FTA New Starts Evaluation and Rating
There are two primary components of the FTA New Starts Evaluation and Rating; Project Justification and Local Financial Committment. While the criteria for Local Financial Committment does not weigh in favor of either of the proposed alternatives, as you can see below, the criteria used for Project Justification weigh heavily in favor of Alternative NJ-3. Full details on FTA New Starts Funding is available
here.
Project Justification
TEA-21’s project justification criteria are intended to reflect the broad range of benefits and impacts which may be realized by the implementation of the proposed New Starts transit investment. Project justification criteria are initially developed as part of alternatives analysis and are refined throughout the preliminary engineering and final design phases of project development. FTA periodically issues guidance on the calculation of project justification measures. FTA’s New Starts project justification criteria --- and the current measures which make up each criteria --- are summarized below:
|
Criteria |
Measure(s) |
Favored Plan |
|
Mobility Improvements |
- Hours of Transportation System User Benefits
- Low-Income Households Served
- Employment Near Stations
|
Alternative NJ-3 will directly serve low income
households in Westville, Woodbury, Pitman and Glassboro, and because it won't simply be a park and ride commuter line, it will provide greater hours of transportation user benefits. (e.g.
opportunities for people to pursue educational opportunities at Rowan University) |
|
Environmental Benefits |
- Change in Regional Pollutant Emissions
- Change in Regional Energy Consumption
- EPA Air Quality Designation
| No alternative will provide significantly improved benefits over the other alternatives considered, based on the Environmental Benefits criteria the FTA evaluates. |
|
Operating Efficiencies |
- Operating Cost per Passenger Mile
| At $1.85 million Per Mile, Alternative NJ-3 showed the lowest O&M cost per mile based on the DRPA's own study documents. O&M Cost Per Mile for NJ-2 was projected at $2.07 million, and NJ-1 was projected at $2.01 million. |
|
Cost Effectiveness |
- Incremental Cost per Hour of Transportation System User Benefit
| Since Alternative NJ-3 showed the lowest O&M cost per mile and would likely provide the greatest number of hours of user benefits, it would stand to reason that Alternative NJ-3 would also be the alternative of choice based on Cost Effectiveness. |
|
Transit Supportive Land Use and Future Patterns |
- Existing Land Use
- Transit Supportive Plans and Policies
- Performance and Impacts of Policies
- Other Land Use Considerations
| Alternative NJ-3 will encourage smart growth and redevelopment of existing town centers, reducing sprawl and fostering the protection of precious open space in Southern New Jersey. The other alternatives don't even come close on Supportive Land Use and Future Patterns. |
|
Other Factors |
- Project benefits not reflected by other New Starts criteria
| The significant economic development expected from the selection of Alternative NJ-3 will benefit all residents of the region. As well, Alternative NJ-3 is the only plan that can serve commuters of all three major routes; Rt 42, Rt 55 and Rt 295 with park and ride facilities easily
accessible to residents in communities near those routes. |
Local Financial Commitment
The local financial commitment criterion is intended to reflect the level of local funding proposed for the project, and the extent to which this local funding is dedicated to, and in place for, the proposed investment. This criterion also addresses the reasonableness of project cost estimates and revenue forecasts; the adequacy of provisions to address unanticipated costs and funding shortfalls; the financial condition of the New Start project sponsor; and how the sponsor will ensure the operation and maintenance of its entire transit system after implementation of the proposed fixed guideway system.
Like the project justification criteria, information which supports the local financial commitment criteria is refined throughout the planning and project development process. Guidance on the development of transit financial plans is available from FTA.
The three measures for local financial commitment include:
|
Criteria |
Measure(s) |
Favored Plan |
|
Local Financial Commitment |
- Stability and Reliability of Capital Financing Plan
- Stability and Reliability of Operating Financing Plan
- Local Share of Project Costs
| No alternative will provide significantly improved benefits over the other alternatives considered, based on the Local Financial Commitment criteria the FTA evaluates. |
