Southern Maryland Rapid Transit Project: Improving Economic Competitiveness and Expanding Travel Options through Local and State Partnership BUILD Planning Grant Application May 18, 2020 Submitted to: Submitted by: United States of America Charles County in partnership with Prince George’s County & 1Department of Transportation Maryland Department of Transportation BUILD 2020 Project Information - Please complete all fields. **PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE FILE NAME AND DO NOT COPY/PASTE TO AVOID COMPROMISING FORM INTEGRITY** Field Name Response Instructions Enter a concise descriptive title for the project. This Project Name Southern Maryland Rapid Transit Project should be the same title used in the Grants.gov SF-424 submission and the application narrative. Describe the project in plain English terms generally understood by the public, using no more than 100 words. The BUILD planning grant will be used to For example, “The project will replace the existing bridge complete the draft environmental impact over the W river on Interstate-X between the cities of Y statement (DEIS) for the Southern Maryland Project Description and Z” or “the BUILD Grant will fund construction Rapid Transit (SMRT) project. Completing the DEIS activities for streetcar service from location X to location is an important first step toward delivering this Y.” Please do not describe the project’s benefits, significant project. background, or alignment with the selection criteria in this description field. Identify whether the project is located in a rural or urban area, using the drop-down menu. For BUILD 2020, a project is designated as urban if it is located within (or on Urban/Rural Urban the boundary of) a Census-designated urbanized area that had a population greater than 200,000 in the 2010 Census. All other projects will be designated as rural. If you have identified the project as "urban," please select the associated 2010 Census-designated urbanized area (UA) from the drop-down. If you identified the project as "rural" but it is located in an UA with a Urbanized Area Washington, DC--VA--MD population under 200,000, please select the UA from the drop-down. If you have identified the project as "rural" and it is not located in a non-urbanized area, please select "Not located in an urbanized area" from the drop- down. Identify the project as capital or planning. The "capital" designation should be used for projects that are requesting funding primarily for the physical development, acquisition, or improvement of surface Capital or Planning Planning transportation capital infrastructure. The "planning" designation should be used for projects that are requesting funding primarily for aspects of planning, preparation, or design. Identify the Primary and Secondary project type combination that most closely aligns with your project Project Type Transit - Light Rail from the choices in the drop-down menu. See the "Project Types" tab in this file for further information and project type definitions. Identify the 5-digit zip code of the project location. If the Primary Project Location 20735 project is located in multiple zip codes, please identify Zip Code the most centrally located zip code. Identify whether the project was submitted in a prior Project Previously No BUILD/TIGER or INFRA round, using the drop-down Submitted? menu. 1 of 3 BUILD 2020 Project Information - Please complete all fields. **PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE FILE NAME AND DO NOT COPY/PASTE TO AVOID COMPROMISING FORM INTEGRITY** Field Name Response Instructions Identify whether the project has previously received Prior BUILD/TIGER Funds BUILD/TIGER funding, and if so, whether that funding No Awarded to Project? was through a planning or capital grant, using the drop- down menu. Identify whether this project is also being submitted to the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects FY20 INFRA or PIDP No Program (also known as INFRA) or the Port Applications? Infrastructure Development Program (also known as PIDP) for Fiscal Year 2020. Enter the total amount of BUILD funds requested for this project in this application. [For capital projects, the minimum urban entry is $5,000,000 and the minimum Amount Requested rural entry is $1,000,000. For planning projects, the minimum entry is $1. The maximum entry for both types is $25,000,000 ]. Enter the total cost of the project. This should equal the sum of Total Federal Funding and Total Non-Federal Total Project Cost Funding. This value may not be less than the amount requested. Enter the amount of funds committed to the project from ALL Federal sources including the proposed BUILD amount. Total Federal Funding For BUILD projects designated as urban, Federal funding cannot exceed 80% of total project cost. Enter the amount of funds committed to the project from non-Federal sources. For BUILD projects Total Non-Federal Funding designated as urban, the total non-Federal funding amount must be greater than or equal to 20% of the project cost. Select “Yes” from the drop-down menu if the applicant is Tribal Government? No a Federally recognized tribal government. If the applicant is not a Federally recognized tribal government, is the project located on tribal land? And if Tribal Benefits? N/A not, does it have direct tribal benefits? Answer using the drop-down menu. Does this project involve (a) private entity(ies) that will receive a direct and predictable financial benefit if the Private Corporation project is selected for award? This includes, but it not No Involvement limited to, private owners of infrastructure facilities being improved and private freight shippers or carriers directly benefitting from completion of the proposed project. Private Corporation If this project directly involves or benefits a specific Name(s) private corporation, please list the corporation(s). Is the project currently, or does this project anticipate applying for Transportation Infrastructure Finance and TIFIA/RRIF? Yes - TIFIA Innovation Act (TIFIA) or Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) loans? Department Financing If your application is unsuccessful, would you like to be No Program? contacted about the Department's financing program? 2 of 3 BUILD 2020 Project Information - Please complete all fields. **PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE FILE NAME AND DO NOT COPY/PASTE TO AVOID COMPROMISING FORM INTEGRITY** Field Name Response Instructions Please indicate if this project is located within a designated Opportunity Zone. To make this Designated Opportunity determination, review the Department of Housing and Zone? Urban Development's interactive map of designated The project is partially located within an OpportunityOpportunity Zone Zones by clicking on this cell. 3 of 3 Table of Contents 1. Project Description 1.1. Overview 1 1.2. Transportation Challenges and Mitigation 5 1.3. SMRT Corridor Vision 8 1.4. Project Scope 9 1.5. Project Background and Previous Studies 10 1.6. SMRT Project Benefits 11 2. Project Location 12 3. Grant Funds, Sources and Uses of Project Funds 13 3.1. Sources and Uses of Funds 13 4. Selection Criteria 14 4.1. Safety 14 Reduction in Vehicle Crashes 14 Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements 15 Air Quality Improvements 16 4.2. State of Good Repair 17 4.3. Economic Competitiveness 18 4.4. Environmental Sustainability 20 Congestion Mitigation, Reduction in Energy Use and in Air and Water Pollution 20 Avoidance of Adverse Environmental Impacts 20 Provide Environmental Benefits 21 4.5. Quality of Life 21 4.6. Innovation 22 Innovative Technology 23 Innovative Project Delivery 24 Innovative Financing 24 i 4.7. Partnership 25 5. Environmental Risk Review 27 5.1. Project Schedule 27 5.2. Required Approvals 27 5.3. Assessment of Project Risks and Mitigation Strategies 28 6. Benefit – Cost Analysis 29 7. Appendices 30 Appendix A: Existing and Planned Land Use Appendix B: Benefit-Cost Analysis Technical Memorandum Appendix C: Letters of Commitment Appendix D: Letters of Support Table of Figures Figure 1-1: MD 5/US 301 Traffic Volumes and Average Speeds (2014 AM Peak Period) 5 Figure 1-2: MD 5/US 301 Traffic Volumes and Average Speeds (2014 PM Peak Period) 6 Figure 1-3: SMRT Alignments and Station Locations 10 Figure 1-4: Beltway Crossing Alignment 11 Figure 2-1: SMRT Project Location within the Washington, D.C. Region 12 Figure 4-1: BRT and LRT Typical Sections Considered - Charles County 16 Figure 4-2: Downtown as Envisioned by the Waldorf Urban Redevelopment Corridor Plan 22 Figure 4-3: Example of Platooning 23 Table of Tables Table 1-1: Employment, Population, and Households Growth Forecasts (2010-2040) 4 Table 1-2: Poverty and Median Income the SMRT Study Area 7 Table 3-1: Project Budget Summary by Source and Use 13 Table 4-1: Crashes Along the SMRT Corridor 15 Table 4-2: LRT and BRT Supply-side Benefits 19 Table 4-3: Tax Benefits of LRT and BRT 19 Table 4-4: Range of Potential Impacts of SMRT on Natural and Socioeconomic Resources 20 Table 4-5: Potential Increased Capacity Decreased Spacing between Buses 24 Table 5-1: Project Schedule 27 ii 1. Project Description 1.1. Overview SMRT Project Benefits Charles County, Maryland in partnership • Improves traffic safety and enhances with Prince George’s County, Maryland and quality of life for residents, commuters, the Maryland Department of Transportation and workers. Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA), is submitting a Better Utilizing • Expands the regional transit network Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) by creating a robust link into Southern Discretionary Grant Program Planning Grant Maryland. application for $ 4.98 million to fund the • Reduces future traffic congestion in the completion of the Draft Environmental Impact most congested arterial highway in the Statement (DEIS) for the Southern Maryland State and benefits air quality. Rapid Transit (SMRT) project. A separated, • Provides a sustainable transportation high-capacity transit line in this rapidly-growing alternative in an auto-dependent corridor.