[{"_1":2,"_112":-5,"_113":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88,100],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6158599,"mediaKeyId","5457973-44fee4957457ef51b96b0b78ff87f35c","parentId",5457973,"title","TDOT staffing changes, planning grant notices and FHWA \"Safe Roads\" memo highlight federal priorities","audioSeconds",495,"startMs",3100000,"endMs",3595000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5457973-44fee4957457ef51b96b0b78ff87f35c&start=3100&end=3595","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5457973-44fee4957457ef51b96b0b78ff87f35c/thumbnail_3100000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6158599/Tennessee/TDOT-staffing-changes-planning-grant-notices-and-FHWA-Safe-Roads-memo-highlight-federal-priorities","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6158599-cb8f3aca816ba7f9d1677e2debb318b7/orig.mp4?Expires=1775291524&Signature=e2d-o1f~arNGyjDaZboHsya3imTpQBBgeAhPZeAXYAKuvlS0jIGukxZ7ahzfn6GQd59q31E3-FRojFWAoNPnPDDhydlwRtKJP~40aq6CLMDtPDed7MR~bQwWUP-MrQdAo66W5P-iqi7dvkEmoL81SkvRI9eoQPJvibo14pA6Nnpn0Ig8sxCc~qLG5RCll3BRdNaTviWIN4GOj9Csx0JOiy66KMYWMK~5O3Tpe4v-VNq1YNnRVnh8-kOY1NL0QOYCsVQKcOznuRLLIpV7wehnPBUpxwl7CI3DyMwHOLQuU93FjhzKcdALWaeu81DIVLGjO~3wTsvmxwORPPD46s~1rw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City of Knoxville, TN","date","2025-07-24T04:14:49.01Z","article","Tennessee Department of Transportation and MPO staff provided the board with staffing updates, grant timing and federal policy signals on June 23. TDOT staff said Region 1 leader Steve Borden has retired and that interim staff will continue permit approvals; TDOT also noted a state chief engineer transition and other administrative moves.

TDOT staff reminded jurisdictions that state planning grant opportunities (including the State Partnership Program and other TDOT planning grants) will open late summer; staff urged local agencies to coordinate with MPO staff on applications and noted prior successes in getting projects into the 10‑year plan through these processes.

A staff member read a U.S. Department of Transportation / Federal Highway memo and summarized its direction: the memo asks state DOTs, working with MPOs, to identify arterial segments and intersections with the highest safety, operational or compliance concerns to be addressed by the end of federal fiscal 2026. The memo also stated a return to data‑driven priorities, and the presentation quoted a passage: “We’re getting back to the basics. Using data to guide decision making and prioritize investments that reduce distraction while improving mobility and safety for all road users.” The meeting attendee who read the memo also told the board the USDOT letter (dated July 2) indicated the department is no longer enforcing specific items such as equity, climate and greenhouse gas considerations in the same manner as previously emphasized.

Staff said FHWA requested a list from state DOTs within 60 days and that TDOT plans to submit its Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) lists for the relevant areas to satisfy the request; staff said the requested “addressed by fiscal 26” language appears to call for near‑term, already‑identified safety priorities rather than long‑term new initiatives. In addition, the presenter noted media and secondary materials suggest that some aspects of the initiative are focused on certain roadway markings or painted crosswalks; TDOT staff said they will circulate a memo and the HSIP lists for MPO review.

Board members asked procedural and policy questions and were reminded to coordinate with MPO staff on TDOT planning grants. No formal board action was taken on the TDOT staffing or FHWA memo items; staff will circulate additional details and grant application guidance.

No public comments were offered on these items during the meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","TPOe 420 250723","oneSentenceSummary","TDOT representatives briefed the Executive Board on recent regional staffing changes and upcoming planning grant opportunities; a Federal Highway memo read at the meeting signaled a national initiative to prioritize arterial safety and operations and noted changes in enforcement emphasis on certain equity-related items.","taxTitle","Transportation Planning Organization Meetings, Knoxville City, Knox County, Tennessee","taxId",69357,"location","Tennessee","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6158605,"TPO begins scoping travel‑demand model update; household survey needs 2,000 more responses",1743,1322000,3065000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5457973-44fee4957457ef51b96b0b78ff87f35c&start=1322&end=3065","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5457973-44fee4957457ef51b96b0b78ff87f35c/thumbnail_1322000.jpg","/articles/6158605/Tennessee/TPO-begins-scoping-traveldemand-model-update-household-survey-needs-2000-more-responses","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6158605-48b916c4da94176b05204a8b929bcf6e/orig.mp4?Expires=1775291524&Signature=KGE75eYqwbZPRD3XxYtbt3anhWjNHhSxhOoW787ZjIr~i1QKl9J3PMfSKgLA3riXrtOaE4MiD9DLzk8wmHNohEq~SBC30E~r7n42YOeMbU-nUqDx8H~i--qHAVMCrfqcNrVSqD0PT6EZ~KllN~tulk0X6-59ip5GpC05yDEsydVg191tGFOS~nw~JVHrM96Al4K4bHi9rtmzk1BOIlU9dx0HTi9Z20IY7424GBDujcsF~anvr~4vuyDyZoNQxya7C-bXmk82AxErMGQ9MGs8J9XMv1VByc4~VyQJ0-z3Uvfr2reSENLQV0CZ6NqVt4vI1D58NTBsVb9ZJoWaVL3R4w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization moved forward on June 23 with scoping for a major update to its travel‑demand model and described the household-travel survey that will feed the update. Staff said the model currently validated to a 2022 base year needs a substantive update and that the MPO will issue a request for proposals once scoping, costs and data needs are finalized.

“It's a mathematical representation of travel demand and supply to help us try to plan for the future,” Mike, the TPO technical presenter, said when describing the region’s travel‑demand model and the reasons for an update. Staff explained the model is a hybrid between a traditional four‑step model and more advanced activity‑based models; the update will trade off model spatial resolution, run time and cost. Staff told the board the study area includes 10 counties (to be reconsidered where Sevier County may have separate modeling efforts) and that a key input to the update is a household-travel survey.

Mike said the household survey has recruited about 1,000 households so far and that the MPO’s target sample is 3,000; because the survey is a scientifically random mail sample, only people who receive the mailed invitation are to complete it. The survey paused for the summer and will resume when schools reopen in August to ensure typical travel patterns are captured. Staff asked elected officials and member jurisdictions to help amplify outreach when the next mailing stage occurs; the MPO said it has an incentive (~$10 per household member) and has partnerships with the University of Tennessee Center for Transportation Research to improve legitimacy and response.

Board members and staff also discussed specific model use cases and data needs: using the model for project prioritization, subarea studies, traffic‑operations and nonmotorized/transit analysis, freight and delivery‑vehicle modeling, tolling and autonomous-vehicle scenarios. Freight data were highlighted as a challenge because much of that information is held by private companies; staff said prior freight committee efforts struggled to obtain private data and that staff would pursue options for a technical report or freight study. Staff gave examples such as delivery-vehicle impacts (ride‑hail and last‑mile deliveries) and the need to consider rail and barge where relevant.

Electrification and emissions modeling were discussed: staff explained the travel‑demand model treats electric vehicles like other motorized vehicles for traffic impacts, while tailpipe‑emissions forecasts are produced in a separate EPA emissions model that includes assumptions about fleet turnover and EV adoption. Board members raised concerns about pavement wear, registration surcharges and funding equity as electric vehicle use grows. Autonomous vehicles also prompted discussion about potential impacts on congestion, parking and regulatory needs; members suggested staff begin tracking deployments in other cities and coordinating with TDOT and state legislators on titling, registration and pilot approaches.

The consultant scoping exercise included a technical workshop and survey of technical‑committee members; staff said consultants will provide cost ballparks for different modeling approaches and recommend a procurement path once survey and scoping results are finalized. The MPO expects to resume the household survey in August and to accelerate outreach to meet the 3,000‑household target this fall.

The board did not take formal action on scoping; staff will use workshop results to define procurement and finalize a request for proposals for the model update.","Staff outlined scoping work for a major travel‑demand model update, discussed tradeoffs in model resolution and run time, and reported the household-travel survey is behind target with about 1,000 recruited and a 3,000-sample goal.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6158610,"TPO staff reviews FY 2026–29 Transportation Improvement Program draft; October adoption targeted",359,947000,1306000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5457973-44fee4957457ef51b96b0b78ff87f35c&start=947&end=1306","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5457973-44fee4957457ef51b96b0b78ff87f35c/thumbnail_947000.jpg","/articles/6158610/Tennessee/TPO-staff-reviews-FY-202629-Transportation-Improvement-Program-draft-October-adoption-targeted","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6158610-8aafefe1cb196453387037afc38bee6c/orig.mp4?Expires=1775291524&Signature=jpMFNzIPViX4P7II4YMRZAS5TyklvFte-vs1PBuYSf-32D4E6oPGyC-M2lL00zJ5DDy8nHrckn0rCecSKAKpCy6yC2aNTJlYuUoYb95vMUpOqIrjJeOw3-3N9sy2B-kN3Nyp5tJZcIHLEIEPoMgfV3c2hTaIGzb18hhWWYwAUiKchFgtDvMIP-rUB1Bn1PP7~ufw~Xho5Vj-rVgN4f7Gk2XMdUojUeueJyMhbjpq4Z2p-MDDpYoQp9zhcEBzo5wBswkwBaqK6do1RkiFhcdG3pcCSM9eIE4TXDjjNtYJEBoUA6Bmu20s17hdfB1NVmIGEWo1Iiks34G4BhPIZ2Pacw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","TPO staff provided the Executive Board on June 23 an update on development of the FY 2026–29 Transportation Improvement Program, the region’s multi-year capital programming document that schedules federally funded projects for delivery. Staff said the draft TIP has been submitted to the Tennessee Department of Transportation for an initial 30-business-day review and will then proceed to Federal Highway for additional review and air-quality conformity analysis.

“Essentially a capital improvement program for the region,” Craig, the presenter, said of the TIP, adding the program contains a mix of 32 individual local projects and several consolidated “groupings” for bike/pedestrian, congestion and clean air, planning and pavement management, and TDOT projects. Craig described the LSTBG (locally flexible) program as the largest and most flexible funding source in the TIP and said staff has set aside a program reserve equal to roughly 10% of projected revenue to manage cost overruns and delivery risk.

Staff described the schedule as sequential: TDOT review (30 business days), interagency air-quality consultation, an FHWA review window and a 30‑day public comment period, with a target for Executive Board adoption in October and a November fallback if needed. Adoption in October would enable the TIP to become the operable programming document in January; staff said the TIP guides funding obligations and project delivery.

The draft submitted to TDOT includes 32 non-grouped projects (mainly local), four local groupings and three TDOT groupings; bike and pedestrian projects have been placed into a flexible “bike/ped grouping” containing 15 individual projects so the MPO can manage delivery and respond to cost and timing changes. Staff noted the TIP constrained programming to projected revenues and left contingency reserves for each program area.

No formal board action was taken; staff will circulate the draft document, appendices and the public-comment schedule to board members and the technical committee and begin the interagency review steps. The TIP presentation was informational; staff requested questions and said the draft will be circulated to member jurisdictions and committees later the same day.","Staff told the Executive Board the draft FY 2026–29 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) has been submitted to TDOT for review and the MPO is targeting an October adoption after sequential state and federal reviews, public comment and air-quality conformity checks.",{"_33":101,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":102,"_41":103,"_43":104,"_45":105,"_47":106,"_49":107,"_51":108,"_53":109,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":110,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":111,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6158616,"Knoxville TPO Executive Board adopts FY 2026–27 transportation planning work program",796,149000,945000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5457973-44fee4957457ef51b96b0b78ff87f35c&start=149&end=945","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5457973-44fee4957457ef51b96b0b78ff87f35c/thumbnail_149000.jpg","/articles/6158616/Tennessee/Knoxville-TPO-Executive-Board-adopts-FY-202627-transportation-planning-work-program","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6158616-72f853973241d4d698faae3d1ee857ec/orig.mp4?Expires=1775291524&Signature=l0p20F~6x-8wXtYwowCE1d4a2CQy4D-WkwmaDcx4Ysz~E75ySpsG1jXyx6-Pf3ncT6BQzajlALWKa-xBBiAzm-6WJhV7QLG9~Q~CiLrOSCpLopYKAP8r1bIA0FL8y2L-3ejzRoZt9AQ2~VNNbch-kZjlFdp~t3ZTqbBII97996kyIYMpDV2rhiPWtoB-3Nfx3ApNIbNQWc9jE~uy2KopPOYOXG6UQxXOTZCAguVsHJdRE2-EloQ7xhIfAhNNhKhRh-4KPOnOiSioRPPdwm18az-gaEGkA8mmMoSoAXhms8WCXBPBRdAz3rAdRF36UjPPzVn1CbB1HZAdQYeuIu8RMw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization Executive Board on June 23 adopted its FY 2026–27 Transportation Planning Work Program, the two-year, federally guided plan that sets the MPO’s staffing, data collection and study priorities beginning Oct. 1, 2025. The board approved the final draft by voice vote after staff described the program and budget.

The work program, often called the unified planning work program in federal guidance, organizes the MPO’s day-to-day program administration, data collection and modeling, short-range programming (the TIP), long-range planning and multimodal and special studies. Doug, a TPO staff presenter, told the board the draft had been reviewed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration with “a few minor corrections,” and that the plan must be adopted by Aug. 29 to meet federal review schedules. “We do need to go ahead and pass it today,” Doug said during the presentation.

The memo submitted by staff describes the document as a two-year program that begins Oct. 1, 2025, and follows federal fiscal-year scheduling and federal planning factors, including economic vitality, safety, accessibility and environmental considerations. The work program budgets roughly $8 million for the period, with about $6.7 million in federal funds; staff said the figure includes nearly $900,000 in locally flexible funds for pavement-management and corridor work and roughly $1 million in FTA funds that support transit program projects. Staff also described a $500,000 “special studies” bucket (an 85/15 federal/local split) for consultant-led planning studies and a $200,000 planning fund for complete-streets strategies.

Board members asked questions during the presentation about freight planning and private-sector data-sharing; Doug said freight planning must consider the whole system (truck, rail, barge) and noted prior difficulty obtaining private freight data, though MPO staff plan to scope options for a freight technical report or study. After discussion, a board member moved to approve the work program and a second was given. The motion was adopted by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded.

The board was informed the MPO will update a public outreach plan early in the work program, maintain performance-measure dashboards tied to the recently adopted mobility plan, continue and expand an extensive traffic-count program that archives decades of counts, pursue a substantial travel-demand-model update fed by a household-travel survey and work with member jurisdictions on ongoing TIP maintenance and delivery.

The decision means staff may begin tasks tied to the plan on Oct. 1, 2025, and to seek consultant contracts and grant opportunities identified in the budget. Staff emphasized the plan could be adjusted if federal reauthorization changes priorities during the two-year window.

The board did not identify any conditions on the adoption other than standard federal review and coordination steps; staff said any jurisdiction-specific project requests would continue to be handled through the TIP process and through subsequent project calls or amendments.

The MPO will post the final adopted work program online and share it with member jurisdictions and federal partners.

The meeting included no public comment on the work program.","The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization Executive Board adopted its two-year FY 2026–27 Transportation Planning Work Program, a federally required document that sets the MPO’s work priorities, data programs and budgeting for the next two federal fiscal years.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

TDOT staffing changes, planning grant notices and FHWA "Safe Roads" memo highlight federal priorities

TPO begins scoping travel‑demand model update; household survey needs 2,000 more responses

TPO staff reviews FY 2026–29 Transportation Improvement Program draft; October adoption targeted

Knoxville TPO Executive Board adopts FY 2026–27 transportation planning work program