Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO)
The HRTPO is a federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization charged with developing a fiscally constrained long-range transportation plan and six-year transportation improvement program for the region. Members include representatives from local governments, state transportation agencies, state legislatures, local transit agencies, and the port.
Congress created MPOs in order to ensure that existing and future expenditures for transportation projects and programs are based on a continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive planning process that reflect the region’s shared vision of the future. There are 5 ‘Core Functions’ of all MPOs:
- Establish and manage a fair and impartial setting for effective regional decision-making in the metropolitan area
- Evaluate transportation alternatives, scaled to the size and complexity of the region, to the nature of its transportation issues, and to the realistically available options
- Develop and update a fiscally-constrained Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) for the metropolitan area covering a planning horizon of at least 20 years that fosters mobility, efficiency, and improves the overall quality of life
- Develop a fiscally-constrained program based on the Long-Range Transportation Plan and designed to serve the area’s goals, using spending, regulating, operating, management, and financial tools
- Involve the general public and all the significantly affected sub-groups in the four essential functions listed above
For more information on the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization, visit the HRTPO website, www.hrtpo.org.
