What is an MPO?MPO stands for Metropolitan Planning Organization. Each urbanized area in the United States with a population of 50,000 or more is required by the federal government to have a metropolitan planning organization (MPO). MPOs are responsible for the continuing, cooperative and comprehensive transportation planning process for their urbanized area. Urbanized Areas are designated by the United States Census Bureau and are a reflection of urban growth, not political boundaries. For example, growth in the Indianapolis area has reached into the eight counties surrounding the City of Indianapolis. Therefore the Indianapolis Urbanized Area (as designated by the Census Bureau) includes multiple political entities, namely the City of Indianapolis / Marion County, and parts of Boone, Hamilton, Madison, Hancock, Shelby, Johnson, Morgan and Hendricks County. This is the reason why MPOs are responsible for the transportation planning process for urbanized areas and not single political entities. The Federal Government wants to ensure that the transportation planning process and resulting network are cohesive and functional for areas that have grown together. In other words, transportation planning needs to be regional in scope because transportation systems cut across governmental boundaries. |