Relates to Surface Transportation - Transportation Enhancements

Surface Transportation
Surface transportation means all elements of the intermodal transportation system, exclusive of aviation. For the purposes of TE eligibility, surface transportation includes water as surface transportation and includes as eligible activities related features such as canals, lighthouses, and docks or piers connecting to ferry operations, as long as the proposed enhancement otherwise meets the basic eligibility criteria.

Each transportation enhancement project must relate to surface transportation and meet one of the 12 eligible activities (23 U.S.C. 101(a)(35)).

FHWA's Transportation Enhancement Guidance states that "relates to surface transportation" is a more flexible standard than the "direct link" standard in the past.* Some factors that can help establish this relationship include:

the project's proximity to a highway or a pedestrian/bicycle corridor,
whether the project enhances the aesthetic, cultural, or historic aspects of the travel experience, and
whether it serves a current or past transportation purpose.

The pertinence of any factor may vary with a particular project and with each of the 12 eligible activities. The project sponsor should clearly explain the relationship to surface transportation in the project proposal.

Contact your State TE Manager to ask questions about a proposed project's relationship to surface transportation. The State DOT may impose guidelines on project eligibility that are more restrictive than FHWA's guidance.

* NOTE: The term "relates to surface transportation", codified into 23 U.S.C. 101(a)(35) in 1998, replaced the "direct link to surface transportation" that FHWA had established in a guidance memorandum in 1995.

To provide Feedback, Suggestions or Comments for this page contact Christopher Douwes at christopher.douwes@dot.gov.