PART I: OVERVIEW OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

Transportation planning plays a fundamental role in the state, region or community’s vision for its future. It includes a comprehensive consideration of possible strategies; an evaluation process that encompasses diverse viewpoints; the collaborative participation of relevant transportation-related agencies and organizations; and open, timely, and meaningful public involvement.

What is the transportation planning process?

Transportation planning is a cooperative process designed to foster involvement by all users of the system, such as the business community, community groups, environmental organizations, the traveling public, freight operators, and the general public, through a proactive public participation process conducted by the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), state Department of Transportation (state DOT), and transit operators. Figure 1 illustrates the transportation planning process.

Transportation planning includes a number of steps:

• Monitoring existing conditions;
• Forecasting future population and employment growth, including assessing projected land uses in the region and identifying major growth corridors;
• Identifying current and projected future transportation problems and needs and analyzing, through detailed planning studies, various transportation improvement strategies to address those needs;
• Developing long-range plans and short-range programs of alternative capital improvement and operational strategies for moving people and goods;
• Estimating the impact of recommended future improvements to the transportation system on environmental features, including air quality; and
• Developing a financial plan for securing sufficient revenues to cover the costs of implementing strategies.

D

Figure 1: The transportation planning process

What is a Metropolitan Planning Organization and what are its typical functions?

A Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is a transportation policy-making body made up of representatives from local government and transportation agencies with authority and responsibility in metropolitan planning areas. Federal legislation passed in the early 1970s required the formation of an MPO for any urbanized area (UA) with a population greater than 50,000. MPOs were created in order to ensure that existing and future expenditures for transportation projects and programs were based on a continuing, cooperative and comprehensive (3-C) planning process. Federal funding for transportation projects and programs is channeled through the MPO. Note that some MPOs are found within agencies such as Regional Planning Organizations (RPOs), Councils of Governments (COGs), and others.

There are five core functions of an MPO:

Establish a setting: Establish and manage a fair and impartial setting for effective regional decisionmaking in the metropolitan area.

Identify and evaluate alternative transportation improvement options: Use data and planning methods to generate and evaluate alternatives. Planning studies and evaluations are included in the Unified Planning Work Program or UPWP.

Prepare and maintain a Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP): Develop and update a long-range transportation plan for the metropolitan area covering a planning horizon of at least twenty years that fosters (1) mobility and access for people and goods, (2) efficient system performance and preservation, and (3) good quality of life.

Develop a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP): Develop a short-range (four-year) program of transportation improvements based on the long-range transportation plan; the TIP should be designed to achieve the area's goals, using spending, regulating, operating, management, and financial tools.

Involve the public: Involve the general public and other affected constituencies in the four essential functions listed above.

In accordance with federal regulations, the MPO is required to carry out metropolitan transportation planning in cooperation with the state and with operators of publicly owned transit services. The MPO approves the metropolitan transportation plan. Both the governor and the MPO approve the TIP.

Most MPOs will not take the lead in implementing transportation projects, but will provide an overall coordination role in planning and programming funds for projects and operations. The MPO must involve local transportation providers in the planning process by including transit agencies, state and local highway departments, airport authorities, maritime operators, rail-freight operators, Amtrak, port operators, private providers of public transportation, and others within the MPO region.

From an organizational perspective, there is no required structure for an MPO; serving as a decisionmaking policy body, an MPO may be composed of:

• A policy or executive board
• Technical and citizen advisory committees
• A director and staff

MPO staff assists the MPO board by preparing documents, fostering interagency coordination, facilitating public input and feedback, and managing the planning process. The MPO staff may also provide committees with technical assessments and evaluations of proposed transportation initiatives. The MPO staff may also engage consultants to generate needed data.

A technical advisory committee may then provide recommendations to the board on specific strategies or projects. An advisory committee may also provide technical analysis, specialized knowledge, and citizen input on specific issues. It is common for an MPO to have a Technical Advisory Committee and Citizen Advisory Committee, and to have subcommittees on specific issues such as environmental justice, bicycle issues, or travel demand modeling.

Those involved in metropolitan transportation planning should reach out to stakeholders to inform them of critical issues facing their regions and provide them with opportunities to contribute ideas and offer input. This is especially important in the early and middle stages of the process, while the plan and the TIP are being developed. Special attention should be paid to those groups that are underrepresented or have been underserved in terms of the expenditure of transportation dollars (see Part II section on Title VI/Environmental Justice).

What are other responsibilities for some MPOs?

A metropolitan area's designation as an air quality nonattainment area (NAA) or maintenance area creates additional requirements for transportation planning. Transportation plans, programs, and projects must conform to the state’s air quality plan, known as the State Implementation Plan (SIP). In nonattainment or maintenance areas for air quality, the MPO is responsible for coordinating transportation and air quality planning.
Areas with populations greater than 200,000 are designated transportation management areas (TMAs). TMAs must have a congestion management process (CMP) that identifies actions and strategies to reduce congestion and increase mobility (see Part II section on CMP). In addition, TMAs have the ability to select Surface Transportation Program (STP) funded projects in consultation with the state; in other MPOs and rural areas the STP projects are selected by the state in cooperation with the MPO or local government.
In addition to meeting federal mandates, MPOs often have extra responsibilities under state law. For example, California’s MPOs are responsible for allocating some non-federal transportation funds in their regions, while other states give MPOs a shared role in growth management and land use planning.

What is a state DOT and what are its typical functions?

Each of the U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia have an agency or department with official transportation planning, programming, and project implementation responsibility for that state or territory, referred to as the state DOT. In addition to transportation planning responsibilities, these agencies may have responsibility for the design, construction, operation, or maintenance of state facilities for multiple modes of transportation (including air, water, and surface transportation). State departments of transportation also work cooperatively with tolling authorities, ports, local agencies, and special districts that own, operate, or maintain different portions of the transportation network, or individual facilities.
Primary transportation planning functions of the state DOT:
Prepare and Maintain a Long-Range Statewide Transportation Plan: Develop and update a long-range transportation plan for the state. Plans vary from state to state and may be broad and policy-oriented, or may contain a specific list of projects.
Develop a Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP): Develop a program of transportation projects based on the state’s long-range transportation plan and designed to serve the state’s goals, using spending, regulating, operating, management, and financial tools. For metropolitan areas, the STIP incorporates the TIP developed by the MPO.
Involve the public: Involve the general public and all of the other affected constituencies in the essential functions listed above.

What are the relationships among the MPO, the state DOT, and other agencies involved in transportation planning and project implementation?

Transportation planning must be cooperative because no single agency has responsibility for the entire transportation system. For example, some roads that are part of the Interstate Highway System (IHS) are subject to certain standards and are usually maintained by a state DOT. Others are county arterials or city streets which are designed, operated, and maintained by counties or local municipalities. Transit systems are often built, operated, and maintained by a separate entity.
In metropolitan areas, the MPO is responsible for actively seeking the participation of all relevant agencies and stakeholders in the planning process; similarly, the state DOT is responsible for activities outside metropolitan areas. The MPO and state DOT also work together. For example, a state DOT staff person may sit on the MPO board.
The state DOT follows special requirements to document its process for consulting with officials from local governments located outside the metropolitan area. This process is separate and distinct from the broad public involvement process and must be documented separately. It provides an opportunity for local officials to participate in the development of the long-range statewide transportation plan and the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).

The federal government has a special government-to-government relationship with Indian Tribal governments that is affirmed in treaties, Supreme Court decisions, and executive orders. Federal agencies are required to consult with Indian Tribal Governments regarding policy and regulatory matters. State DOTs consider the needs of Indian Tribal Governments when carrying out transportation planning, and consult with Indian Tribal Governments in development of the long-range statewide transportation plan and the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program. MPOs also may consider the needs of, and consult with, Indian Tribal Governments in the development of long-range transportation plans and TIPs when the metropolitan planning area includes Indian Tribal Lands. Outside of the statewide and metropolitan planning processes, state DOTs and MPOs may consult with Indian Tribal Governments when, for example, a project may affect Indian Tribal archeological resources. For information on FTA’s Tribal Transit Program, see www.fta.dot.gov/funding/grants/grants_financing_3553.html. For more information on Tribal planning see www.planning.dot.gov/tribal.asp.