Rural Consultation Practices
Indiana Rural Planning Organizations Have Come To Pass
This article appeared in the Indiana Association of Regional Councils newsletter April 2000.
While local governments and their consultants in urban areas have enjoyed the direct power to develop local transportation priorities within the context of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), rural governments and their constituents have had no clear or defined role in transportation planning. Rural transportation planning has traditionally been the responsibility of individual state departments of transportation. Some states realized that transportation planning for rural areas was not always best done centrally and elected to establish sub-state areas where rural transportation planning could be done with a greater opportunity for local input.
In 1991, Congress nationally recognized the inequalities between metropolitan and rural areas regarding local transportation planning as it enacted the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). Under ISTEA, states were required to establish mechanisms by which the rural would have an equal opportunity to provide input into local transportation planning as their urban counterparts. Where already established, multi-county regional planning organizations were recognized by state governments as being a viable instrument for moving forward with the ISTEA mandate. Thus the concept of RPOs (Rural Planning Organizations) as rural counterparts with MPOs was born.
With the assistance of national organizations like NADO and NARC, Congress has been kept informed of the national effort to establish RPOs to provide local input into the rural transportation planning process. RPO efforts have been successful nationwide, and Congress reaffirmed its commitment to rural transportation planning with the enactment of TEA-21 (the current transportation authorization act) in 1997.
Since 1991, members of IARC have been working closely with Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) officials to assist the State of Indiana in meeting the rural planning mandates of ISTEA. INDOT was made aware that several multi-county regional planning commissions existed in many rural areas of the state, and that these agencies had the local support and capacity to assist with local transportation planning issues. After lengthy dialog with INDOT, many IARC members are participating in a pilot program to provide direct input into local transportation planning issues in rural areas.
In January 2000, INDOT entered into agreements with many rural areas served by regional planning commissions to provide services related to rural transportation planning. INDOT has agreed to provide 80 percent federal grants matched with 20 percent local funds to RPOs to provide some of the following services:
- Review local development projects and provide timely information to INDOT on potential impacts on the state highway system.
- Coordinate proposed local development with proposed INDOT transportation improvements.
- Provide technical assistance to local units of government in developing and prioritizing local transportation needs not presently addressed within the state transportation system.
- Assist INDOT with data collection and analysis of local transportation project needs.
- Provide for local special needs transportation planning studies to enhance the statewide transportation plan.
- Provide local monitoring of the rural transportation planning process.
- Assist INDOT with dissemination of information and acquiring public input.
The members of IARC applaud INDOT for its efforts in forming partnerships with RPO agencies in meeting this necessary rural transportation planning requirement.
For More Information — Contact Christopher Larson, Executive Director, Kankakee-Iroquois RPC at (219) 253-6658.
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