Planners - Who Does Transportation Planning?

Transportation planners are the people who examine current transportation operations (including traffic, congestion, accident rates and road conditions) and try to anticipate future transportation needs. They are hard at work everywhere—from small towns to massive cities—and are employed at various levels of government.

Small Communities and Counties
At the local level, many small communities and counties have their own transportation planners, often working in concert with land use planning.

Regional Planning Organizations
Rural areas may have regional planning organizations made up primarily of local elected officials. These organizations plan for specific geographic areas within the state that have populations below 50,000, and are therefore not covered by metropolitan area plans.

Regional Development Organizations
Some areas also have regional development organizations, regional councils, planning  commissions or councils of government that work closely with local communities, governments and businesses on everything from economic development and emergency services to housing and transportation planning. Regional development organizations typically administer, and/or serve as, the regional planning organization. More than 25 state transportation agencies contract with these regional development organizations to provide rural transportation planning services.

Transportation Adviosry Committees
Many states also utilize transportation advisory committees (TAC). Members of these committees are appointed by their respective municipality or transportation agency. The TAC makes recommendations to regional development organizations and state transportation agencies regarding the development of plans, activities and projects, and influences transportation policy at the regional and state levels.

Metropolitan Planning Organizations
For cities with more than 50,000 people, a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) is designated by agreement between the governor and representatives of the metropolitan area. Almost three-quarters of U.S. citizens live and work in areas served by MPOs. These organizations have  responsibility for planning, programming and coordination of federal highway and transit investments within their jurisdiction. Most MPOs are “free standing” or housed within city or county organizations. Less than half of them are housed within regional development organizations. MPOs are responsible for long-range transportation plans, short-range work programs and a plan of studies to determine transportation needs.

Transportation Management Areas
Very large metropolitan areas with populations that exceed 200,000 are known as transportation management areas, but are still considered MPOs. Transportation management areas have some additional planning requirements—including congestion management systems to identify actions and strategies to reduce congestion and increase mobility.

State Transportation Agencies
Every state transportation agency has a planning division that works with metropolitan and regional planning organizations and others to initiate studies and conduct transportation planning for the entire state. State transportation agencies are responsible for producing long-range transportation plans, short-term work programs and air quality implementation plans.

How many transportation planners does it take to...?

Transportation plans pass through many, many hands before going to design, review and construction. At every step in the process, someone is “planning” the next step, and is thus a part of the long continuum of planners.

In the course of your work with transportation agencies and professionals, you may be c onfused when you encounter many people with the word “planner” in their title. Indeed, they are all planners, but only some of them are involved with planning at the system level—which is what we are covering in this section.

Some are involved at the individual project level—these are “project planners.” Some state transportation agencies have “environmental planners” who plan how to guide a project through environmental review.

The plethora of “planners” can be confusing, so make sure you know who you are talking to. As a conservation professional, they will often assume you want to talk to the environment shop, and this is not always the case.