The Metropolitan Planning Organization, Present and Future

Book excerpt: In August 2006, approximately 125 people assembled in Washington, D.C., to participate in a conference, The Metropolitan Planning Organization, Present and Future. The conference brought together individuals involved in regional governance from national, state, regional, and local agencies and from the public, private, and academic sectors. The conference goals were to explore (a) the organizational structure of metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), including their operating and personnel relationships with other governmental institutions; (b) the current state of the practice for regional decision making among MPOs of various sizes; (c) approaches to integrating a wide array of additional considerations into the MPO planning process, including freight, operations, safety, asset management, and environment; (d) approaches to institutionalizing an integrated approach to comprehensive planning, beyond developing transportation plans; and (e) development of relationships with local decisionmaking bodies within the MPO region that are responsible for carrying out the MPO-developed vision for the region. To plan the conference, the Transportation Research Board (TRB) assembled a committee appointed by the National Research Council to organize and develop the conference program.