183 “People are realizing that we need to attack transportation problems in a fundamentally different way,” said Chad Tucker, SMART SCALE project manager. “There’s a lot of great data sources that we have now that we can rely on to focus on the real problem areas and try to move the needle from a performance standpoint.” For example, there’s a proposal to expand the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) in coastal Virginia, ranked highest for its impact on congestion, access to jobs, multimodal and intermodal access, and travel time reliability. The commuter route links some of Virginia’s most populous cities separated by water and is an essential route for people living and working on opposite sides of the bay, lake, or river. Its ability to handle growing traffic meets a transportation need as well as an economic one, allowing local industry to continue to thrive. These are the same needs so many other states, cities, and counties will consider with new funding on the horizon for fixes to roads and bridges. In 2016, then-Virginia transportation secretary Aubrey Layne credited SMART SCALE for being one of the primary drivers to make the HRBT expansion happen, calling it a “keystone project” that tied together other transportation work in the region. Now, in another project in Virginia using the SMART SCALE program, nearly 10 miles of the I-64 corridor bridging the cities of Norfolk and Hampton, including the 3.5-mile stretch of the HRBT tunnel, will have double the lanes—eight—by 2025. Its $3.8 billion total price tag makes it the largest transportation project in Virginia’s history. Setting a Standard Criteria for Project Approval The process of vetting proposed projects for Virginia’s Transportation Plan (VTrans) begins with a multimodal needs assessment along the state’s transportation network, evaluating congestion, safety problems, and more. “There are plenty of needs. That’s the point,” said Brooke Jackson, senior engineer at VDOT, speaking about the carefully cataloged list of requirements that determine what projects are eligible. Jackson says there are always far too many projects to fit available funding, and this metrics-driven approach lends fairness and a scorecard approach that lets submitters see where their proposals succeeded or fell short. Funding rounds are open to Virginia cities, counties, towns, and public transportation agencies on a two-year revolving schedule. If a proposed infrastructure project meets a need identified by VTrans and the SMART SCALE program’s readiness and eligibility criteria, the project can be considered and evaluated. Before SMART SCALE was implemented in 2015, municipalities needed to get on a list kept by the governor. When a new administration came in, the project could be halted, money wasted, and no one held accountable. Traditional funding mechanisms caused projects to take too long, and without having to prove the value of the investment, political will was at the core of prioritization. SMART SCALE sets out to remove politics and instead let data and expected outcomes drive decision-making. “Everybody can see the data and what could be studied,” Jackson said. “It’s not about picking and choosing political Infrastructure SMART SCALE factors weighed to determine priority projects.
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