Best Practices in Developing Regional Transportation Plans, MTI Report 01-10

AltAlthough Regional Transportation Plans (RTPs) have been prepared for many decades, there has been little effort to comprehensively compare and evaluate the different features of these documents. Most Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) typically do this on an ad hoc basis, thus resulting in duplication of efforts. Furthermore, there is a need to evaluate how the many changes in federal transportation policy during the 1990s have affected the planning of major new transportation facilities. The purpose of this study is to compare Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Regional Transportation Plans (RTP) and planning processes in California with selected regions. Seventeen MPOs were included to provide a balance of geographical location, growth rate, transit orientation, size, density and air quality conformity status. RECOMMENDATIONS This report makes numerous recommendations about public participation in the RTP; the frequency of updates; scoring criteria for projects; the use of planning data in the RTP; coordination with ports and airports; and the evolving role of MPOs as it relates to preparation of the RTP. These are documented in the report, based on written and oral surveys conducted by the research team

An Approach to Public Policy Evaluation

Our national policy efforts for urban and regional development have evolved from many fragmented programs and concepts of the New Deal. Most recently we have developed what seems to be a turning point in that policy evolution-great concern and effort to ...

Comparative Study of U.S. Metropolitan Transportation Planning

We compare Metropolitan Planning Organization(MPO) Regional Transportation Plans (RTP) and planning processes in California with selected regions. Seventeen MPOs were included to provide a balance of geographic location, growth rate, transit orientation, size, density, and air quality conformity status. The MPOs’ planning processes and documentation were compared in terms of the history and current progress in regional transportation planning; approaches toward addressing the transportation impacts of land use decisions; methods and degree of citizen participation in the process; the project evaluation process used; and the databases available in each MPO to support evaluation. Based on oral and written surveys and the examination of planning documents, we present conclusions and recommendations about public involvement in the regional planning process; coordination with other planning institutions at various levels of governance; the frequency of updates; scoring criteria for projects; the use of planning data in the RTP; and the evolving role of MPOs with regard to plan preparation