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Public Review and Comment Period: KAT Draft Title VI Report

Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) is required, every three years, to submit a Title VI Report to the Federal Transit Administration.

Title VI is part of the Civil Rights Act that ensures no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, be discriminated against under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. KAT coordinates Title VI activities with the Knoxville Regional TPO. This draft Report will be approved by the Knoxville Transportation Authority (KTA) on December 15, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. in the Main Assembly Room of the City County Building located at 400 Main Street, Knoxville, TN 37902.  The KTA meeting is open to the public and any person may attend and provide comment.

The DRAFT – KAT Title VI Report is available for review through the links provided below. For any questions or comments on the Report, please contact Doug Burton at the TPO at 400 Main Street, Suite 403, Knoxville, TN 37902 or at 865-215-3824 or at doug.burton@knoxplanning.org. If you want your comments read into the record at the KTA meeting you must have those to Doug Burton no later than December 14, 2016 at 4:00 p.m.

Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3

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Partnering Agencies Critical to the TPO Success

The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) works closely with a variety of partners, from elected officials to non-profit organizations to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). Their participation in the TPO helps inform the agency on issues and priorities in surrounding counties, with representatives voicing the diverse perspectives of communities throughout our region.

The TPO’s jurisdiction has grown through the years to cover Knox County and the urbanized areas of Blount, Loudon, and Sevier Counties. The TPO Planning Area also includes Anderson, Jefferson, and a portion of Cocke Counties. In order to effectively plan for this large, diverse region, TPO staff work with members of the Executive Board and Technical Committee. The Technical Committee is made up of planners, engineers, and representatives of the region, and the Executive Board is made up of elected officials from both the cities and counties represented by the TPO. Though this committee structure may seem complicated, it is necessary to ensure everyone’s voice is heard and for federal funds to be awarded for transportation projects. In the past year, there have been several staff changes in some of our partnering agencies, giving us a good excuse to highlight the importance of their roles in the TPO.

Earlier this year, TDOT’s Region 1 Office of Community Transportation (OCT) gained two new Community Planning Specialists when they hired Trey Joiner and Michelle Bradburn. Trey joined TDOT after a year with the CAC AmeriCorps as Knox County’s Parks and Recreations Assistant Coordinator, and Bradburn joined after a year-long internship at the Kingsport Metropolitan Planning Organization. They both work with TDOT’s local jurisdictions to strengthen state and local partnerships and to collaborate on transportation decisions that best reflect the needs of local jurisdictions. Because TDOT provides the majority of the funding for transportation projects in our region, it is important that the OCT and other TDOT staff participate in the TPO planning process.

Another staff change this year occurred when Pat Phillips retired from the Loudon County Economic Development Agency after 36 years of service. Jack Qualls, previously one of TDOT’s Region 1 OCT community transportation planners, was hired as the new director. He gained valuable experience at TDOT by working with communities on transportation infrastructure projects and their impact on economic development.

Phillips has continued working part-time to help Qualls transition into his new role. He also has been appointed by Mayor Madeline Rogero to serve on the Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission. (The TPO is a division of the Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission, an agency that is responsible for comprehensive county-wide planning and administration of zoning and land subdivision regulations. MPC has a staff of 35, and the Planning Commission, which is made up of 15 citizens who volunteer for four-year terms, serve as an advisory board.) From his experience with the TPO, Loudon County Economic Development Agency, various other community groups, and his Master’s degree in Urban Planning, Phillips brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the Commission. 

The TPO appreciates our relationships with regional partners whose input is critical in the work we do!

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Notice of Public Hearing: Program of Projects FTA Section 5307 & 5339

The Executive Board of the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) will hold a public hearing at its meeting on Wednesday, November 16, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. in the Small Assembly Room of the City-County Building, 400 Main Street, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the purpose of considering public comment both written and oral on the proposed Program of Projects (POP) funded by Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5307 Urbanized Area Formula Transit Grant funds and FY 2016 Section 5339 Bus and Bus Facilities Grant funds.  The City of Knoxville is the official designated recipient of the grant funds.  The public involvement process, including the times established for public review and for allowing comment on the POP, follows the TPO’s TIP public involvement process, as allowed by FTA and in accordance with appropriate federal transit regulations.  If there are no changes to the POP it will be considered final. 

View the Proposed POP

Interested persons or agencies, and particularly private transportation providers are encouraged to participate in the process.  For information, to be mailed or faxed a copy of the POP, or to provide comments in advance of the meeting contact Dori Caron at the TPO at 400 Main Street, Suite 403, Knoxville, TN 37902; or by telephone at (865) 215-2694; or by e-mail at dori.caron@knoxplanning.org.  Comments submitted in advance of the meeting by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15, 2016 will be read into the minutes at the meeting.   

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Public Comments on Mobility Plan Now Available

Every four years, the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization updates the Mobility Plan, and TPO staff and partners are currently working on the 2017 update. The upcoming changes will build on the last plan, prioritize federal investment in the region’s transportation system over the next twenty-three years, and identify all anticipated projects during that time.

Read More

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FY2017-2020 Draft Transportation Improvement Program Available for Public Comment

Submit comments to Elizabeth Watkins via email at elizabeth.watkins@knoxplanning.org or by phone at 865-215-3825.

The Knoxville Regional TPO completed a draft of the 2017-2020 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and is encouraging public comment from September 26, 2016 until October 25, 2016. The TIP provides a four-year list of multimodal transportation projects within the Knoxville Urban Area. The four-year investment program prioritizes roughly $910 million dollars of federal and non-federal funds for improvements to our roadways, bridges, transit systems, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities throughout the Knoxville Region.

The City of Knoxville, the designated recipient of Federal Transit Administration Section 5307 funds, has chosen to follow the public involvement process of the TIP to meet the Program of Projects public involvement requirements. The public participation process for the TIP does satisfy the public participation process for the Program of Projects.

The draft TIP can be viewed and downloaded on the TPO website at knoxtrans.org/tip, where you can submit comments. Copies of the draft TIP are available for review at the TPO offices located at 400 Main St., Suite 403, Knoxville, TN.

Comments can be submitted via any of the following methods:

  • By letter, mailed to the TPO offices located at 400 Main St., Suite 403, Knoxville, TN 37902
  • At the September 28, 2016 TPO Executive Board Meeting
  • At the October 11, 2016 TPO Technical Committee Meeting
  • At the October 26, 2016 TPO Executive Board Meeting
    * All meetings are held at 9:00 a.m. in the Small Assembly Room of the City County Building (400 Main Street, Knoxville, TN).

If you need assistance or accommodation for a disability, please contact the TPO at 865-215- 2694 or dori.caron@knoxplanning.org and we will be glad to work with you in obliging any reasonable request.

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Knoxville Receives Grant From Federal Transit Administration

We are pleased to share some big news – Knoxville was awarded a $200,000 grant through the Rides to Wellness program of the Federal Transit Administration!

Knoxville Area Transit will manage the award, building a program to improve access to healthcare for Knoxville residents.

The FTA grant will fund a project between KAT and the 2-1-1 call center to create a single point of contact that will help older adults, people with disabilities, and others access transit to take them to medical appointments. The project will improve local coordination of transit and healthcare services by training 2-1-1 staff, medical providers, and residents on how to use KAT buses. 

TPO and MPC staff assisted KAT in the grant application by identifying the population to be served by the new program. Local areas with high priority populations, those neighborhoods with greatest social and economic need, were first identified during the Plan East Tennessee initiative. Among the challenges faced by priority populations is limited access to quality healthcare. KAT’s newly funded effort will be a great step in tackling local healthcare barriers.

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Strong Towns’ President Chuck Marohn Presentation Open to Public

The annual conference of the Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association, co-hosted by the Tennessee Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (TSITE), is coming to Knoxville September 21-23.

Membership in TAPA or TSITE is not required to attend the conference. The conference, Taking It to the Streets: Design for All Ages, will be an opportunity to collaborate, share, and discuss the latest trends and initiatives related to a community’s design for people of all ages and abilities. Practicing planners and engineers, residents, students, and elected and appointed officials can attend numerous technical sessions, network, socialize and learn from each other about the fields of planning and engineering and how those fields connect.

Chuck Marohn, president of Strong Towns, a national media nonprofit working to strengthen financial resilience in America’s towns and cities, will be the keynote speaker during the luncheon event. The luncheon is open to the public and will be held on Thursday, September 22, from 12:15-1:45 pm in the Summit Ballroom in the Crowne Plaza, 401 W. Summit Hill Drive. Conference attendance is not required to attend the keynote luncheon. The cost to attend the luncheon and keynote address is $25, and a reservation is required. Please RSVP to http://tinyurl.com/LunchWithChuck by Wednesday, September 14.

Mr. Marohn will lead this public presentation, centered on the question, “Why, despite all the growth America has experienced, do our cities struggle financially just to accomplish basic tasks?”  For the United States to be a prosperous country, it must have strong cities, towns and neighborhoods. Enduring prosperity cannot be artificially created from the outside but must be built from within, incrementally over time. The Strong Towns approach is a fundamental rethinking of how we work together to build lasting wealth and prosperity within our communities. In the second half of the presentation, Mr. Marohn will specifically speak about issues in Knoxville and will engage attendees during an open discussion. Public officials and local change-advocates are invited to attend.

For more information on Strong Towns, visit www.strongtowns.org. For more information about the TAPA/TSITE conference and keynote address, visit http://tinyurl.com/TAPA-TSITE-Conference-2016