The Solutions for Congested Corridors Program is hereby created.

Pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 11053 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, two hundred fifty million dollars ($250,000,000) in the State Highway Account shall be available for appropriation to the Department of Transportation in each annual Budget Act for the Solutions for Congested Corridors Program. Funds made available for the program shall be allocated by the California Transportation Commission to projects designed to achieve a balanced set of transportation, environmental, and community access improvements within highly congested travel corridors throughout the state. Funding shall be available for projects that make specific performance improvements and are part of a comprehensive corridor plan designed to reduce congestion in highly traveled corridors by providing more transportation choices for residents, commuters,

and visitors to the area of the corridor while preserving the character of the local community and creating opportunities for neighborhood enhancement projects. In order to mitigate increases in vehicle miles traveled, greenhouse gases, and air pollution, highway lane capacity-increasing projects funded by this program shall be limited to high-occupancy vehicle lanes, managed lanes as defined in Section 14106 of the Government Code, and other non-general purpose lane improvements primarily designed to improve safety for all modes of travel, such as auxiliary lanes, truck climbing lanes, or dedicated bicycle lanes. Project elements within the corridor plans may include improvements to state highways, local streets and roads, public transit facilities, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and restoration or preservation work that protects critical local habitat or open space.

A regional transportation planning agency or county transportation commission or authority responsible for preparing a regional transportation improvement plan under Section 14527 of the Government Code or the department may nominate projects for funding through the program that are consistent with the policy objectives of the program as set forth in this chapter. The commission shall allocate no more than one-half of the funds available each year to projects nominated exclusively by the department. Preference shall be given to corridor plans that demonstrate that the plans and the specific project improvements to be undertaken are the result of collaboration between the department and local or regional partners that reflect a comprehensive approach to addressing congestion and quality-of-life issues within the affected corridor

through investment in transportation and related environmental solutions. Collaboration between the partners may be demonstrated by a project being jointly nominated by both the regional agency and the department.

A project nomination shall include documentation regarding the quantitative and qualitative measures validating the project’s consistency with the policy objectives of the program as set forth in this chapter. In addition to being included in a corridor plan, a nominated project shall also be included in the region’s regional transportation plan. Projects within the boundaries of a metropolitan planning organization must be included in an adopted regional transportation plan that includes a sustainable communities strategy determined by the State Air Resources Board to achieve the region’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.

The commission shall allocate program funds to projects after reviewing the corridor plans submitted by the regional agencies or the department and making a determination that a proposed project is consistent with the objectives of the corridor plan. In addition to making a consistency determination with respect to project nominations, the commission shall score the proposed projects on the following criteria:

The commission shall adopt an initial program of projects to be funded through the initial appropriation for the program. The initial program may cover a multiyear programming period. Subsequent programs of projects shall be adopted on a biennial basis consistent with available funds for the program, and may include updates to programs of projects previously adopted.

Legislative Budget Committee and the transportation policy committees in the Senate and the Assembly.

On or before March 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, the commission shall provide project update reports on the development and implementation of the program described in this chapter in its annual report to the Legislature prepared pursuant to Section 14535 of the Government Code. A copy of the report shall be provided to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the transportation policy committees of both houses of the Legislature. The report, at a minimum, shall include information on each project that received funding under the program, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

for all project phase costs.