Rural Consultation Practices
Pennsylvania Partners with Six Local Development Districts
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) initiated the rural transportation planning program in FY 1992-93 to complement the ongoing metropolitan activities. There are currently six rural regional planning and development organization, known as local development districts, in Pennsylvania.
They are:
- Economic Development Council of Northeast PA
- North Central PA Regional Planning and Development Commission
- Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Commission
- Northwest PA Regional Planning and Development Commission
- Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission
- SEDA-COG
These agencies are currently under contract with the department to conduct rural transportation planning and programming. In FY1998-99, the districts are receiving close to $70,000 in federal and state funds for transportation planning and programming. A 10 percent local match is also required.
According to PennDOT, the establishment of this program was important to ensure that the department’s priority goals and objectives are implemented in those regions of the state that are not included in the metropolitan planning program.
The rural planning program provides a forum (through technical advisory committees and policy committees) where state, regional and local decision-makers identify issues/opportunities, conduct studies and make informed recommendations regarding the programming and implementation of transportation projects (including highway/bridge, transit, rail, bicycle, pedestrian projects).
Short and long range plans are produced in each region, and the local development districts and the department jointly develop, negotiate and approve their rural portions of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The STIP is a federal requirement and is a prioritized list of projects to be implemented over four years.
PennDOT is using the local development districts to help implement the statewide Transportation Policy Plan and to develop the new corridor-specific Statewide Long Range Transportation Plan, which will be completed in late September 1999. They are using them to conduct Congestion Management System planning, to handle Intermodal Management System planning and to collect Highway Performance Monitoring System data. They also assist the PennDOT district offices in advancing projects through needs studies, environmental studies and public involvement for the early stages of a project’s development.
According to PennDOT, other issues that continue to be addressed in the rural program include the provision of public transportation services and the identification and advancement of transportation projects that:
- support economic development,
- restore the existing infrastructure and
- provide a safer and more efficient travel environment for personal mobility and goods movement.
As the department progresses with their "reengineering" of the transportation planning and programming process, the local development districts will be transitioning to rural planning organizations, with functions identical to metropolitan planning organizations.
Rural Planning in Areas Not Served By Local Development Districts
Besides the MPOs and LDDs, there are five independent counties that are not aligned with any metro or rural planning process. They are Adams, Fayette, Franklin, Lawrence and Lebanon Counties. PennDOT has ongoing contracts with two of these five counties to do transportation planning and programming; they refer to these as Small Area Studies. Like the LDDs, the department works cooperatively with these five counties to develop and approve their portions of the STIP.
Links to Other Pennsylvania LDDs
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National Association of Development Organizations Research Foundation
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(202) 624-7806 • Fax (202) 624-8813 •
info@nado.org
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