APC approves swap of federal highway safety dollars to fund city bus replacements

Area Plan Commission staff told the policy board that a recent federal rule change and interagency discussions enabled a straightforward cash swap that will move federal highway safety funds into a City Bus replacement project.

Doug, speaking for APC staff, said the agency had "flexed our FHWA funds to transit" and that safety funds from the Federal Highway Administration will now be applied to a bus replacement project while City Bus will use its own local federal funds for the safety project. APC staff described the change as a cash-management adjustment and said it was reflected in the staff report.

The technical transportation committee reviewed the change at its prior meeting and recommended approval. The policy board proceeded to a roll-call vote; members present—Mike Gibson, Larry Leance, Cindy Murray, Jackson Boen, Dave Buyers and Aaron Easter—indicated assent.

Why it matters: The swap preserves federally supported right‑of‑way and construction schedules by reassigning funding streams so both the safety and transit projects can move forward without losing allocated federal dollars.

What’s next: APC staff said the swap is a funding-level administrative action and will be tracked in the TIP documentation; no further board action was required beyond the vote.