SEMPO Updates

News and Information from November 2020

A Message from the Executive Director

I hope everyone was able to enjoy their Thanksgiving holiday! With 2020 being 2020, it was important to be able to reflect on all the things we have to be grateful for. For me, this represents many things in my life including family, friends, and our great local community. In the spirit of being grateful, incremental progress on new transportation legislation continued in November with the Senate Appropriations Committee releasing the text of the Fiscal Year 2021 Transportation - Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) appropriations bill.  The bill will serve as the starting point for negotiations between House and Senate leadership during the lame duck session of the 116th Congress. The next obvious question, or at least one I had after learning of this, is Why would a FY 2021 T-HUD appropriations bill be important if Congress already passed a one-year extension of the FAST Act lasting through September 30, 2021? The answer is as simple as our legislative processes, or as they say, it's in the details. The Federal-aid highway program is funded through contract authority paid out of the Highway Trust Fund. Contract authority under the FAST Act and the current one-year extension provides only the authority to enter into obligations, but not the authority to liquidate those obligations. The authority to liquidate obligations, or to actually spend the money committed, must be provided separately under the annual T-HUD appropriations bill. In comparing the House and Senate funding levels for Federal-aid Highway program, it is important to note that the House T-HUD bill was crafted assuming H.R. 2 (the INVEST in America Act) would become law. As we know, this did not come to fruition. The Senate-released text for FY 2021 T-HUD reflects the one-year flatlined extension of the surface transportation programs passed on October 1, 2020. The first button below shows the comparison between the House T-HUD and the recent Senate T-HUD. The second button below provides a one-page summary of the highlights of the Senate Appropriations Committee FY 2021 T-HUD.  

 - Alex McElroy

Metropolitan Transportation Plan Update

I like the image above because it reminds me of everything our Metropolitan Transportation Plan is contemplating. I know some may fall into the thought process of viewing transportation in terms of how they personally travel to and from places within our community, but we are incredibly fortunate to have so much more to consider in terms of transportation and what it means to our local economy and quality of life. KLG Engineering and Lochmueller Group deserve a great amount of credit for being able to provide this update on the status of our MTP project, but they gave it to me first so I'll report it. Our MTP survey received 143 total responses and closed yesterday. Summary of these responses will commence this week. The demographic analysis is 85% complete, environmental analysis & land use is 70% complete, the crash analysis is 95% complete , and the travel demand model is just getting underway being 25% complete. For a full report on the MTP project status click the button below.  

ADA Pedestrian Transportation System Condition Assessment

Last call for any comments on the condition assessment reports provided to the Board and TPC. Comments will be accepted up to December 2nd, which will allow Lochmueller time to make any final adjustments to the documents before being presented to the Board at their January 20th meeting for acceptance. The assessments reviewed over 10,000 individual data points analyzing ADA compliance with sidewalks, curb ramps, blended transitions, grade breaks, detectable warning surfaces, openings, protruding objects, bus stops and stations, railroad crossings, handrails, refuge islands, crosswalks, and push buttons. The condition assessments offer prioritization recommendations, opinions of probable costs, as well as identifying potential funding sources. Click the buttons below to review the reports for Jackson and Cape Girardeau.   

November MoDOT Planning Partners Meeting

Monthly, MoDOT leadership hosts a Planning Partners conference call with the statewide MPO's to provide an update on organizational activity. On our call last week, MoDOT reported they were moving forward with the development of the 2022 - 2026 STIP Update. This is welcomed news as there have now been over 450 amendments to the current STIP. The Statewide Planning Partners Conference was announced to be on February 10th and will be held virtually. Normally the conference is held in Jefferson City.  MoDOT's attention to continuity of services continues during the public health emergency. At the beginning of the pandemic, MoDOT took measures to keep staff safe and work remotely when possible. As winter weather approaches, MoDOT leadership's  concerns have shifted toward snow removal services and the potential of facility shutdowns. Because of this concern, MoDOT is actively developing contingency plans if such events occur to ensure roads are cleared and as safe as possible for the public. 

From a revenue perspective, MoDOT is becoming more comfortable with their assessments and projections during the public health emergency. Fuel tax revenues, on average, are down approximately 10 percent. However, over the last couple of months, revenues from automobile sales and vehicle registration fees have performed extremely well. So much so, that they have made up for the deficit in the fuel tax revenue. Most recently this increase has begun to tailor off and is now projected to return to normal levels. The increase was most likely due to a pent up demand as well as dealerships offering enticing financing options for consumers.  With MoDOT's increasing comfort in the current budget standing, they have committed to letting schedules on a three month rolling average. So a positive revenue forecast for November will be committed to December, January, and February projects. Therefore, any projects that may have been delayed are now being placed back on their schedule. MoDOT anticipates being able to let most of the projects scheduled for this winter which will then become the construction projects for the next construction season.

Changes in Traffic Due to COVID-19

Statewide passenger traffic is down 17% since the public health emergency began (3/15/20 – 11/21/20). This is a 1% improvement since last reported in October. From November 1 to November 21 passenger traffic showed a decrease of 11% as compared to 2019 statewide. This is a slight increase from October which experienced a 10% reduction in passenger traffic as compared to 2019.

Commercial traffic statewide continues to perform better than passenger traffic statewide with an average decrease of 3% since March 15, 2020. This is a 1% improvement from October reporting. The month of October experienced an increase of 2% in commercial traffic as compared to 2019 and November has continued this positive trend with an increase of 6% statewide from November 1 through November 21. 

The Vital Importance of Roadway Safety - A Statewide Fatality Update

Even with COVID reducing the amount of traffic volumes in 2020, we have unfortunately experienced an increase in the number of roadway fatalities statewide and within the Southeast District. The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety is reporting 827 fatalities statewide in 2020 and 117 fatalities in the Southeast District. This represents an increase of 90 fatalities statewide and 10 fatalities regionally as compared to 2019. The Coalition's reporting also represents the highest number of roadway fatalities in the State of Missouri in over 5 years. These are heartbreaking numbers to report, but we can reverse this trend by stressing the importance of roadway safety. The Missouri Department of Transportation's ShowMe Zero initiative emphasizes four strategies to help us accomplish this:  Buckle Up; Phone Down; Slow Down; Drive Sober. Please do your part in helping us achieve this mission and stress upon others to do the same. The button below provides a breakdown of the fatalities reported by Urban/Rural, On/Off Roadway, Involvement, Driver/Passenger, Age, Helmet Usage, and Seat Belt Usage.

SEMPO Trivia

In the 2005 movie "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", after following correct procedures within an approved Public Participation Plan (PPP), the Earth was proposed to be destroyed for what reason?

a. To provide a clearer view of Venus
b. A disinfection treatment due to a pandemic
c. Earth was no longer needed as a habitat for dolphins
d. To build an express route

Be the first one to respond to my email (amcelroy@cityofcape.org) with the correct answer, and the next time we host a meeting in-person I'll bring the drink of your choice. And yes, I know there was a Hitchhikers series and more before the 2005 remake. I enjoyed them all very much.

Hyperloop

What is 100% electric and faster than a jet plane? The answer may draw you back to the classic animated Jetsons series. That's right, people traveling through tubes. New Hyperloop infrastructure is currently being developed in Dubai by Richard Branson's Hyperloop One project connecting Dubai and Abu Dhabi in just 12 minutes (currently a 1 hour 25 minute vehicle commute). It boasts speeds up to 700 miles an hour while generating very little external noise. Check the video below to see more details on the project.

Transportation Quote

"Vehicles are one of the best modes of transportation. Relationships are one of the best vehicles of transformation.”

― Kate McGahan