ISTEA and the Role of MPOs in the New Transportation Environment: A Midterm Assessment

This article undertakes a modest midterm assessment of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). The focus is on the role of the MPO, emphasizing its intergovernmental context. Two major sources of primary data are used: (])a national survey of MPOs, completed in March 1994, and (2) an ACIR study of eighteen MPOs in twelve U.S. regions. The article addresses decentralization of transportation policy to regional MPOs, local policymaking and decision authority, intergovernmental issues under ISTEA, and what lies ahead for MPOs. The article concludes that ISTEA has brought a great deal of change to MPOs. The data suggest that ISTEA is having some success: decentralization is taking place; more stakeholders are getting involved; public involvement programs are becoming more common; and greater attention is being given to air quality, intermodal issues, long-range planning, and intergovernmental coordination. However, most MPOs are encountering difficulties in implementing ISTEA. They do not know how to do many of the new tasks assigned to them, and the intergovernmental links that ISTEA depends on are not yet forged solidly.