Active Transportation Program Calls for Volunteer Evaluators

California's Active Transportation Program is currently accepting applications for Cycle 7 (those are due June 17). Each cycle, teams of volunteers do the important work of scoring all the applications against the program's goals. Those scores help determine which projects are prioritized for funding.

California Transportation Commission staff are looking for people involved in active transportation in some capacity in California, who have knowledge of transportation infrastructure projects or programs and planning. However, people who work as transportation consultants or contractors involved in project delivery or application development cannot serve as evaluators, due to potential conflicts of interest. In addition, no evaluator will score applications from their own geographic area. Evaluators will work in randomly assigned teams of two, one from northern and one from southern California.

Volunteers will be trained on the scoring rubric, and are expected to provide meaningful comments to applicants so all understand why they receive their score. A three-hour training session will be presented in May or June of this year, and evaluations will be conducted between June and September.

Typically, each team of evaluators works on between nine and fifteen applications, depending how many applications are received and how many evaluators there are.

To apply, fill out this application form by May 10. It's short. It includes a request for a brief description of the applicant's interest in the ATP and any specific areas of expertise or interest.

More details can be found at this site.

Questions can be addressed via email to ATP [at] catc.ca.gov.

Note that the current '"fund estimate" for the program assumes it will receive the funding allocated in last year's budget, but Governor Newsom has proposed delaying $200 million of that. The final budget is still being negotiated. Although the final ATP budget for Cycle 7 is therefore unknown at this time, this public scoring process remains a crucial way to prioritize the best projects.