The MPO Plans and Programs

Transportation planning must take a cooperative and coordinated approach because no single agency has responsibility for the entire transportation system. In the San Antonio-Bexar County MPO study area, transportation infrastructure such as roads, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities can be built and maintained by the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority, Bexar County, Comal County, Guadalupe County, City of San Antonio, Texas Department of Transportation, or any one of the five area suburban cites. Transit service is operated and transit capital projects are built and maintained by VIA Metropolitan Transit. All of these entities are eligible to receive federal transportation funding to carry out the transportation goals of the region.

In order to keep federal transportation funding coming to our area, the MPO is responsible for developing and maintaining three important documents.

The first is the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), or long-range transportation plan. This multi-modal plan forecasts population and employment growth and transportation needs and solutions based on that growth for the next 25 years. The long-range plan also communicates the region’s transportation vision, goals and strategies for surface modes of transportation.  The project list is constrained by the amount of funding that will be available to our region over the life of the plan. We are currently in the process of updating our long range transportation plan and it is scheduled to be adopted on December 7, 2009.

The second is the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) or short-range transportation plan.  The short range plan identifies federally funded projects for the near term, four year time period.  The TIP is the region’s way of allocating limited transportation funding among the prioritized needs of the area.  This plan must be consistent with the goals and priorities of the long-range transportation plan.

The third is the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) which is a listing of transportation-studies and tasks to be performed by the MPO, partner agency or consultant. It covers a two year time period and reflects local issues and priorities and contains all significant planning studies regardless of funding source.  Tasks are divided among 1) program administration, 2) data development, 3) short range planning, 4) long range planning, and 5) special studies.  Each study shows the agency responsible and the budget for the work to be accomplished.