THE TRANSPORTATION EQUITY ACT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: THE FAILURE OF METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATIONS TO REFORM FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION POLICY IN METROPOLITAN AREAS

Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) make transportation planning decisions in metropolitan areas, when those decisions involve the use of federal funds. The MPOs make these decisions in cooperation with state governments, following federal requirements. Two federal statutes have set up this planning system. They are the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). These statutes sought to reform the pre-existing transportation planning process, which was dominated by state governments and strongly favored automotive transportation, by granting MPOs planning authority over metropolitan areas and by requiring that they consider alternative modes of transportation as well as the impact of their decisions on communities and the environment. This paper argues that these reforms have been unsuccessful because they failed to provide MPOs with sufficient independence from state governments and failed to impose strong planning requirements and federal oversight, which could have counteracted the dependence of MPOs on state governments. Finally, this paper concludes that changes in the current regime that strengthen MPOs and federal planning requirements, as well as active federal oversight, are necessary if the transportation planning reforms envisioned by ISTEA and TEA-21 are to become a reality.