Transportation Planning Keeps Regional Economies Moving

Regional development organizations are proving to be ideal partners for states in facilitating the involvement of rural elected officials in the statewide transportation planning process. According to NADO Research Foundation’s 2000 survey of regional development organizations, 34 percent of respondents feel that transportation is a current economic development need, and 65 percent administer US Department of Transportation programs.

Best described as the gateway for accessing federal transportation funds, the statewide transportation planning process has slowly evolved since its creation under the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) to the 1998 highway and transit bill known as the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21).

Under the 1991 ISTEA law, Congress outlined a prominent role for urban elected officials in the transportation investment process through metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). However, the federal law failed to afford rural elected officials the same rights, leaving control of rural transportation funding priorities in the hands of state officials.

Rural Roads and Bridges Rural roads comprise 80 percent of national road miles (3.1 million rural road miles). Rural roads carry 40 percent of vehicle miles traveled. 50 percent of rural roads are paved; 90 percent are two-lane or less. City and county governments are responsible for 95 percent of unpaved and 55 percent of paved roads. There are over 450,000 rural bridges. Source: NADO Research Foundation, National Academy of Public Administration, Federal Highway Administration

Recognizing the urban-rural inequity, Congress established a stronger role for rural local officials in the planning and programming processes as part of TEA-21. While the federal law avoids mandating a specific process for involving rural officials, Congress does encourage states to use existing regional development organizations to facilitate the participation of rural officials. More than 20 states have established rural planning organizations (RPOs) while several others are currently considering this option.

According to Joe Brannan, Executive Director of SouthEastern Arizona Governments Organization, “The Arizona Department of Transportation is among the pioneers in using regional development organizations for rural transportation planning. Starting in 1971, the rural councils were primarily involved in data collection. Today, they have an extensive work program, which includes developing and maintaining a regional five-year construction program, coordinating the application and prioritization process for the transportation enhancement program, and serving as a liaison between local governments and the state transportation department.”

According to Wayne Strickland, Executive Director of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, “The Virginia Department of Transportation contracts with 20 of the state’s planning district commissions to assist with rural transportation planning. The department allocates federal planning funds to the rural districts and also allows them to compete for additional planning funds under a rural planning grant program. This is a unique program since 99 percent of nonfederal rural roads are state-owned.” As public entities created by state law or executive order, regional organizations allow states to build on an existing network with close ties to local governments, community leaders and the public. These regional organizations also bring years of planning experience to the table, including extensive knowledge of economic development, land use and environmental planning.

More importantly, regional development organizations have experience coordinating the activities of local governments within a region and have decades of experience as the service delivery mechanism for many federal and state programs.

According to Christopher Larson, Executive Director of the Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission, “In January 2000, the Indiana Department of Transportation established new partnerships with existing RPOs to provide services related to rural transportation planning. Through the ground-breaking pilot program, RPOs will assist the department with data collection and analysis of local project needs, provide technical assistance to rural officials in developing and prioritizing local needs, and assist in the public involvement process.”

Michael King, Executive Director of the North Country Council, explains, “Regional planning commissions (RPCs) play an active role in New Hampshire’s rural transportation program. The key method for rural local official participation is through the development of the RPC transportation plan and project priorities.”

Issues Facing Rural Communities: Significant decline in intercity bus service. Public transit in rural areas is limited and primarily local in nature. Passenger rail is available only along certain corridors. Commercial air service is expensive. Since rail industry restructuring, the abandonment of many branch lines has led to a decline in rail service to many rural areas.

In addition to serving as rural transportation planning organizations, many regional development organizations provide technical assistance to local governments applying for federal transportation enhancement grants. In states such as Arizona, Iowa and Texas, they also provide rural transit services, including the Federal Transit Administration’s Section 5311 program.

By Matthew Chase, NADO Deputy Executive Director

For specific case studies of rural transportation planning organizations, visit the best practices section of the NADO Regional Transportation Online Center at www.nado.org/rtoc. Contact Joe Brannan of SEAGO at (520) 432-5301 or www.seago.org; Wayne Strickland of Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission at (540) 343-4417 or wstrickland@rvarc.org; Christopher Larson of Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission at (219) 253-6658 or clarson@urhere.net; Michael King of North Country Council at (603) 444-6303 or at nccinc@moose.ncia.net.

The following state transportation departments contract with regional development organizations to perform a variety of rural transportation planning and programming activities, such as facilitating the involvement of rural elected officials, conducting special studies and gathering data, developing regional priorities, administering local transit programs, and providing technical assistance to local governments.

Arizona	Minnesota
California	Missouri
Colorado	New Hampshire
Connecticut	New Mexico
Florida	Oregon
Georgia	Pennsylvania
Indiana	South Carolina
Iowa	Vermont
Kentucky	Virginia
Maine	Washington
Massachusetts	Wisconsin
Michigan
Footnote: North Carolina is currently in the process of establishing rural transportation planning organizations, as required by a new state law. Source: NADO Research Foundation, National Academy of Public Administration, Federal Highway Administration