RPO Models: Tennessee

The Tennessee Department of Transportation, in partnership with the state’s nine regional development organizations, formed 12 new rural planning organizations (RPOs) in late 2005 to complement the 11 existing metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). Prompted by the January 2003 federal rules on rural consultation, the state established these entities to serve as a formal mechanism to gather local official input for statewide and regional plans. The state structured the RPOs based on the MPO model.

Before deciding to use the RPO model, the state DOT worked with organizations like the Tennessee County Services Association, Municipal League, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and the Tennessee Development District Association over an 18-month timeframe to establish regional working groups. These groups discussed ways to improve local and regional transportation infrastructure in rural parts of the state.

Today, the regional working groups have been replaced with 12 RPOs that are tasked with facilitating the input and involvement of local elected and appointed officials in the state’s planning and decision-making processes. The regional development organizations in Tennessee (known as development districts), in conjunction with the state DOT, largely organized and formed the RPOs. For the first year, the state provided a base level of $60,000 for each RPO plus an additional $1,500 per county in the region.

Several of the regional planning groups are staffing two RPOs within their regions.
According to state documents, “The RPOs will consider multi-modal transportation needs as well as short term funding priorities and will make recommendations to TDOT.” Each RPO must adopt organizational bylaws, operate an executive board and technical committees, and provide proactive input to the state DOT on transportation investments based on land use and strategic planning efforts.

While the Tennessee Department of Transportation is still ultimately responsible for statewide transportation planning, the RPO process is intended to serve as the primary tool to increase local input and to pursue a more comprehensive approach to multi-modal planning in the state. The executive committee of each RPO consists of county and municipal representatives, along with the state legislators who serve on the board of the regional development organization. The leadership committees also include non-voting representatives from county, state and federal highway agencies, rural public transit officials, state economic development officials and an appointee of neighboring RPOs.

The technical committees are appointed by the boards of each regional development organization. They consist of representatives from public transit, aviation, trucking, rail, water ports and bike and pedestrian entities within the region. In addition, state and local officials from transportation and economic development agencies, representatives from neighboring MPOs and RPOs, and FHWA division staff serve as nonvoting members of the committees.

For more information, see:

Tennessee Department of Transportation RPO Web site

South Central Tennessee Development District Rural Planning Organization Web site

East Tennessee Development District Transportation Web site