AMARILLO METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION

The City of Amarillo was first designated as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Amarillo Study Area in February 1973.  The original decision-making body of the MPO was called the Amarillo Policy Advisory Committee.  This committee was composed of state, county, and city officials, and charged with the task of being

". . . cooperatively responsible for the performance of the planning process including transportation systems plans developed as a part of the planning process; ensure proper coordination of transportation modes and between sub-areas; cooperatively establish transportation needs; and propose projects from all transportation modes for recommendation to those governmental units responsible for program development and project implementation."

[State Department of Highways and Public Transportation Minute Order No. 76787, dated 20 February 1980]

The MPO Policy Advisory Committee, the current decision-making body of the MPO, includes thirteen voting and eight ex-officio (non-voting) members.

The voting members of the Policy Advisory Committee consist of five City of Amarillo members:  City Manager, Community Services Director, Director of Public Works, Traffic Engineer, and Transit Manager; four Texas Department of Transportation Amarillo District members:  District Engineer, Director of Transportation Planning & Development, Design Engineer, and District Planner; two representatives each of Potter and Randall Counties:  County Judge and County Commissioner.

Ex-officio members include representatives of the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission, TxDOT Transportation Planning & Programming Division, FHWA Texas Division, FTA Region VI, 13^th Congressional District of Texas, 31^st Texas State Senatorial District, 86^th Texas State Representative District, 87^th Texas State Representative District, and the Mayor of the City of Amarillo.

The Amarillo MPO's Metropolitan Area Boundary (MAB), which is area within the MPO's geographic planning jurisdiction, includes that geographical area that may be urbanized within the next twenty years.  This area is also known as the study area.  The MPO Urban Area Boundary (UAB) is roughly concurrent with the City limits of Amarillo, and has not been significantly revised for the last several years.  The City of Amarillo is the only urbanized area and the only incorporated community within the study area.

These three documents are developed by the MPO:

The Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) is the Long Range Transportation Plan for the City of Amarillo and surrounding Potter and Randall Counties.  The Plan, which covers a twenty-year planning horizon, addresses the following:  1) an inventory of the transportation systems, 2) a forecast of travel demand on the future transportation network, 3) a strategy for alternative modes of transportation other than single occupant vehicles, and 4) an analysis of environmental factors including air quality.  Federal requirements call for an update of the MTP every five years.

The current 2030 MTP was formally approved by the MPO in October 2004.  As stated above, the plan summarizes the existing transportation systems within the Amarillo Transportation Study Area and provides an implementation schedule broken down into two categories; Short-Term and Long-Term projects. The implementation schedule provides a description of the various transportation improvements and the estimated cost.  In all the 2005-30 MTP lists over $850 million in proposed transportation improvements for the City of Amarillo and portions of Potter and Randall Counties over the next 25 years.

The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is a short-range (four year) list of proposed transportation improvement projects for the Metropolitan area.  The TIP is updated every two years.  The TIP must include all transportation projects with in the metropolitan planning area.  Only projects that are consistent with the MTP may be included in the TIP.  That is any project placed in the TIP must come from the MTP.  Thus the TIP is actually a subset of the MTP.  The TIP must also be financially constrained by year and include a financial plan that demonstrates which projects can be implemented using current revenue sources and which projects are to be implemented using projected revenues.

The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) describes the annual activities that will be undertaken by the MPO, the relative allocation of resources that will pay for each activity, and to maintain consistency from year to year in addressing transportation systems issues within the MPO's planning jurisdiction.  In the Amarillo Urban Transportation Study Area the UPWP is a one-year work plan.  It describes the type of work being performed by the MPO for one Fiscal Year (October 1 thru September 31), the agencies that will be responsible for the work, and the funding sources for each particular task.

Every metropolitan area with a population of more than 50,000 persons must have a designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for transportation to qualify for federal highway or transit assistance.  The Amarillo Metropolitan Planning Organization is the MPO for the Amarillo Urbanized area and covers portions of Potter and Randall counties.

It is important to note that the MPO membership is made up of local officials of the city and counties within the urbanized area.  Other officials include the District Engineer of the Texas Department of Transportation.

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) relies on the MPO to ensure that highway and transit projects that use federal funds are products of a credible planning process and meet local priorities.  USDOT will not approve federal funding for urban highway and transit projects unless they are on the MPO's program.  Thus, the MPO's role is to develop and maintain the necessary transportation plans for the area to assure that federal funds support these locally developed plans.  Federal Transportation Acts, such as ISTEA in 1991, TEA-21 in 1998, and SAFETEA-LU in 2005, have greatly strengthened this responsibility by placing the MPO in a primary role for the programming of transportation projects to be carried out in any given year.  The MPO has also been given the responsibility to involve the public in this process through expanded citizen participation efforts.

WHAT DOES THE MPO DO?

The MPO carries out three major work activities to meet specific federal requirements.  These are:

·         The development and maintenance of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) through a "continuing, comprehensive, and cooperative (3C)" planning process.

·         The biennial development of a program for highway and transit improvements.  This program is known as the Transportation Improvement Program or TIP.

·         The annual adoption of a comprehensive one-year planning program: the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) describes and coordinates the individual transportation planning activities of all agencies in the area.

Without these products, the Amarillo Metropolitan Planning Organization would lose its eligibility for federal transportation funds.

The MPO completed its Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) that was adopted on October 2004.  The plan focused mainly on the build-up part of the region surrounding the city of Amarillo.  The Map shows the area of the MPO that is designated as the Amarillo Urban Transportation Study Area (AUTS).

A computerized model is in development that will simulate traffic flows within the area under both existing and proposed future conditions.  In this way, existing and future problems can be identified, alternate solutions proposed and tested, and specific proposals selected for inclusion in the plan.  Equally important, a realistic assessment of financial resources has been made so that the resulting plan reflects the capacity of the area to carry it out.  Citizen involvement is an important ingredient in this process.

While the MTP looks some twenty-five years into the future, the MPO also develops a biennial TIP that identifies those projects that will be carried out in the next three years.  This process involves solicitation of projects' requests from those agencies responsible for providing transportation services and facilities, cooperatively ranking them into their merits, and selecting those highest priority projects that will fit into the estimated available funding.

There are two aspects of the MPO organization.  First, is the formal structure of the MPO as committees and second, is the arrangement between its staff and staff of the participating agencies.

The Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) typically meets quarterly on the third Thursday of January, April, July, and October, unless canceled for lack of agenda.  Meetings normally begin at 1:30 p.m. and are held in Conference Room 306 on the third floor of Amarillo City Hall, 509 SE Seventh Avenue, Amarillo, Texas.  At these meetings current transportation issues are discussed and status reports on transportation studies and projects are given.  After these discussions are completed, policy actions are taken that include adoption of the TIP and UPWP, revision to these documents or the Metropolitan Transportation Plan, and adoption of resolutions related to current transportation issues.

The PAC delegates technical review of the MPO's work to the Technical Committee, a working group composed of professional staff members of the MPO's organizations.  The committee members review and approve technical and planning reports and brief PAC members as required.

Continuing technical support to the transportation-planning program is provided by the MPO Staff and ad hoc committees composed of professional staff members of the MPO's organizations.  It is at this level that the technical studies are reviewed in detail so that a relatively finished product is passed to the Policy Advisory Committee.

The MPO Staff is made up of professionals in planning and mobility.  The Staff conducts studies and oversees projects as directed by PAC.  The Staff reports findings to the MPO Committees and participates in other community wide efforts.  The combined work of the MPO Staff and the participating staff of other member organizations provides the information needed to make program and policy decisions.

During the course of its work, the Staff identifies transportation needs in the community.  Normally these needs are addressed by member organizations.  When no other group responds, the Staff may identify needs on its own.  The staff works with other public, private, and academic organizations in the metropolitan area.

ISSUES AND ACTIVITIES
The MPO is particularly interested in issues involving long range transportation planning, development of intermodal connections, reducing reliance on automobile, and land use options to reduce trips.  Current activities of the MPO include:

·      Collecting and maintaining comprehensive data.  The data includes demographic and employment information, travel time and delays, traffic counts and congestion, and land use information. The MPO is making an effort to initiate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to enhance the analysis.

·      Working with various interest groups to deal with the full range of transportation issues.

·      Working to enhance the accessibility and circulation in the City through cooperative efforts with the City of Amarillo, Texas Department of Transportation, and others.

·      Carrying out the recommendations of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan.

·      Maintaining working relationships with the regional planning organizations to integrate land use planning and development of the region with transportation planning and development.

Construction Funds
Nearly all major transportation projects in the MPO region involve some federal funding.  SAFETEA-LU has placed the MPO in a major partnership position with the transportation providers to determine how the federal funds should be allocated to the many competing projects.  These federal funds are provided to the region under several program categories.  In the highway area, funds are identified as Interstate, National Highway System (NHS), Surface Transportation Program (STP), and Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation.  Transit funds are provided through various sections of transit programs for operating and capital expenses for urban and rural needs.

Despite the specification of funds to a particular program area, TxDOT, in consultation with the MPO, has considerable flexibility in making final determination of the projects to be funded and the source of funding.  Though some funds are specifically restricted for one particular type of project or another, a large portion of them may be transferred from one program to another, including the transfer of funds from highway to transit projects and vice-versa.  This provides the TxDOT with significant latitude in shaping the programs to meet local priorities.  In addition to the federal programs, the State of Texas provides the required matching funds for federal highway projects.  Many projects are funded completely by the State of Texas.

Most transportation projects on city and county roads are financed through local funds.  The Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs) of the cities and counties provide this information.

Planning Funds

The MPO uses planning funds to meet federal requirements for the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), and specific studies addressing area wide and local issues. These funds are obtained as PL (Planning) funds from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Section 5303 (MPO Planning) funds from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The use of these funds is identified in the annual UPWP.

Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)

The TIP is required to list all transportation projects using federal funds in the MPO region.  This includes highway and transit projects and other necessary enhancements such as bicycle and pedestrian projects.  The MPO entities propose eligible projects.  The MPO staff and the Technical Committee evaluate proposed projects and rank them in accordance with a process.  This aids a project in its advance through the transportation‑planning process, from conception to the construction stages.

Our offices are located in downtown Amarillo at 509 SE Seventh Avenue (Northeast corner of Buchanan Street and SE 7th Avenue), in Room 204 of the Amarillo City Hall Building.
Driving from the east or west on IH-40 take the downtown exit and proceed to the Buchanan Street ramp; when coming from the south on IH-27 take the Buchanan Street ramp also. From Buchanan Street, turn right onto SE 7th Avenue to the City Hall parking lot driveway entrance. Coming from the north on US 87 (Pierce Street) turn right onto SE 7th Avenue, proceed past Buchanan Street to the City Hall parking lot driveway entrance. There is ample parking around the building. The MPO offices are located on the second floor of City Hall and are ADA accessible