Metropolitan Planning Organizations: Strategies for Future Success (2022)

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© 2022 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed, and implementable research is the most effective way to solve many problems facing state departments of transportation (DOTs) administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local or regional interest and can best be studied by state DOTs individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation results in increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. Recognizing this need, the leadership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in 1962 initiated an objective national highway research program using modern scientific techniques— the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). NCHRP is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of AASHTO and receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), United States Department of Transportation, under Agreement No. 693JJ31950003. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply endorsement by TRB and any of its program sponsors of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. DISCLAIMER To facilitate more timely dissemination of research findings, this pre-publication document is taken directly from the submission of the research agency. The material has not been edited by TRB. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this document are those of the researchers who performed the research. They are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; the FHWA; or the program sponsors. The Transportation Research Board, the National Academies, and the sponsors of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of the report. This pre-publication document IS NOT an official publication of the Cooperative Research Programs; the Transportation Research Board; or the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Recommended citation: Lane, J. S., C. Duncan, W. Carroll, M. Miller, H. Glassman, K. Kemp, J. Billings, D. Rotert, R. Ewing, and B. Siracuse. 2022. Metropolitan Planning Organizations: Strategies for Future Success. Pre-publication draft of NCHRP Research Report 1002. Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.

Acknowledgments The research team sincerely thanks those MPOs, state departments of transportation, transit operators, and many others that that participated – totaling literally hundreds of people and agencies – to help us create this resource. Best of luck to all of you in the future. The NCHRP 08-122 Panelists were encouraged by the research team throughout the project to provide input through on draft surveys, literature summary, interim report, the rescoping that occurred during the pandemic, expert panelist candidates, and draft reports. They responded with gusto to provide the research team with invaluable insights from a range of perspectives.

CONTENTS 1 Summary: The MPO Looks Forward 4 Section 1. Strategies for Metropolitan Planning Organization Success 5 Chapter 1. Introduction 11 Chapter 2. Innovation Database 14 Chapter 3. Toolkit for the 21st Century 41 Section 2. Research Report 42 Chapter 4. Phase I Research Findings 50 Chapter 5. Regional Roundtables Approach and Key Findings 63 Chapter 6. Information Forums Approach and Key Findings 72 Chapter 7. Conclusions 74 References Appendices A-1 Appendix A. Information Forum Summaries B-1 Appendix B. Regional Roundtables Summaries C-1 Appendix C. Literature Review Summary D-1 Appendix D. Conference Activities Summary E-1 Appendix E. National MPO Survey Summary FIGURES S-1 Median Staff Sizes of Full-Time Employees (FTE) by Size of Population in Planning Area 1-1 Modifications to Phase II to Accommodate Pandemic Effects 1-2 Information Forum Participation 1-3 Regional Roundtable Participation 4-1 Summary of Major Survey Results 4-2 Individual Findings and the Potential Effects from the Global Pandemic TABLES 1-1 Examples of Areas Influenced by Global Pandemic 1-2 Participants in Regional Roundtables and Information Forums 2-1 Field Description of the Innovation Database 3-1 Toolkit Topics by Category 5-1 Regional Roundtable Organizations 6-1 Information Forum Topics and Expert Panelists