NVTA technical advisory panel previews six‑year program: 27 applications, public outreach set for April–May

NVTA staff presented an overview of the authority’s six‑year program process and evaluation approach, saying 27 project applications passed the eligibility screen and will be scored using 10 weighted performance measures.

"We had we received 27 applications. This round, all of them passed through that eligibility filter," Speaker 1, an NVTA staff member, said during the Technical Advisory Committee meeting on Feb. 18. Staff emphasized that a project must appear in the long‑range plan to be eligible for NVTA funding and must be primarily serving Northern Virginia or demonstrate meaningful benefit to the region.

Why it matters: The six‑year program is the NVTA’s primary vehicle for allocating regional transportation revenues. Staff told the committee the envelope available for projects is likely to be similar to prior cycles (about $700 million), while total requests this round exceed that amount, so scoring and prioritization will determine which projects receive funding.

Staff described three components of the selection framework: (1) quantitative scoring (condition reduction and other performance measures), (2) long‑term benefit allocation, and (3) qualitative considerations such as local match and readiness. On scoring, staff said they reduced the prior set of 15 measures to 10 and that the first four—condition and travel‑time reliability measures—carry 40 points because the enabling statute requires giving preference to condition reduction.

On long‑term benefit allocation, staff said they use a working approach adopted in prior cycles that splits long‑term benefit 50/50 between the jurisdiction where the dollars are spent and the congestion‑reduction benefit assigned by origin. "Over the long term, allocation of benefits to member jurisdictions must be approximately equal to the share of revenues attributed to each of the nine member jurisdictions," Speaker 1 said, adding that statutory terms such as "long term" and "approximately equal" are not precisely defined in the law and have been operationalized by prior committee work.

Staff also explained technical methods used to estimate condition reduction: model runs for an intermediate year (2030) and a horizon year (2045), calculation of person‑hours of delay with and without each project, and aggregation of benefits starting only after a project is expected to be completed. Staff emphasized that condition reduction metrics divide total modeled benefits by the project’s total cost (not solely the NVTA request).

The presentation noted some projects (sidewalks, trails, transit information systems) require assumptions to estimate modal shift and trip reductions. A committee member asked how such projects are handled; staff replied they apply evidence‑based conversion rates and local context to estimate how many trips might shift out of cars and onto active or transit modes.

Staff highlighted a handful of continuation projects in the package, including Richmond Highway BRT (NVTA previously provided about $330 million toward BRT and another roughly $308 million for widening), Prince William County’s Van Buren Road (requesting about $179 million), and the Duke Street Transitway (NVTA the primary funding partner). Staff said final evaluations will be completed in March, committees will review recommendations in June, and the Authority is expected to take final action in July.

Next steps: staff will publish project description forms, evaluation tables and maps for public review when the outreach period opens (staff indicated public engagement will run through April–May with a May 14 public hearing); the Technical Advisory Committee will receive the full evaluation results at its March meeting.