The decision-making process in metropolitan planning organizations
Date
2006
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (or MPOs) are at the forefront of the transportation planning process, making decisions about transportation investments at a time when transportation planning goes beyond issues of mobility to influence patterns of growth and economic activity, provide accessibility to land, and address non-transportation-specific issues such as air quality, environmental resources consumption, social equity, ‘smart growth’, or safety and security. ☐ In recent years, local and metropolitan leaders have been demanding more decision-making authority and control over federal funding in order to address these concerns. However, decision-making in metropolitan planning is a sophisticated, complex process that goes beyond the straightforward engineered design approach; it requires active involvement with political, economic and social decision-makers in the community. This complex articulation allows the blending of technical, regulatory, political and civic criteria into spaces, shapes, plans and designs. ☐ This thesis examines the decision-making mechanisms involved in this process. The first chapter provides a review of the history of MPOs and the determining factors and events that led to their current structure. The second chapter details the different structural components and decision-making bodies of MPOs. The third, and final, chapter provides a comparative analysis of the structure and decision-making bodies of a sample of sixty-five MPOs, looking for commonalities or differences. ☐ This thesis notes that although MPOs were created by a federal legal mandate, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962, they have been implemented over a multitude of states, geographical terrain and socio-economic backgrounds. Common rules of decision-making, procedures and practice, have been interpreted and enacted differently, with variations in terms of area, population served, physical geography, budgets and funding availability and political representation. ☐ The analysis of the sample MPOs established that two basic premises apply to all MPOs. The first is that they are all structured with professional staff and technical committees, intended to inform the decision-making process in a professional and unbiased way. The second is that bias finds its way into the decision-making process because key decisions are made at the Policy Board level, where elected representatives play a determining role, leaving MPOs subject to the political fluctuations of electoral cycles. ☐ Despite these commonalities, the thesis demonstrates that direct comparisons between MPO decision-making processes are difficult because the process is influenced by other factors, such as local and regional socio-economic conditions, complexity of transportation networks, or availability of multi-modal systems, that can vary widely from one urban area to another. The thesis also notes that in some cases, the MPO is not the only decision-maker in the region regarding transportation planning matters. The thesis recommends that the impact of these variations on the decision-making process be addressed in a future study of a narrow sample of MPOs, with a case-by-case review of specific decisions within a set time frame. ☐ The thesis concludes that as new technologies come into play, the complexity of multi-modal, multi-jurisdictional, and multi-technological systems will only increase, as will the role of Metropolitan Planning Organizations. In order to play that role efficiently, judiciously, and in timely manner, MPOs will have to develop a streamlined, reliable decision-making process, striving toward objectivity but with enough flexibility to take into account not only the disparities and technological complexities of transportation systems, but also the intrinsic political and human nature of their mission.