Active Transportation Program: guidelines

The law updates state project-selection rules to support larger connected active-transportation networks and better coordination with transit operators. It also seeks to improve timely use of program money.

What the law does ​

• Requires eligibility guidelines to cover biking and walking connections to transit facilities, planned stops, transit corridors, transit-oriented development areas, and schoolbus stops, including projects expanding transit access in underserved or rural areas.
• Requires incentives to leverage nonprogram funding for larger or network-level active-transportation improvements.
• Requires a graduated penalty system, from point deductions to disqualification, for applicants that do not timely use prior program funds, while allowing the commission to account for delays outside an applicant’s control.
• Requires applicants proposing projects next to existing bus, shuttle, or paratransit routes to consult the affected transit agency’s executive officer and provide project and expected-route-impact information.

Who it affects ​

• Local and regional applicants seeking Active Transportation Program funding.
• Transit agencies operating bus, shuttle, or paratransit service near proposed projects.
• Pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, students, and residents of underserved or rural communities.

Context ​

The new requirements take effect January 1, 2028.