Metropolitan Planning Organizations and Regional Planning Affiliations
Iowa has nine Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and 18 Regional Planning Affiliations (RPAs). MPOs conduct transportation planning activities in the urban areas with more than 50,000 population. These include the urban areas of Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Davenport, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Ames, Waterloo, and Sioux City. RPAs conduct planning for the non metropolitan areas of the state and cover all 99 counties.
These agencies are funded through FHWA and FTA sources, as well as local financial support. MPOs and RPAs provide the Iowa DOT the following required items.
- Transportation Planning Work Program—annually outlines the transportation planning activities each MPO/RPA will undertake for the next fiscal year.
- Long-Range Transportation Plan—provides direction and guidance for each MPO/RPA to make efficient transportation investment decisions.
- Public Participation Plan—outlines in detail the process each MPO/RPA will follow to adequately involve the public in the their transportation planning activities.
- Transportation Improvement Program—an annual document that lays out the individual transportation projects which each MPO/RPA will fund for the next three-year period.
The Office of Systems Planning works on a daily basis with the MPOs and RPAs as these four items are being developed. All federal transportation planning funds are administered through the Office of Systems Planning. Quarterly meetings are held with the MPO executive directors. In addition, quarterly meetings are also held with the RPA representatives.
The update to the State Transportation Plan is the responsibility of the Office of Systems Planning. A key element of the State Transportation Plan is the integration of the MPO and RPA long-range plans.
MPO and RPA contact list
MPO and RPA profiles document
