Smart Scale – CA-MPO

Round 5 Smart Scale Submission Process

What is SMART SCALE?

SMART SCALE is Virginia’s process for funding the right transportation projects. Every two years, eligible entities including regional bodies, local governments, and transit agencies have the opportunity to submit applications to fund priority transportation infrastructure projects.

Projects are evaluated based on the following impacts: safety, congestion mitigation, accessibility, land use, economic development, and environmental impacts. Projects are scored based on project impacts in these areas relative cost. The highest scoring projects are recommended for funding to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, which ultimately decides which projects will be funded during the approval of the Six-Year Improvement Program.

View this webinar for more information, or visit smartscale.org.

How does the CA-MPO select projects?

In preparation for Round 5, the Charlottesville-Albemarle MPO adopted a new process to identify projects and develop applications. CA-MPO staff reviewed projects that were not selected from the previous round, reviewed the list of projects on the constrained list in the current Long Range Transportation Plan, and met with local government and VDOT staff to discuss potential projects. An initial list of projects was developed for consideration by the CA-MPO Policy Board, with opportunities for additional projects to be added to the list for consideration.

The CA-MPO Policy Board selected the projects they would like to develop into applications and determined the projects that needed additional stakeholder engagement as part of the project development process. CA-MPO staff will work with an appointed stakeholder advisory committee on those projects to prepare the project applications.