The Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Act: A Legacy
for Users (SAFETEA-LU) requires that Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO)
publish an annual listing of federally obligated projects. Michiana Area
Council of Governments (MACOG) is the designated MPO for the South Bend
Urbanized Area and the Elkhart/Goshen Urbanized Area. As an MPO, MACOG, in
coordination with state departments of transportation and public transit
operators, is responsible for carrying out the transportation planning
process for urbanized areas. The MACOG planning area includes the federally
designated urban areas of Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties and provides rural
planning (RPO) activities in Kosciusko and Marshall Counties.
The Annual Listing of Projects is a listing of projects which used Federal
funds that was obligated in the preceding fiscal year. The Annual Listing of
Obligated Projects is for the Federal Fiscal Year 2011 (FFY 2011) which
includes projects that were obligated between October 1, 2010 and September
30, 2011. Obligated Projects are consistent with the funding categories
identified in the MACOG Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The TIP is
a prioritized, multi-year program for the implementation of transportation
improvement projects for the entire MACOG Region. The Annual Listing of
Obligated Projects is extracted from the TIP.
An obligation is the Federal government’s legal commitment to pay the
Federal share of a project’s cost. An obligated project is one that has been
authorized and funds have been obligated by a Federal Agency. Projects for
which funds have been obligated are not necessarily initiated or completed
in the program year, and the amount of the obligation will not necessarily
equal the total cost of the project. For Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
projects, obligation occurs when the FTA grant is awarded. For Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA) projects, obligation occurs when a project
agreement is executed and the State/grantee requests that the funds be
obligated.
