The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) in the United States is a long-term blueprint of a region's
transportation system
A transport network, or transportation network, is a network or graph in geographic space, describing an infrastructure that permits and constrains movement or flow.
Examples include but are not limited to road networks, railways, air routes, ...
.
[{{Cite web, url=http://equitycaucus.org/Library/CreatingHealthyRegionalTransportationPlans, title=equitycaucus.org, website=equitycaucus.org, language=en, access-date=2017-05-10] Usually RTPs are conducted every five years and are plans for thirty years into the future, with the participation of dozens of transportation and infrastructure specialists. The plan identifies and analyzes transportation needs of the
metropolitan region
A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metropolitan area usually ...
and creates a framework for project priorities.
These plans are normally the product of recommendations and studies carried out and put forth by a
Metropolitan planning organization
A metropolitan planning organization (MPO) is a federally mandated and federally funded transportation policy-making organization in the United States that is made up of representatives from local government and governmental transportation authorit ...
(MPO). MPOs were formed under the
1962 Federal-Aid Highway Act and are required for any
urban area
An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
with a population of greater than 50,000.
Aims and objectives
MPOs must consider the following points when planning an RTP:
# Support the economic vitality of the metropolitan areas, especially by enabling global competitiveness, productivity, and efficiency.
# Increase the safety of the system for users of all modes of transportation.
# Raise the ability of the transportation system to support
homeland security
Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" to ...
and to safeguard the security of users of all modes of transportation.
# Improve
accessibility and mobility for people and freight.
# Enhance the integration and connectivity of the transportation system, between modes, for people and freight.
# Environmental considerations:
## Protect and enhance the environment;
## promote
energy conservation
Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less and better sources of energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavi ...
;
## improve the
quality of life
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
; and,
## promote consistency between transportation projects, and State and local planned growth and economic development patterns.
# Promote efficient operation and management of the system.
# Emphasize the preservation of the existing transportation system.
See also
*
Houston-Galveston Area Council 2035 Regional Transportation Plan
*
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
*
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), branded as Metro, is the county agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the Transportation in Los Angeles, public transportation system in Los Ang ...
*
*
Houston-Galveston Area Council
References
Portland, OR Metro RTPHouston-Galveston Area 2035 RTPNew York Metropolitan Transportation CouncilPortland, ME Area Comprehensive Transportation Committee (PACTS)
;Notes
External links
New York Metropolitan Transportation CouncilHouston-Galveston Area CouncilPortland MetroSan Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation CommissionLos Angeles MetroSouthern California Association of Governments
Transportation planning