Planning for Unplanned Pork

Sciara, Gian-Claudia

doi:10.1080/01944363.2012.694269

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…We do not adopt this cynical view. Rather, previous research suggests project sponsors are likely aware that MPOs seldom decline to add a new project to their plans if newly available funds will pay for that project (Sciara, 2012). That most MPOs reported some role in TIGER applications—whether sponsoring, advising, or providing data for those applications—suggests MPOs’ visible influence in regional planning.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To be eligible for federal transportation dollars, major projects must appear in these plans, and the MPO board must approve the plans. While some MPOs have used this requirement as leverage with local stakeholders who would insert parochial projects into the region’s plan or TIP, MPOs usually add projects to official plans when federal funds are allocated to a project (Sciara, 2012).…”

Section: Regional Transportation Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…DOT award selection process (Homan et al, 2014), we examine the critical preceding phase in which local sponsors nominated projects that would compose the federal evaluation pool and, hence, shape final outcomes. New transportation funding that lies outside MPOs’ sphere of influence, such as local option taxes (Goldman & Wachs, 2003), regional mobility authority revenues ((Sciara & Wachs, 2007), or Congressional earmarks (Sciara, 2012), can allow local governments or individual agencies to advance projects that sidestep regional planning; in such instances, strategic behavior by project champions may likewise mean agencies work outside of the regional process.…”

Section: Regional Transportation Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chasing TIGER: Federal Funding Opportunities and Regional Transportation Planning

Lowe

Sciara

2017

Public Works Management & Policy

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Many challenges make it difficult to achieve the collaborative metropolitan transportation planning ideals articulated in federal policy. A central challenge is that metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are responsible for identifying and prioritizing region-serving investments, but numerous transportation agencies and local governments typically implement projects and hold the purse strings. New, less restricted sources of funding could exacerbate these challenges, and so we examine the role of MPOs and their plans in local decisions to pursue project funding from the federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program. Based on a national survey of MPOs, we find that the local selection of TIGER projects aligns with the federal emphasis on shovel-readiness, but that this criterion still allowed significant latitude for additional factors to shape local project selection. Despite competing factors and limits to regional planning, MPO planning and documents still played a substantial role in the local selection of TIGER projects.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Regional Transportation Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Regional Transportation Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chasing TIGER: Federal Funding Opportunities and Regional Transportation Planning

Lowe

Sciara

2017

Public Works Management & Policy

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“…Most voters cannot accurately identify the single legislator responsible for each pork project, and hence one legislator could free ride on the efforts of another legislator sharing the same constituency, unless they agree to collaborate (Sciara, 2012).…”

Section: The Second Epistemic Governance Work Target: the Actors Agementioning

confidence: 99%

Of Distributive Politics and Pork Barrel System: Why Not Epistemic Governance Approach?

Blanco

2016

International Journal of Public Administration

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The article attempts to situate distributive politics in the context of epistemic governance. The article also seeks to analyze the various structures and systems, actors, agents and stakeholders, and norms and behaviors involved within the realm of theory and praxis in distributive politics. It borrows from the epistemic work targets espoused by Alasuutari and Qadir (2014), namely the environment, actors and virtues. Finally, the article proposes an epistemic governance as policy approach in distributive politics as it tries to argue the shift of power from the hands of the political elites to the hands of the politically astute epistemes.

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“…Yet, MPOs do not generally control a majority or even a plurality of regional transportation funds, which come from federal, state, regional, and local sources. The requirement for fiscal constraint provides legitimacy and leverage to MPOs (Goldman and Deakin 2000; Sciara 2012), but MPOs still have limited direct control over many financial decisions and federal funds typically do not flow directly to them (see pp. 13–15 in Edner and McDowell 2002).…”

Section: Regional Transportation Planning and Equitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Bypassing Equity? Transit Investment and Regional Transportation Planning

Lowe

2014

Journal of Planning Education and Research

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Regional planning may require a better understanding of multijurisdictional planning and equity within intergovernmental context. This research explores how intergovernmental context and metropolitan planning organization (MPO) activities impact rail proposals for low-income and minority communities. In two case studies, Boston and Miami, other government agencies determined the projects within MPO plans. In Boston, however, advocates leveraged agreements and federal rules to secure rail, and the MPO has developed extensive equity analyses. The cases exemplify the fiscal paradox that MPOs face—they have fiscally constrained plans but control little funding. Findings indicate the need to better relate multijurisdictional planning ambitions to intergovernmental context.

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Planning for Unplanned Pork

Cited by 6 publications

References 22 publications

Chasing TIGER: Federal Funding Opportunities and Regional Transportation Planning

Chasing TIGER: Federal Funding Opportunities and Regional Transportation Planning

Of Distributive Politics and Pork Barrel System: Why Not Epistemic Governance Approach?

Bypassing Equity? Transit Investment and Regional Transportation Planning

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