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The September approval target provides moreopportunity for ODOT to reach out to <br />ACTs,MPOs,and others,in order for stakeholders to better understand the process, <br />and for ODOT and the OTC to hear concerns and make improvements to the Enhance <br />process to respond to those concerns. During the summerof 2012, ODOT staff is <br />discussing the new process with each ACT and others. <br />2.2Application Available <br />The Enhanceprojects application will be available in September 2012, shortly after the <br />OTC meeting andprovided thedecisionis to move forward. The application contains <br />basic project information and it includes a section on benefit of the projects. These are <br />organized in categories. First is benefits to the state system, then nine more categories <br />mirror the categories of impacts that the STIP Stakeholder Committee designated as <br />most important for Oregon’s least cost planning process to evaluate. Least cost <br />planning, now called Mosaic, is being developed and tested for use in the planning <br />process, not for project-level decisions at this time. However, the nine Mosaic <br />categories are basic categories of impacts of the transportation system and investments <br />in that system and this application provides a qualitative way to respond to those same <br />categories for project decisions. <br />The benefits section is also similar to the project selection criteria many individual STIP <br />funding programs used for recent STIP cycles. The application does not use the term <br />“criteria,”because it is intended to be broader than any of the criteria used in the past to <br />include a wide range of modes and possible investments. The benefits information will <br />also be used to prioritize and compare projects. <br />Not all projects are expected to have impacts on all categories of benefit. Reviewers <br />will need to discuss the different benefits of different projects and use a consensus <br />process to develop their prioritized lists. <br />Regions, ACTs, and MPOs may not add to or alter the application or the benefit <br />information requested. This is a change from prior STIP procedures. It is important that <br />all Enhanceprojects are evaluated similarlyacross the state. <br />ODOT staff can provide assistance in answering questions about the application and <br />about the application review process. Each region has designated a representative to <br />lead this process for the region and they are the ones to whom to direct questions.See <br />below for thelist of region representatives.(If you are unsure about which region to <br />direct questions to, see the onlineODOT Region Map.) <br />9/24/2012Page 10 <br /> <br />