ABOUT THE THE NEIGHBORHOOD TRANSPORTATION
IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (NTIP)
What is the NTIP?
The Neighborhood Transportation Improvement Program (NTIP) is a program established to fund community-based neighborhood-scale planning efforts, especially in underserved neighborhoods and areas with vulnerable populations (e.g. seniors, children, and/or people with disabilities).
The NTIP was developed in response to mobility and equity analysis findings from the San Francisco Transportation Plan (SFTP), the city’s 30-year blueprint guiding transportation investment in San Francisco, and the Transportation Authority Board's desire for more focus on neighborhoods, especially on Communities of Concern and other underserved neighborhoods. The SFTP found that walking, biking and transit reliability initiatives are important ways to address socio-economic and geographic inequities.
The NTIP is made possible by the Transportation Authority through grants of Proposition K (Prop K) local transportation sales tax funds.
What is the overall goal of the NTIP?
The purpose of the NTIP is to build community awareness of, and capacity to provide input to, the transportation planning process and to advance delivery of community-supported neighborhood-scale projects through strengthening project pipelines or helping move individual projects more quickly toward implementation.
What type of work does the NTIP fund?
NTIP planning funds can be used to support neighborhood-scale efforts that identify a community’s top transportation needs, identify and evaluate potential solutions, and recommend next steps for meeting the identified needs. Funds can also be used to complete additional planning/conceptual engineering for existing planning projects that community stakeholders regard as high-priority. All NTIP planning efforts must be designed to address one or more of the following SFTP priorities:
- Improve pedestrian and/or bicycle safety
- Encourage walking and/or biking
- Improve transit accessibility
- Improve mobility for Communities of Concern or other underserved neighborhoods and vulnerable populations
Ultimately, NTIP planning efforts should lead toward prioritization of community-supported, neighborhood-scale capital improvements that can be funded by Prop K sales tax funds and/or other sources.
How much funding is available?
The NTIP Planning program provides $100,000 in Prop K funding for each supervisorial district to use over the next five years (Fiscal Years 2014/15–2018/19). A maximum of $600,000 is available for grants in Fiscal Year 2014/15. The $100,000 can be used for one planning effort or multiple smaller efforts. No local match is required for planning grants, though it is encouraged.
Where do NTIP planning ideas come from?
The NTIP sets aside Prop K funds for each district supervisor to direct funds to one or more community-based, neighborhood-scale planning efforts in the next five years. Ultimately, the district supervisor (acting in his/her capacity as a Transportation Authority Board commissioner) will recommend which project(s) will be funded with an NTIP planning grant.
Anyone can come up with an NTIP planning grant idea, including, but not limited to, a District Supervisor, agency staff, a community-based organization, or a community member. There is no pre-determined schedule or call for projects. Transportation Authority Board members will contact the Transportation Authority’s NTIP Coordinator when s/he is interested in exploring NTIP proposals. Board members may already have an idea in mind, seek help from agency staff in generating ideas, or solicit input from constituents and other stakeholders.
For more information on how an idea can become an NTIP planning grant and for other details on the program, please review the NTIP Guidelines.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact one of the NTIP coordinators:
- Transportation Authority: Anna LaForte, call 415.522.4805 or send an email.
- Download the January 2016 NTIP presentation
Photo at top courtesy Lynn Friedman via flickr Commons. Other photo credits on individual project pages.