2011 Call for Projects

The 2011 Call for Projects has approximately 5.3 million in federal Job Access/Reverse Commute and $2.9 million in federal New Freedom Program funding available for award. The table below provides a summary of funding available in the Dallas-Fort-Worth-Arlington (DFWA) and Denton-Lewisville (DL) urbanized areas.

Amount of Funding Available for each program

	DFWA	D L
JARC	$5,090,199.00	$213,345.00	$5,303,544.00
NF	$ 2,778,489.00	$127,843.00	$2,906,322.00
Total			$8,209,876.00

 

 

Call for Projects OPENS:
October 7, 2011

Pre-Proposal Workshops:
October 17, 2011                                                                                             
Denton North Branch Library                                              
1:30 to 3:00p.m.

October 18, 2011
NCTCOG – Transportation Council Room
10:30 a.m. to noon

Call for Projects CLOSES:
November 18, 2011

Surface Transportation Technical Committee
(Information Item: Recommended Projects)
February 24, 2012

Regional Transportation Council
(Information Item: Recommended Projects)
March 8, 2012

Public Meetings
March 12-13, 2012

Surface Transportation Technical Committee
(Action Item: Approve Recommended Projects)
March 23, 2012

Regional Transportation Council
(Action Item: Approve Recommended Projects)
April 12, 2012

Executive Board
(Action Item: Authorize Agreement (s))
May 25, 2012

Project Awards Announced
May 25, 2012

Applicants receive letter with official recommendation
May-June 2012

NCTCOG submits FTA Grant Application
June 2012

FTA Approval of NCTCOG Grant Application
August 2012

NCTCOG executes Agreements with successful applicants
October 2012

Completion of an Intent to Submit Form (below) notifies NCTCOG staff of an organization’s interest in the 2011 JARC and New Freedom Call for Projects and entitles it to a reminder notice two weeks in advance of the application deadline.  Completion of this form is optional.

Fill out form online
Fill out form in PDF and email, mail or fax (PDF)

To be considered for funding under the Job Access/Reverse Commute and New Freedom Programs Call for Projects, project sponsors must complete and submit project proposals to the NCTCOG offices by the submission deadline.  Project proposals must consist of one (1) original signed hard copy and one (1) copy in electronic format to be provided on CD or disk in portable document format (PDF). Graphics, such as maps or photographs, should also be submitted as portable document format (PDF) files. 

Project proposals must be received by 5 pm, Central Daylight Time, on Friday, November 18, 2011.  In accordance with the Call for Projects Procedures established by the Regional Transportation Council Bylaws, NCTCOG must have the submitted project proposals “in hand” at the NCTCOG offices by the submission deadline. Proposals that are postmarked, but not received, by the deadline do not constitute an on time submission. In addition, supplemental information will not be accepted after the submission deadline. Project sponsors are encouraged to submit their proposals far enough in advance of the submission deadline to allow NCTCOG staff to review proposals for completeness.

Application Information Packet (pdf)
Project Submittal Form (pdf)
CFP 2011 Project Budget Workbook (Excel)

Download Adobe Reader

Projects will be awarded through a competitive selection process. Each project proposal will be screened for completeness and timeliness. Proposals that are deemed incomplete or arrive after the deadline will not be reviewed. Complete proposals received prior to the deadline will undergo a two step screening and evaluation process. 

The initial screening process will seek to confirm basic requirements such as agency, program, and project eligibility, as well as consistency with the North Central Texas Regional Public Transportation Coordination Plan. Projects that meet these basic eligibility requirements will be evaluated based on the following scoring matrix:

Needs Assessment                                                                25 points
Implementation, Operations and Sustainability                40 points
Coordination, Collaboration and Partnership                    20 points
Overall Strategic Value                                                           15 points
TOTAL                                                                                     100 points

Applications will be evaluated based on the criteria above and projects recommended for funding will be brought to the Surface Transportation Technical Committee (STTC) and the Regional Transportation Council (RTC) for final approval. Applicants will be notified of the final awards after the Executive Board takes action on recommended project selections, scheduled for March 2012.

NCTCOG is not obligated to fund a proposal from a project sponsor that has demonstrated marginal or unsatisfactory performance on previous grants and/or contracts with NCTCOG or other state agencies. NCTCOG is not obligated to fund a proposal from a project sponsor based on a determination of the risks associated with the project sponsor, including the financial condition of the project sponsor and other risk factors as may be determined by NCTCOG. 

NCTCOG may base funding decisions on factors associated with best achieving the goals of the program, and NCTCOG is not obligated to select a project for funding. Additionally, NCTCOG may select parts of a proposal for funding and may offer to fund less than the dollar amount requested in a proposal.  NCTCOG reserves the right to not fund every project and reprogram remaining funds for a later call.

Interested applicants are urged to develop projects that involve multiple jurisdictions and/or agencies partnering to provide service over a greater area and to serve a higher number of individuals. This in turn can broaden the impacts of a project and enable a greater number of people to be served more cost effectively than several small projects. Additionally, local matching share of a regional project can be distributed among several partners, allowing agencies to realize the highest impact with less capital invested.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments has identified three strategic project focus areas for the 2011 Call for Projects. Project proposals involving Infrastructure, Technology, and Leveraged Resources are believed to maximize existing resources and funding, generally have an extended useful life and can be implemented within a short period of time. Staff highly encourages the submission of projects that involve these strategic focus areas and/or contain some element of infrastructure enhancements, technology advancements and/or leveraged resources.

Successful applicants will be notified in writing of their selection and the amount of grant funds awarded.  Entities selected to receive grant funding will be required to enter into a contract with the North Central Texas Council of Governments.  Note that existing designated recipients under the Urbanized Area Formula Program (Section 5307) will submit their JA/RC and/or New Freedom grant application(s) directly to the Federal Transit Administration.

Entities are obligated to fulfill the requirements of the contract, including complying with all Federal Transit Administration requirements, which include, but are not limited to civil rights, procurement, and drug and alcohol testing.  In addition, all services or work carried out under a contract awarded as a result of this Call for Projects must be completed within the scope, time frames, and funding limitations specified by the contract. Upon signature and execution of the contract by NCTCOG, a copy of the executed contract will be returned to the applicant. 

Grant recipients will be required to submit monthly and/or quarterly information as determined by NCTCOG. Upon execution of the contract, successful applicants will be required to submit Monthly Status Reports to NCTCOG by the 15th of the subsequent month.  Reporting may be done by traditional mail or email, as appropriate. Monthly Status Reports shall include: work accomplished and the current status for each project task; work activities anticipated for the following month by task; existing or anticipated problems that may affect the project schedule and proposed solutions; and updated project schedule with milestones and deliverables.  Forms will be provided to successful applicants as part of their contract.

Please review the Questions and Answer Packet (pdf) to view frequently asked questions during the 2011 Call for Projects.

For other questions or more information regarding the 2011 Call for Projects, please contact:

Jamie Keshav
Transportation Planner II
jkeshav@nctcog.org
(817) 608-2377

James Powell
Senior Transportation Planner
jpowell@nctcog.org
(817) 695-9283