U.S. Metropolitan Planning Organizations

Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are the designated representatives for urbanized areas with a population of at least 50,000, and may include government coalitions, such as a council of government or conglomeration of counties.

These entities are often times the ultimate administrators of federal transportation grant programs.

MPOs are required to develop and maintain Transportation Plans and Transportation Improvement Program, both of which must be re-written at least every four years.

The Transportation Plan (TP) lays out long term transportation and environmental goals for a 20-year period. The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) lists specific projects to be implemented over the next four years, and must be consistent with the Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP).

Each MPO must also prepare a Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), which is a document describing metropolitan transportation and transportation-related planning work expected to be undertaken in the MPO’s metropolitan area during the next 1 to 2-year period, including all transportation-related work to be financed with Federal transportation subsidy assistance.

Completed planning documents are often required to be submitted by MPOs before grant funds can be distributed to transit agencies and private bus operators. Operators wishing to receive federal grant funds should try to get their projects included in these plans.