Rapidly Urbanizing/Findings
FINDINGS
The purpose of this report is to identify examples of notable transportation planning practices by states and metropolitan planning organizations to include rural communities near rapidly growing urbanized areas or small towns that are expected to become urbanized by the next Census. This research into the notable practices of five MPOs created since Census 2000 and one established MPO with nearby rural areas that are rapidly urbanizing resulted in the identification of methods in six areas to strengthen the involvement and contribution of rural stakeholders in the metropolitan planning process.
Each of the six areas to strengthen involvement of rural stakeholders in the metropolitan planning process is identified and then examples from the case studies or literature review are provided as support or explanation.
- Anticipate growth and urbanization
- Build on existing planning processes and documents
- Create agencies, boards and partnerships thoughtfully
- Determine a direction before starting out
- Involve stakeholders early
- Prepare for changes in funding
A. Anticipate growth and urbanization
Case Study Research Examples
Rapidly Urbanizing/Kootenai
While metropolitan transportation planning is the responsibility of the MPO, rural area planning remains largely in the hands of state department of transportation. All states are required to develop statewide transportation plans and these plans are intended to address the needs of rural residents. For this reason, state DOTs are in a position to anticipate that a rural area will be urbanized by the next Census and to make the rural stakeholders aware of the need to plan for transition to urban status. For example, planners from highway districts, the Idaho Transportation Department, and local agencies anticipated the growth for Kootenai County and began the regional planning process before 2000. Agencies that were to become part of KMPO started to prepare plans in 1997, well before the county was declared urbanized.
Rapidly Urbanizing/ Lake
In many states, the primary opportunity for rural citizens to influence transportation investment priorities is through their county elected officials. In Florida, state law provides that the board of county commissioners shall serve the functions of an MPO in those counties which are not federally recognized MPOs. The county board assists in the development of FDOT's work program so transportation planning begins in the county before the MPO is formed.
Rapidly Urbanizing/ Capital
In the Austin, Texas area, prior to 2003, the CAMPO planning area was defined as Travis County and those portions of Hays and Williamson counties that were specifically included in the Austin urbanized area. In 2003, the CAMPO policy board expanded the planning area to include all of Williamson and Hays Counties because the rural areas in both counties are rapidly urbanizing. The CAMPO staff will also include Bastrop and Caldwell counties in the long range projections for population and employment. Both counties are rural but rapidly urbanizing and will be included in the region's transportation model for the next long range transportation plan update. This is an appropriate first step leading to the addition of the counties in the MPO planning area in the future.
B. Build on existing planning practices and documents
Case Study Research Examples
In some cases, the responsibility for staffing a new MPO is assigned as additional duties for the transportation staff of an existing organization. The governor of Georgia designated the North Georgia Regional Development Center (NGRDC) as the MPO for Dalton and Whitfield County in May 2002. The NGRDC is an organization of local governments, which is governed by the board of directors composed of city and county elected officials, appointed officials, and non-public representatives. The board maintains a staff of professionals and technicians to carry out programs and activities according to its policies, to perform contracted services, and to manage NGRDC resources. As part of NGRDC, the Dalton-Whitfield MPO was able to more forward quickly to adapt the planning processes for a formerly rural area to the new requirements for an urbanized area.
One of the first tasks for the new Dalton/ Whitfield County MPO was to prepare a long-range transportation plan consistent with the metropolitan planning process. The basis for the new long-range transportation plan was the Whitfield County/City of Dalton Multimodal Transportation Study. The study was jointly sponsored by the Georgia Department of Transportation in partnership with Whitfield County and the City of Dalton. The two-phased study addressed all of the modes of transportation. The second phase expanded the scope of the plan to meet the requirements of the long-range metropolitan transportation plan. [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Dalton]
The metropolitan transportation plan for the new Bowling Green/Warren County MPO was begun by incorporating and building upon the concepts and recommendations from previous planning studies. Among the plans considered were the historical local transportation studies for roadway projects, recent airport master planning documents and the transit plans that had been developed over the years. The MPO considered the efforts of other agencies including statewide plans, regional plans, county plans, and corridor studies. By seeking out and considering other plans, the MPO was naturally led to coordination with the organizations that authored them. The consideration of other plans also led to incorporating other modes into the planning process including public transportation, airport and bicycle and pedestrian facility plans. Taken in its entirety, this process ultimately led to a more unified regional transportation strategy and better regional coordination with all the major stakeholders. [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Bowling]
The Central Florida MPO Alliance has also proven helpful to the Lake-Sumter MPO by sharing lessons learned and expertise with the new MPO. The Alliance members collaborate on legislative priorities to maintain needed state transportation funding. The Central Florida MPO Alliance serves as a model of how a new MPO can join and benefit from regional collaboration. [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Lake]
C. Structure agencies, boards and partnerships thoughtfully
Case Study Research Examples
In the area surrounding St. George in southwestern Utah, the cities in the region, Five County Association of Governments (FCAOG), and the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) entered into a memorandum of understanding to establish a 'partnership charter' whereby the stakeholders agreed to work together for the common good and to act and represent the agencies in the MPO development process. The MOU further documented a mission and vision for the MPO. [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Dixie]
The Dalton-Whitfield County (Georgia) MPO and the neighboring Chattanooga-Hamilton County (Tennessee)/North Georgia Transportation Planning Organization recognize the importance of coordinating transportation planning beyond their respective borders to address the transportation patterns for commuting and goods movements in the region. The first step to developing a bi-state transportation strategy was facilitated with the help of the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government (Vinson Institute). The Vinson Institute brings a neutral university-based third party approach to facilitation and coordination. [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Dalton]
When a new organization is formed to staff a new MPO, there is value in employing a director and technical staff with experience working with another MPO and knowledge of the metropolitan planning process. The Kootenai MPO in Idaho saw the value of experience when the policy board turned to the experienced staff of a nearby, established MPO in Spokane. The key to the transition from rural to urban status for Kootenai County was the venture between the Kootenai MPO and Spokane Regional Transportation Council in neighboring Spokane. The Kootenai MPO Board contracts with SRTC to provide staff for the new MPO. SRTC operates at the pleasure of the Kootenai MPO Board. The Kootenai MPO Board provides the policy direction for the KMPO and ensures independence and autonomy for Kootenai County. [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Koontenai]
Many new MPOs find that establishing the credibility of the technical committee early on (with by-laws, regular meetings, meeting notes and attendance records) will smooth the transition to the formalities of the planning process. Two examples of effective technical advisory committees are Kootenai MPO and Bowling Green/Warren County MPO.
Kootenai MPO has a technical transportation committee, Kootenai County Area Transportation Team (KCATT), which meets monthly to discuss and advise the KMPO Board on technical transportation issues. The KCATT assists in the development of an annual work program, prepares recommendations for projects for inclusion in the transportation improvement program and the long range transportation plan. The KCATT also assists with maintenance and periodic updates and calibration of the regional travel demand model (Vissum). [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Koontenai]
The Bowling Green/Warren County MPO Technical Advisory Committee is responsible for recommending the program of projects in the transportation improvement program (TIP). The MPO Policy Committee established project evaluation criteria based on the MPO goals. The evaluation criteria were the basis for the TIP project selection process. A special subcommittee of the Technical Advisory Committee scored each project with each category and tabulated the results for recommendation to the Technical Advisory Committee and the Policy Committee (after review with the Citizens Advisory Committee). [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Bowling]
D. Develop a direction before starting out
Case Study Research Examples
- The Bowling Green/ Warren County MPO Policy Committee adopted planning goals and project evaluation criteria based on those goals to guide project selection for the transportation improvement program. The evaluation criteria are the basis for the transportation improvement program project selection process. In this way the MPO goals have meaning and impact from policy to project. [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Bowling]
E. Involve stakeholders early
Case Study Research Examples
The new Lake-Sumter MPO established two citizen advisory groups to provide input to the MPO Board. The Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) is comprised of members of the general public who represent the general welfare of the community. The committee has an advisory role to the MPO because it provides a necessary communication link between the MPO and the community it is serving. Thus, the input provided by the CAC insures that the MPO planning process is actually meeting the needs of the community it is serving. The Transportation Disadvantaged Local Coordinating Board identifies the local needs of the transportation disadvantaged population and investigates alternatives to meet those needs. Additional public input is provided through public meetings, public hearings, and civic meetings. There are two Transportation Disadvantaged Coordinating Boards representing the two counties in the Lake-Sumter MPO Area. The Coordinating Boards each serve in an advisory capacity to the Lake-Sumter MPO. The primary purpose of each Coordinating Board is to assist the MPO in identifying local service needs and in providing information, advice and direction to the community transportation providers in each county. [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Lake]
In addition to a Technical Advisory Committee, the Bowling Green/Warren County MPO has a standing Citizens Advisory Committee. The MPO Policy Committee established project evaluation criteria based on the MPO goals. One of the technical scoring criteria was "Community" that reflected input from the Citizen Advisory Committee. The Bowling Green/Warren County MPO also used a public involvement process known as the "strings and ribbons" exercise. The strings and ribbons exercise was designed by the director of another MPO. Strings and ribbons is a consensus-building exercise used in transportation planning to teach citizens about needs, constraints, priorities, and funding flexibility. The exercise also serves to build community consensus. [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Bowling]
The Dalton/Whitfield County MPO incorporated the use of a stakeholder committee to guide the long range transportation planning process. The Policy Committee believed a Special Study Committee was needed to provide a more detailed review and analysis of issues, needs, and alternatives related to the elements of a long range transportation plan (LRTP). The 2030 LRTP Special Study Committee was created by the MPO Policy Committee to serve as an ad hoc committee to assist MPO staff and consultants on elements of the Dalton/Whitfield County Long Range Transportation Plan for 2030. Members of the Special Committee were selected from the Technical Coordinating Committee for their technical knowledge, skills, and insights associated with transportation planning, operations, and processes, and for their responsibilities in the development of the current transportation system and improvements. [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Dalton]
F. Prepare for changes in funding
Case Study Research Examples
- The Five County Association of Governments and the city of St. George anticipated the transition from Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5311 non-urbanized (rural) area transit funds to Section 5307 urbanized area formula funding. In September 2002, the St. George City Council voted in support of taking over the public transit responsibility for the urbanized area from the rural provider, and became the FTA grant recipient for Section 5307 funds. Utah's Governor designated the city as the designated recipient for FTA funds and FTA concurrence was received in November 2002. The foresight and early action prevented any potential lapse in transit funding in the transition from rural to urban status for the urbanized area. [hyperlink to Rapidly Urbanizing/ Dixie]
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