The Metropolitan Planning Organization, Present and Future: Summary of a Conference

This conference brought together approximately 125 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 decision-making bodies within the MPO region that are responsible for carrying out the MPO-developed vision for the region. Two workshops—one on safety and planning and the other on environmental issues—were held at the beginning of the conference. During the conference, topics were introduced and discussed in panel sessions and breakout sessions. A series of mini–peer exchanges was organized for topics suggested by the participants in a preconference survey. The mini–peer exchange topics were MPO networks, training and research, staffing, and economic development. The exchanges were informal discussions of topics critical to the participants. This conference summary report is based on the conference agenda and includes summaries of the presentations made in each conference session, as well as a summary of the participants’ discussions in the final breakout sessions. The breakout sessions focused on MPO organizational structures; implementing decisions; finance; working with decision makers; private funding; transit, bicycle, and pedestrian planning; land use; freight planning; operations; security and emergency response; and research and capacity building.