Twenty Years of Rural Transportation Planning discusses the evolution of North Carolina's Rural Planning Organization (RPO) program over 20 years. It outlines the 18 RPOs formed through local agreements to advise NCDOT on rural transportation. Key duties include assisting with transportation plans, public participation, and prioritizing projects. RPOs are led by transportation advisory committees and technical committees. In 2018, funding changed from state grants to federal funds, requiring updated documentation and processes to reflect the RPOs' new prioritization role. The presentation examines lessons learned about collaboration, change, and flexibility in transportation planning.

1. Twenty Years of Rural Transportation Planning:
Revisiting and Renewing North Carolina’s Rural Planning Organization Program
Tim Brock, PhD, AICP
MPO/RPO Staff Engineer, NCDOT
&
Matt Day, AICP CTP
Principal Planner, TJCOG and TARPO
President, NCARPO
National Regional Transportation Conference July 28, 2020

2. Enabling Legislation and
Organization Structure

3. NC General State Statutes
“A voluntary organization of local officials formed through a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) to work cooperatively with the Department of Transportation to
plan rural transportation systems and to advise the Department on rural transportation
policy” ~ NC General Statue 136-210

4. 4 Core Duties of the RPO
• Assist the Department in developing Comprehensive Transportation
Plans (CTP)
• Provide a forum for public participation in the transportation planning
and development process
• Develop and prioritize projects through the established prioritization
system based on Strategic Transportation Investments (STI) law for
inclusion in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)
• Provide transportation related information to local governments and
others

5. RPO Structure
• Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)
– Local Elected Officials
– BOT Area Representative
– FHWA advisory non-voting member
– Tribal Governments
– Other members designated by the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding)
• Technical Coordinating Committee (TCC)
– Member Government(s) Staff Representatives
– NCDOT (Division Engineer or Staff Designee and other representatives)
– FHWA
– Transit Providers
– Other Agencies
• Lead Planning Agency (LPA)
– 15 Council of Governments (COG) and 3 Counties

6. RPOs MPOs
Number 18 19
How
Formed
area identified locally based on
common transportation/ land use
concerns, with agreement by all
counties; minimum of three counties
required; cities may join and vote per
MOU; MPOs are ex-officio members
area identified by US Census,
includes central city and other areas
that meet density criteria; planning
area may be expanded, but not
contracted
Designation chartered by Secretary of
Transportation 2001-2003
designated by NC Secretary of
Transportation on behalf of Governor
based on population criteria by US
Census and FHWA
Population
Criteria
minimum 50,000 population and 3
counties
minimum 50,000; special planning
requirements for areas over 200k
RPO and MPO Summary Facts

7. Funding Source Changes
and
Programmatic Updates

8. RPOs Funding Change
In 2018, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) worked with the
North Carolina Association of Rural Planning Organizations (NCARPO) and Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA) to update policy and procedures that reflected a
change from state funding grant to federal State Planning and Research (SPR) funding
as well as the RPOs role in prioritization activities in the state.

9. Updated Program Documents
• Planning Work Program (PWP)
• Quarterly Invoicing Template
• RPO Administration Manual
• RPO Title VI Plan
• LPA Agreement
• MOUs

10. 10

11. Updated Planning Process
• Community Understand Reports (CUR)
• Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) Process

12. Comprehensive Transportation Plan
CTP 2.0 Update

13. Take-aways
• If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
(Collaboration takes longer but the product is better)
• Change is the only constant.
(Continuous state of improving and updating processes)
• Money changes people (and programs)
(Changing funding sources can require a lot of programmatic restructuring
and administrative updates)
• Be different….just like everybody else.
(Streamline with templates and standardization; but allow flexibility each
planning organization’s unique circumstances)

14. 14
Questions
Contact Info:
Tim Brock, PhD, AICP
RPO/MPO Staff Engineer, NCDOT
tjbrock1@ncdot.gov
Matt Day, AICP CTP
Principal Planner, TJCOG and TARPO
President, NCARPO
mday@tjcog.org