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The regional powers that be are moving ahead with a plan to divvy out nearly $38 million on transportation improvement projects that spur job growth.

The Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation last week voted to follow a September staff recommendation to spend $37.8 million in additional federal money on projects that would maximize job creation. With extra dollars on the line, numerous community organizations and municipalities are taking a seat at the table; however, some are not happy with the hand they’ve been dealt.

The was advocating that the committee continue to allocate the money based on a traditional split of 25 percent for green economy/freight initiatives and 75 percent for active transportation/complete streets projects.

Two other allocation options were considered by the committee. One would have created a new ratio for splitting the money. The other, which the committee ultimately chose, is called the Regional Economic Opportunity Fund. It leaves the door open for money to go to projects prioritized according to job creation.

Green economy and active transportation projects already stand to receive $8.7 million and $26 million, respectively, in regional flexible funds. But Rob Sadowsky, the BTA’s executive director, said dedicated funds for education programs and things like Safe Routes to School have dried up as a result of the same federal legislation that created the $37.8 million surplus.

鈥淲e are now in a situation where we have to compete openly for that extra $38 million, where we normally had a chunk of that,鈥� Sadowsky said. 鈥淪o we were hoping that chunk would have some split to help offset the changes in the federal transportation bill.鈥�

The additional $38 million comes from the recent Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century federal transportation bill and a decision by Congress to issue money over three years instead of two. Those federal transportation dollars, called regional flexible funds, are issued by the government to metropolitan planning organizations like Metro.

Metro has $146 million in flexible funds to use during fiscal years 2016-18. $48 million has been committed to high-capacity transit and $60.7 million has been dedicated to other regional programs 鈥� including aforementioned green economy and active transportation projects. The $37.8 million is what Metro has left to address transportation needs in the short term.

During the meeting last week, Oregon Department of Transportation representatives suggested dividing $27 million of the money evenly among three local projects seeking federal TIGER grants: the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park, the Brookwood interchange in Washington County and the Sunrise industrial area in Clackamas County.

The idea was quickly shot down. It was called premature and unfair to other parties interested in making their cases. Carlotta Collette, a Metro councilor and chairwoman of JPACT, said the task now is to develop criteria for selecting projects. Ultimately, she would like to see the money be leveraged to generate private-sector investment.

鈥淎ll of these (projects) usually have public-sector matches so that cities and counties submit, but we’ve never really had a case where we can ask the private and philanthropic community to come to the table as well,鈥� Collette said. 鈥淭hat gives us an opportunity to build a much bigger pot of money and to use this as a precedent.鈥�

In terms of job creation, Sadowsky said active transportation projects are best. He pointed to a study by the Political Economy Research Center, which found that for every $1 million spent, cycling projects created 11.4 jobs while road-only projects created just 7.8.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Ostar, executive director for , a Portland-based organization that seeks environmental justice, thinks more work needs to be done to craft criteria for money allocation. He said that Metro has fallen short in efforts to facilitate equity throughout the region.

鈥淭he fact that the process is set up for essentially special interests to compete against each other is not fruitful or beneficial to the region,鈥� Ostar said. 鈥淎nd in fact what Metro needs to be doing as a regional government is adhering to a certain set of principals or values. They’re making a show of having six core principles and equity is one of those principles. And yet there’s no definition around that and we’re watching it be twisted to mean whatever special interest stakeholders want it to be.鈥�

Ostar also was annoyed that the Outer Powell Boulevard Conceptual Design Plan was not one of the projects included in ODOT’s pitch. If equity and environmental justice were criteria, he said, that project might have been on the list.

Ostar delivered those thoughts to JPACT via a letter addressed to Collette. She acknowledged that Metro in the past has not succeeded in terms of environmental justice, and added that she was eager to work with OPAL and other stakeholders to change that.

鈥淟et’s figure out what we need to do because we’re spending a lot of money on outreach to communities,鈥� Collette said. 鈥溾�� I want to be at the table. If there are specific criteria that they think we should have, let’s get them on the table. If we’re not addressing their concerns after all our efforts to address their concerns, then we’re not hearing them.鈥�

Metro staffers will develop a more specific plan for implementing the Regional Economic Opportunity Fund approach and then deliver it to JPACT members on Nov. 8. Members are expected to make a decision at that time.