Mission and Overview
The Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO)
is the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the 18 municipalities
of the Chittenden County region. Each year, the CCMPO oversees
about $30 million in transportation investments. It evaluates
and approves proposed transportation improvement projects and
provides a forum for interagency cooperation and public input
into funding decisions. It also sponsors and conducts studies,
assists local municipalities with planning activities, and develops
and updates the County's long range transportation plan (known
as the Metropolitan Transportation Plan). Serving about 145,000
people, the CCMPO is Vermont's only MPO.
Jurisdiction
The CCMPO region encompasses about 145,000 people in the 18 municipalities
of Chittenden County: Bolton, Burlington, Charlotte, Colchester,
Essex, Essex Junction, Hinesburg, Huntington, Jericho, Milton,
Richmond, St. George, Shelburne, South Burlington, Underhill,
Westford, Williston, and Winooski. The region is home to about
25 percent of the state's population.
Membership
The CCMPO Board of Directors consists of one local elected or
appointed official from each of the 18 municipalities and from
the Vermont Agency of Transportation. The Board also includes
the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, the Chittenden
County Transportation Authority, Burlington International Airport,
and the US Department of Transportation. Representatives of the
rail, freight movement, land use planning, and special needs communities
also participate directly in the CCMPO process. All of these municipalities,
agencies and interests work together in a comprehensive, continuing,
and cooperative process to meet the metropolitan area's critical
transportation needs.
Key Products
The CCMPO is required to prepare and update a number of planning documents that detail
the investments and planning activities that will help improve regional
transportation. They include:
Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) ~
Updated every five years, the MTP sets out a vision for the development
of the region's transportation infrastructure over the next twenty
years. It includes goals and objectives, analysis of regional trends
and planned improvement projects throughout the county in all modes
of transportation.
Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) ~
Updated annually, the TIP is a three-year agenda of improvement
projects. To be eligible for federal funding, proposed projects
must be approved by the CCMPO Board for inclusion in the TIP.
Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) ~
Updated annually, the UPWP summarizes the transportation planning
activities of the CCMPO staff, its member agencies and other transportation
and planning agencies conducting work in the region.
Organizational Structure
One standing committee -- the Transportation Advisory Committee, or
TAC -- makes recommendations on action items to be considered by
the full Board of Directors. The TAC is composed of planners and
engineers from member agencies, as well as appointed representatives
of various regional interest groups. As warranted, the TAC will appoint
special subcommittees to focus on specific topics or projects. The
Board and TAC are supported by a 9-person staff, located in South
Burlington, VT.
Meetings
All scheduled Board of Directors and TAC meetings are open to the
public, and the CCMPO welcomes and encourages public participation
in and input to the metropolitan transportation planning process.
The Board of Directors meets in public session on the third Wednesday
of each month, at the offices of the CCMPO unless otherwise indicated.
The TAC also meets monthly, usually on the first Tuesday. All regular
CCMPO meetings include an opportunity for public comments on pertinent
issues. In addition, public hearings on specific items, such as amendments
to the TIP or UPWP, are held as needed throughout the year.
Guiding Legislation
* The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962
This act established the federal requirement of a "Continuing, Cooperative, & Comprehensive"
transportation planning process (The so-called 3-C's process) to be undertaken for all
federally funded transportation projects in urbanized areas of 50,000 population or greater
* The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973
This act further formalized the 3-C's process by mandating the creation of Metropolitan
Planning Organizations (MPOs), which required governors of states to formally designate
a locally-represented MPO in each urbanized area with a population of 50,000 or greater.
* The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA)
The purpose of this act was to develop a "National Intermodal Transportation
System that is economically efficient, environmentally sound, provides the
foundation for the Nation to compete in the global economy and will move
people and goods in an energy efficient manner."
This act established the provision that MPO's undertake development of
a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), a long-range plan, and an
annual work program. It also required for states; a statewide planning
process, a statewide transportation plan, and a statewide transportation
improvement program (STIP).
*
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21)
Enacted in July 1998, "TEA-21" calls for integrating all modes of
transportation - cars, trains, trucks, buses, ferries, walking and
biking - into a single, efficient and "seamless" transportation system.
It mandates greater local control over transportation funding decisions
through MPOs, such as the CCMPO.
*
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)
On 10 August 2005, the new Federal surface transportation act (SAFETEA-LU) was signed into law, authorizing a $286.4 billion transportation program for a 5-year period; FFY 2004-2009. This act covers all surface transportation programs, such as highways, highway safety, transit, freight, and transportation research. SAFETEA-LU also has additional compliance rules to be met by MPO's for their planning documents adopted after July 1, 2007:
- Planning cycles for MTP & TIP.
- Annual listing of projects to include Pedestrian Walkways & Bicycle Transportation Facilities.
- Expansion of planning factors in MTP to include Increase Safety & Increase Transportation Security as well as an expanded definition for Support Economic Vitality.
- MTP should refer to goals and objectives in the state-adopted Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSP).
- MTP must include a textual discussion of the types of potential environmental mitigation activities and potential
locations for these activities, to restore and maintain environmental functions that could be affected by the MTP.
- MTP could refer to the procedure for consulting with the additional state and local agencies: 1. Environmental protection,
2. Tribal government, 3. Wildlife management, 4. Land management, 5. Historic preservation.
- Criteria for rating Major Capital Improvements for Transit to further include Economic Development Potential
& Reliability of Ridership and Cost Forecasts.
- MTP should include written discussion of strategies to
improve the performance of existing transportation facilities.
- Congestion Management Process/System is given a
more central emphasis in plans and TIPs.
- Public Participation Plan (PPP): SAFETEA-LU requires a stand-alone, written plan for
collecting public comments for MPO documents: 1. Make MTPs and TIPs available for public viewing in advance of board meetings where
documents will be adopted. 2. The PPP should provide for meetings where the public can enter commentary. These meetings should be scheduled at
convenient and accessible places and times. 3. The PPP must use visualization techniques. These techniques may vary, but can include maps, transportation models and animation. If the agency will be using these visual tools, it must be stated in the PPP. 4. Publish the MTP and TIP by electronic means (e.g. internet).
- Coordinated Public Transit Human Services Transportation Plans: To receive funds from 5310 (Special Needs of Elderly and
Individuals with Disabilities), 5316(g) (Job Access and Reverse Commute), or 5317(f) (New Freedom), plans must be
developed through a process that includes representatives from public, private, and non-profit transportation providers.
- The cycle for conformity determinations for MTPs and TIPs is altered to a 4-year cycle.
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