Funding Transportation Improvements

The responsibility for construction, operation, and maintenance of the nation's transportation networks is distributed across federal, state, and local governments. With federal and state transportation funding sources such as gas taxes predicted to continue to decline in the coming years, there is a need for local communities to find equitable methods to generate revenues for transportation improvements. The following tools emphasize innovative, relatively low-cost approaches used in Montana and throughout the country, and include a focus on strategies that promote partnerships with private sector developers.

• Resource & Funding Coordination
• Shared Development of Plans & Policies
• Concurrency & Adequate Public Facilities (APF) Ordinances
• Development of Regional Impact (DRI) Review
• Tax Increment Financing
• Resort and Local Option Taxes
• Urban Transportation Districts
• Parking Benefit Districts
• Transportation Utility Fees
• Impact Fees
• Trip credits
• Density Awards & Bonuses
• Transfer of Development Rights (TDR)

Case studies that feature transportation funding tools include the following:

• City of Billings Arterial Construction Fee Program
• PlanCheyenne
• Windsor-Severance, Colorado
• Shasta/Tehama Regional Impact Fee Program
• Sedona, Arizona
• Eastern Planning Initiative (EPI), Virginia
• City of Bozeman Transportation Impact Fee Program