvement projects. The local agency is responsible for developing the project plans and the Bureau assists with reviews, agreements, and programming of funds.

Counties, municipalities, and MPOs also apply to KDOT for project funding provided by the State Comprehensive Transportation Program. The projects are selected by well-documented, criteria-based processes. KDOT solicits project requests from local governments for City Connecting Link (CCL) geometric improvements, CCL surface preservation projects, safety projects, economic development projects, Intelligent Transportation Systems projects, and Corridor Management projects. KDOT also solicits project requests from local governments for funding from the federal Transportation Enhancements, Hazard Elimination, and Railroad/Highway Crossing programs. Projects for these programs are selected based on competitive analysis of the need for improvements using consistent and objective criteria.

Major projects on the State Highway System, specifically Substantial Maintenance and Major Modification program projects, are selected by the Pavement Management System and priority formulas, respectively. These are objective, data-driven systems that were developed at the direction of the Kansas Legislature. Over the years, literally thousands of meetings and/or presentations have been held with local governments, stakeholders, and citizens explaining these systems and processes and receiving input about them. Each system is constantly subject to minor alterations in response to changing needs, and on a less frequent basis, each is looked at for major updates as a result of changing technology, data availability, and public perceptions and desires.

In order for local agencies to have input and become knowledgeable of project program procedures, KDOT makes numerous presentations at local agency meetings and conferences throughout the year. Liaison committees with KDOT and local agency representatives discuss issues of concern. Seminars are held for programs that cover project development procedures.

Input from tribal officials is sought as part of the development of the Long-Range Plan. Also, in 2000, KDOT began sending letters to all tribes with ties to the state, requesting comments from Tribal officials on the design of federal-aid roadway improvement projects. Likewise, input from federal land management agencies is sought during the design process of roadway improvements on federal lands.

Kansas uses federal, state, and local funds to meet its transportation needs. State funding sources include motor fuel taxes, motor vehicle registration fees, state sales taxes, and other taxes, as well as bonding authority. State law provides that a portion, historically about 40 percent, of State motor fuel taxes be distributed directly to cities and counties. State law also provides for federal Rural Secondary funds (now part of STP) to be shared with counties in the same proportions as state motor fuel taxes. It is KDOT's long-standing policy that federal funds are sub-allocated to local units of government, allowing local governments to set priorities for those funds. Local agencies are also allowed, to the extent possible, to take advantage of flexible options in federal regulations. The CTDs that administer transit services receive federal, state and local funds to purchase equipment and operate services.

Kansas uses these practices:

State Processes for Compiling Transportation Needs: Major projects on the Kansas State Highway System are selected by objective, data-driven systems that were developed at the direction of the Kansas Legislature. Each system is constantly subject to alteration.
State Hearings: KDOT solicits input on the long-range plan at widely publicized meetings; the STIP is made available for formal public comment. KDOT conducts massive public involvement efforts for major projects, which involve complex corridors, bridges, or interchanges. The Governor's Transportation 2000 initiative, was a major statewide effort to collect information on statewide transportation needs.
State Processes for Interactive Exchanges of Views with Local Officials: KDOT's Bureau of Local Projects has created the opportunity for interactive participation through the establishment of liaison committees with cities and counties. These committees provide direct input to KDOT for developing policies and procedures to administer Federal-aid programs for local units of government.
Allocation of Transportation Funds and Responsibilities: Local governments set priorities for state and federal funds distributed to them.
Other Practices: KDOT maintains an open door policy that allows local officials and the public to contact the agency about any requests or concerns. Staff in Local Projects attends and participates at annual and special local official meetings and conferences. Staff maintains daily contact with local officials to inform them of new policies and procedures and to address specific project-related questions. KDOT also uses correspondence, telephone calls and e-mail to obtain public input as well as public opinion surveys.

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