Active Transportation

Active Transportation addresses the needs of people walking and biking while helping build capacity to ensure that walking and biking are safe, comfortable and convenient transportation options.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about SCATS

Federally-Funded Projects

SCATS is required to produce an annual listing of projects for which federal funds have been obligated in the preceding fiscal year.

Long-Range Planning

SCATS produces a transportation plan that looks at least 20 years into the future. The plan is updated about every four years.

Safety

SCATS produces a Crash Report and Safety Work Plan on an annual basis. This document looks at crashes over the previous three years and ranks the most hazardous locations.

Transit

SCATS works closely with SARTA to help fund transit infrastructure projects and specialized transportation needs.

The Transportation Improvement Program lists all projects to be built in Stark County within the next four years involving federal or state funding. To view the current projects in the TIP, click here.
"Moving Stark Forward 2050" is SCATS' current Long Range Transportation Plan which lists all projects that are planned for Stark County through 2050.

You can visit ODOT’s web site for up to date information regarding construction or congestion on state routes, US Routes and interstates. OHGO allows users to view real-time travel information including access to a live cameras, travel delay, weather hazards and a digital sign inventory.  For information on county-route construction, go to the Stark County Engineer’s web site.

SCATS staff takes several hundred traffic counts per year. In addition, SCATS maintains files of traffic count information provided by ODOT and other agencies. Look up any count in our Traffic County Database.
SCAT analyzes the crashes at over 900 intersections each year. This analysis is summarized in an annual Crash Report that is used by different agencies to prioritize safety improvements on the roadways of Stark County. The Crash Reports can be found on the Safety page.
SCATS provides aerial photos of any section of Stark County. The photos are digital and are available on DVDs at $1 each.
Roads classified as Collectors or higher are eligible for federal funding. Learn more about Stark County’s functional classification

All Interstates, US Routes, State Routes, and County Routes are eligible for Municipal Road Funds.  Also eligible are County-Purpose Roads which are extensions of County Routes into municipalities and other municipal roads that serve a county purpose.  The county commissioners are responsible for designating whether or not a road is a county-purpose road. 

You may view the County-Purpose maps online

Transportation Plans, TIP’s and projects developed for these areas are required to demonstrate transportation conformity. Conformity demonstrations ensure that federally financed transportation activities do not cause new air quality violations, worsen existing violations, or delay timely attainment of the air quality standard. The SCATS Policy Committee adopted the latest Air Quality Conformity Determination as part of the FY 2024-2027 Transportation Improvement Program - 2024 PM2.5 Air Quality Conformity Determination.

Active Transportation

Federally-Funded Projects

Where have my gas tax dollars gone?

The requirement for Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to publish an annual listing of federally obligated transportation projects was established under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) in 1998. Congress created this requirement to improve transparency and provide the public with greater access to information on how federal transportation funds are invested in their communities.

Since then, each successive federal surface transportation authorization has continued this requirement while advancing national transportation policy:


  • Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) 1998
  • Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) 2005
  • Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) 2012
  • Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) 2015
  • Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) also know as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) 2021


The annual listing continues to fulfill the federal requirement for transparency and public accountability established under these transportation authorization acts. 

The current Fiscal Year listing includes all transportation projects within the SCATS metropolitan planning area for which federal funds were obligated during the preceding federal fiscal year. The report includes projects funded through both the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), as well as applicable statewide projects.

Current Obligated List

The following information is included in the table:

  • Federal Project Number – Number used to identify projects by FHWA
  • Grant Number- Number used to identify projects by FTA
  • PID - Project identification number from ODOT's project management system.
  • Description – a brief description of the project.
  • Phase (one of the following)
  • Planning/Research
  • PE - Preliminary Engineering or Final Design 
  • R/W - Right of Way Acquisition 
  • Construction
  • FTA Activity Codes – provide more detailed information on FTA projects.
  • Authorization Date - the date the federal funds are authorized or obligated
  • Federal Fund Type – The major funding sources are listed as follows:
  • Bridge Replacement funds
  • CMAQ Congestion Management / Air Quality funds
  • Hi Priority Projects Sec 1702 – one category of congressional earmarked funds
  • HPR 2% - Highway planning research funds
  • METRO Planning – MPO planning funds
  • Minimum Guarantee - Special Limitation-Federal funds allocated to states to guarantee a minimum percent payback of funds sent to Washington.
  • NHS - National Highway System funds
  • Rail/Hwy Cross-Hazard Elimination funding – safety funds for rail/highway crossings
  • Rail/Hwy Protective Device funding-safety funds for rail/highway crossing signals
  • SEC 115 STP Earmark– a category of congressional earmarked funds
  • Section 117 DEMO ID projects– a category of congressional earmarked funds
  • STP FLEXIBLE / STP RR/Hwy Protect Device / STP RR/HWY Xing Safety / STP Rural<5,000/STPUA>200,000 –various subcategories of federal Surface Transportation Program funds.
  • FTA Section 5307 funds are formula grants to large urban areas
  • FTA Section 5309 funds are capital investment grants for bus replacements
  • FTA Section 5310 funds are used to provide transportation services to meet the special needs of the elderly and persons with disabilities.
  • FTA Section 5313 funds are from the Transit Cooperative Research Program
  • FTA Section 5314 funds are from the National Research & Technology Program
  • Improvement Type – a brief description of the major work types of the project.
  • Grantee – indicates grant recipient for FTA grants
  • Total cost – the total cost of the project phases listed. This total includes federal funds and local and state matching funds.
  • Funds Obligated – the amount of federal funds obligated - 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 by the Federal agency and funds have been obligated. 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 FTA projects, obligation occurs when the FTA grant is awarded. For FHWA projects, obligation occurs when a project agreement is executed and the State/grantee requests that the funds be obligated.
  • Funds Authorized – the amount of federal funds authorized, but not yet obligated. Obligation of funds for these projects may be on hold until funds are available in the next federal fiscal year.
  • CFDA# - Reference to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.