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Indian tribal transportation is undergoing significant change; however, relatively little sig- nificant research has examined where such programs currently are and where they are headed. This report attempted to establish a baseline for future research by examining numerous essential details of 30 programs from across the nation, from New England to Alaska, from Texas to North Dakota. The programs surveyed were large, small, and in between. The study also examined the extant literature of the field and summarizes the history and legal and administrative evolution of tribal transportation programs within the larger context of issues of tribal sovereignty and relationships with the federal government, states, and local and regional planning. In addition, the study includes extensive interviews with directors of the Transportation Technical Assistance Program (TTAP) centers, with Tim Penney of FHWA, and several Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officials. The primary vehicle for federal aid to tribal transportation remains the Indian Reservation Roads (IRR) program. Today, the program consists of more than 25,700 miles of BIA and tribally owned public roads and 800 bridges, plus 25,600 miles of state, county, and local government public roads. Authorizations for the IRR program and the BIA maintenance funds cover only a small fraction of the ongoing needs of tribes, although those authoriza- tions are steadily increasing, and a new Tribal Transportation Allocation Methodology (TTAM) is in place to determine direct allocations to individual tribes. The profiles gener- ated from this study, however, reveal that numerous tribes are seeking, experimenting with, or implementing additional sources of revenue to fund their transportation needs, including creative grant writing, flexible financing to borrow against future IRR allocations, tribal tax and casino revenues, and profit-making tribal enterprises that identify and fill market niches in the larger regional economy. Much of what was learned through the synthesis survey was highly contextual. Tribal transportation managers and their staffs, along with their tribal governments, often make very specific initiatives and programs work in unique circumstances. For instance, the develop- ment of tribal transit programs often depends on the proximity of the reservation to neigh- boring jurisdictions that either already operate transit systems, can cooperate with the tribe in serving common needs, or can benefit from expansion of the tribal system, at the same time that tribes lacking such proximity find ways to develop an appropriate level of transit service in relative isolation. As a result of these adaptations to circumstance, tribes have incorporated a full range of responses to opportunities for self-determination and the use of outside assistance such as contractors. However, there is a marked tendency among the tribes surveyed to have taken full control of the preparation of long-range transportation plans, with two-thirds of the tribes surveyed having done this work in-house, and almost none relying on the BIA for a function that is in effect the central element of decision making for their own transportation futures. Likewise, two-thirds of these tribes reported that they had taken charge of developing and maintaining their own inventory of transportation facilities, the central element of the BIA formula for determining tribal shares through TTAM. Moreover, there is clearly a growing determination among tribes to assume greater responsibilities for program operation through SUMMARY TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS
self-governance compacts and U.S. Public Law (P.L.) 93-638 (the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975) contracts with the BIA. It is possible that in the near future these tribes will also exercise the emerging option of contracting with FHWA instead. The survey also found that the plans developed most commonly established linkages with four other types of plans, with other possibilities being relatively uncommon. These were community and economic development, land-use planning, historic preservation, and public utilities. There were few surprises in this arena, or in the use of citizen participation tech- niques, where tribes largely relied on public hearings and public meetings as their primary mechanisms for involvement. Tribal use of the TTAP centers was found to be almost pervasive, with only a small minor- ity failing to report the use of TTAP resources, suggesting that this is likely to remain a highly successful means of distribution of technical assistance. In tribal coordination with outside agencies, aside from universal involvement with BIA, the most frequent area of coordination reported was with state transportation departments. Given new mandates for consultation with tribes, this is both not surprising and likely to increase. However, many tribes also reported extensive involvement with other federal agencies besides the U.S.DOT. The study included other department of transportation entities such as FHWA, FTA, and FAA in that category. The study identifies innovations and model practices among tribal transportation programs. In seeking to classify these for ease of discussion, the study identified 10 areas of innovation among the findings in the profiles: ⢠Relationship building with outside entities, ⢠Financing and fundraising skills, ⢠Highway design and environmental management, ⢠Transit, ⢠Transportation enhancements, ⢠Marketing technical skills, ⢠Solving problems related to special hazards, ⢠Use of planning tools, ⢠Cultural preservation techniques, and ⢠Solving social problems through transportation programs. Finally, the study identified four areas of potential future research based on the informa- tion gathered from all sources: ⢠Operation and development of tribal transit services, ⢠Staffing of tribal transportation programs, ⢠Creative financing, and ⢠Building relationships to further tribal transportation goals. 2
