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Utah

The Rural Context For Transportation Consultations

Utah is the 11th largest state in the U.S. in land area, 34th largest in population, and 10th least densely populated. Approximately 28 percent of Utah's population and jobs, and 99 percent of the land, is non-urban. About 87 percent of Utah's roads are rural. Federally owned lands amount to over 64 percent of the state's land area.

Utah is a quickly growing state, as measured by population, but has minimal growth in employment. The portion of the state's jobs that are in the uniquely rural agriculture and mining sectors is small (6 and 3 percent, respectively). Most jobs in Utah's rural areas are in sectors also common in urban areas: construction, transportation & utilities (14 percent); manufacturing (15 percent); business & trade (24 percent); and services & government (38 percent).

Demographically, Utah's non-urban population is predominately white (95 percent). Compared to other states, the proportion of Utah's non-urban adult population who did not graduate from high school is low (2nd lowest), and the proportion that did graduate from college is the 17th highest. The 12 percent of Utah's non-urban people who are poor is in the middle (25th highest). Utah has the highest percentage of non-urban population 18 years of age or under but second lowest percentage 65 years of age or over (41 and 10 percent, respectively).

Governmentally, Utah has 29 counties, a fairly manageable number compared to many other states. Utah has 230 municipalities, but no towns or townships, giving it the 12th lowest number of sub-county governments among the states. Utah also has seven recognized Indian tribes.

In addition, the 1997 U.S. Census of Governments has identified 16 independent, special-purpose governments in Utah that have transportation responsibilities. This number is lower than in many other states. These special-purpose governments include 15 for highways and 1 for transit. Utah also has three other public transit providers serving rural areas and an additional 18 organizations that provide specialized transit services to elderly and disabled populations in those same areas.

Utah has 8 regional councils that cover approximately 100 percent of the state and 2 MPOs. These regional units help to coordinate the large number of other local governments.

Of Utah's 43,270 miles of roads, approximately 13 percent are state-controlled, while 22 percent are federal. Of the total miles of non-federal rural roads, 17 percent are state, 74 percent are county, and 9 percent are municipal and other. There are no townships in the state.

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

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has 4 regions, which conduct much of the rural transportation planning. The Statewide Transportation Planning Process provides a coordinated, multi-modal plan for improvement to, and improvement strategies for, the State's Transportation System. It uses data collected from a series of management systems (e.g. pavement management and bridge management), various studies, and several sources of public input. The STIP includes highway and transit projects and is designed to implement the Long Range Highway Plan and Transit Plans. It also is designed to meet short-range needs and provide for the preservation of existing systems within the state.

In the early stages of planning, input is obtained through several types of public meetings. The UDOT Local Governments Project Engineer meets yearly with UDOT regional staff and officials from each county and local government to discuss funding programs available and current project status. These workshops have been held at the county level. Regional staff hold a series of public workshops to help set STIP priorities at which they get comments from many groups, including public officials. The workshops are a combination of meetings held at the region offices and additional meetings held in the more remote areas of the state. Also local officials are among those invited to 12 public open houses held annually by the UDOT Statewide Planning staff. At each of these meetings local officials and others can discuss long-range transportation needs and issues, and have an opportunity to comment on the Draft STIP. These open houses are held at rotating locations such that every county is visited at least every three years. UDOT recently completed an evaluation of its planning process and will be implementing changes aimed at strengthening planning and increasing regional and local input. Implementation studies have begun. It is expected that some changes will be phased in and that full implementation plans will be in place by February 2002.

The Utah Transportation Commission meets annually with UDOT central and regional staff to review existing highway conditions and to assign funding levels to various elements of the system, such as pavement preservation, traffic operations and congestion mitigation. Following this guidance, the regional staffs set priorities for the region based on input from the various public meetings as well as on information obtained through ongoing dialogue with local officials at the regional and district levels. UDOT then drafts the STIP and submits it for approval by the Transportation Commission. The draft STIP is advertised as available for public comment for about 30 days; open houses to discuss the draft are also held. Finally, the Transportation Commission considers the comments, makes revisions as necessary, approves the final STIP, and forwards it to FHWA and FTA. The region offices hold project-specific open houses once the project concept has been developed to that point.

Local officials can participate in any of the public meetings; they are invited to all and are specifically targeted for some. Local officials also have access to the Transportation Commission members, both individually and at the monthly commission meetings - several of these are held at locations throughout the state each year, and to the State Legislature. Additionally, UDOT, in cooperation with local government officials represented by the Joint Highway Committee (JHC), has developed a policy and procedure to implement a long-range planning process through which needs are identified and prioritized in local rural and small urban areas. The JHC has 30 members selected jointly by the Association of Counties and the League of Cities and Towns. Federal STP funds used in non-urban areas are programmed by the JHC acting as an advisory committee to the Transportation Commission. (Local officials from developing areas within MPO boundaries serve on the MPO transportation coordinating committees and have technical representatives on the technical advisory committees.)

The STIP includes projects on Tribal and federal lands. Special effort is made to contact and invite Native American government representatives to the scheduled open houses, workshops and planning meetings. UDOT staff attend the annual Native American Transportation meetings and the Engineer for Statewide Planning is a member of the State Native American Coordinating Board which meets quarterly. Also, UDOT staff meet periodically with representatives of federal land management agencies to coordinate projects and applications for federal funds; these agencies are also invited to attend the various public meetings and open-houses. UDOT has initiated coordination meetings with the National Park Service; this is being expanded to other federal land management agencies. More generally, issues such as land management and economic development are discussed during the planning process, but these issues are locally controlled and the state does not have any jurisdiction over them.

The UDOT Transit Team participates in transit feasibility studies for the federally funded state planning and research program. These studies may result in project development and tie to the statewide plan. Municipalities, counties, associations of government (AOGs), and other interested groups are involved. Selection of other federally funded projects also includes AOGs in the selection and evaluation process.

Rural transportation is funded with federal, state and local funds. The Transportation Commission is responsible for programming state and most federal funds. Twenty-five percent of the state transportation fund goes directly to cities, towns and counties based upon a set formula. Local funds are available for transportation through property taxes or other local taxes. UDOT is conducting a pilot program to allow local authorities to exchange federal funds that are programmed for a local project for state construction funds. Transportation enhancement funding is available by application through a citizen advisory committee that advises the Transportation Commission on project selection.

Utah uses these practices:

State Consultation Tours: The Local Governments Projects Engineer meets annually with each county and local government to discuss available funding and project status.
State Hearings: The draft STIP is made available for comment at public meetings.
State Processes for Interactive Exchanges of Views with Local Officials: Various workshops and open houses are held around the state by central and regional staffs.
Allocation of Transportation Funds and Responsibilities: Twenty-five percent of state transportation funds go directly to cities, towns, and counties.
State Policy-Making and Advisory Bodies: The JHC membership represents non-urban areas and makes recommendations on programming for transportation funds in non-urban areas as well as having a role in long-range planning. Utah Transportation Commission.
Other Practices: UDOT regional staff maintain a continuing dialogue with local officials; local officials have direct access to members of the Transportation Commission and to the state legislature; UDOT staff attend the Native American Transportation meetings and the State Native American Coordinating Board meetings.

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