[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 23, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 23CFR450.316]

[Page 104-107]
 
                           TITLE 23--HIGHWAYS
 
 CHAPTER I--FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 450_PLANNING ASSISTANCE AND STANDARDS--Table of Contents
 
     Subpart C_Metropolitan Transportation Planning and Programming
 
Sec. 450.316  Metropolitan transportation planning process: Elements.

    (a) Section 134(f) of title 23, U.S.C., and Federal Transit Act 
section 8(f) (49 U.S.C. app. 1607(f)) list 15 factors that must be 
considered as part of the planning process for all metropolitan areas. 
The following factors shall be explicitly considered, analyzed as 
appropriate, and reflected in the planning process products:
    (1) Preservation of existing transportation facilities and, where 
practical, ways to meet transportation needs by using existing 
transportation facilities more efficiently;
    (2) Consistency of transportation planning with applicable Federal, 
State, and local energy conservation programs, goals, and objectives;
    (3) The need to relieve congestion and prevent congestion from 
occurring where it does not yet occur including:
    (i) The consideration of congestion management strategies or actions 
which improve the mobility of people and goods in all phases of the 
planning process; and
    (ii) In TMAs, a congestion management system that provides for 
effective management of new and existing transportation facilities 
through the use of travel demand reduction and operation management 
strategies (e.g., various elements of IVHS) shall be developed in 
accordance with Sec. 450.320;
    (4) The likely effect of transportation policy decisions on land use 
and development and the consistency of transportation plans and programs 
with the provisions of all applicable short- and long-term land use and 
development plans (the analysis should include projections of 
metropolitan planning area economic, demographic, environmental 
protection, growth management, and land use activities consistent with

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metropolitan and local/central city development goals (community, 
economic, housing, etc.), and projections of potential transportation 
demands based on the interrelated level of activity in these areas);
    (5) Programming of expenditures for transportation enhancement 
activities as required under 23 U.S.C. 133;
    (6) The effects of all transportation projects to be undertaken 
within the metropolitan planning area, without regard to the source of 
funding (the analysis shall consider the effectiveness, cost 
effectiveness, and financing of alternative investments in meeting 
transportation demand and supporting the overall efficiency and 
effectiveness of transportation system performance and related impacts 
on community/central city goals regarding social and economic 
development, housing, and employment);
    (7) International border crossings and access to ports, airports, 
intermodal transportation facilities, major freight distribution routes, 
national parks, recreation areas, monuments and historic sites, and 
military installations (supporting technical efforts should provide an 
analysis of goods and services movement problem areas, as determined in 
cooperation with appropriate private sector involvement, including, but 
not limited to, addressing interconnected transportation access and 
service needs of intermodal facilities);
    (8) Connectivity of roads within metropolitan planning areas with 
roads outside of those areas;
    (9) Transportation needs identified through the use of the 
management systems required under 23 U.S.C. 303 (strategies identified 
under each management system will be analyzed during the development of 
the transportation plan, including its financial component, for possible 
inclusion in the metropolitan plan and TIP);
    (10) Preservation of rights-of-way for construction of future 
transportation projects, including future transportation corridors;
    (11) Enhancement of the efficient movement of freight;
    (12) The use of life-cycle costs in the design and engineering of 
bridges, tunnels, or pavement (operating and maintenance costs must be 
considered in analyzing transportation alternatives);
    (13) The overall social, economic, energy, and environmental effects 
of transportation decisions (including consideration of the effects and 
impacts of the plan on the human, natural and man-made environment such 
as housing, employment and community development, consultation with 
appropriate resource and permit agencies to ensure early and continued 
coordination with environmental resource protection and management 
plans, and appropriate emphasis on transportation-related air quality 
problems in support of the requirements of 23 U.S.C. 109(h), and section 
14 of the Federal Transit Act (49 U.S.C. 1610), section 4(f) of the DOT 
Act (49 U.S.C. 303) and section 174(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 
7504(b)));
    (14) Expansion, enhancement, and increased use of transit services;
    (15) Capital investments that would result in increased security in 
transit systems; and
    (16) Recreational travel and tourism.
    (b) In addition, the metropolitan transportation planning process 
shall:
    (1) Include a proactive public involvement process that provides 
complete information, timely public notice, full public access to key 
decisions, and supports early and continuing involvement of the public 
in developing plans and TIPs and meets the requirements and criteria 
specified as follows:
    (i) Require a minimum public comment period of 45 days before the 
public involvement process is initially adopted or revised;
    (ii) Provide timely information about transportation issues and 
processes to citizens, affected public agencies, representatives of 
transportation agency employees, private providers of transportation, 
other interested parties and segments of the community affected by 
transportation plans, programs and projects (including but not limited 
to central city and other local jurisdiction concerns);
    (iii) Provide reasonable public access to technical and policy 
information used in the development of plans and TIPs and open public 
meetings where matters related to the Federal-aid

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highway and transit programs are being considered;
    (iv) Require adequate public notice of public involvement activities 
and time for public review and comment at key decision points, 
including, but not limited to, approval of plans and TIPs (in 
nonattainment areas, classified as serious and above, the comment period 
shall be at least 30 days for the plan, TIP and major amendment(s));
    (v) Demonstrate explicit consideration and response to public input 
received during the planning and program development processes;
    (vi) Seek out and consider the needs of those traditionally 
underserved by existing transportation systems, including but not 
limited to low-income and minority households;
    (vii) When significant written and oral comments are received on the 
draft transportation plan or TIP (including the financial plan) as a 
result of the public involvement process or the interagency consultation 
process required under the U.S. EPA's conformity regulations, a summary, 
analysis, and report on the disposition of comments shall be made part 
of the final plan and TIP;
    (viii) If the final transportation plan or TIP differs significantly 
from the one which was made available for public comment by the MPO and 
raises new material issues which interested parties could not reasonably 
have foreseen from the public involvement efforts, an additional 
opportunity for public comment on the revised plan or TIP shall be made 
available;
    (ix) Public involvement processes shall be periodically reviewed by 
the MPO in terms of their effectiveness in assuring that the process 
provides full and open access to all;
    (x) These procedures will be reviewed by the FHWA and the FTA during 
certification reviews for TMAs, and as otherwise necessary for all MPOs, 
to assure that full and open access is provided to MPO decisionmaking 
processes;
    (xi) Metropolitan public involvement processes shall be coordinated 
with statewide public involvement processes wherever possible to enhance 
public consideration of the issues, plans, and programs and reduce 
redundancies and costs;
    (2) Be consistent with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 
the Title VI assurance executed by each State under 23 U.S.C. 324 and 29 
U.S.C. 794, which ensure that no person shall, on the grounds of race, 
color, sex, national origin, or physical handicap, be excluded from 
participation in, be denied benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to 
discrimination under any program receiving Federal assistance from the 
United States Department of Transportation;
    (3) Identify actions necessary to comply with the Americans With 
Disabilities Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-336, 104 Stat. 327, as amended) 
and U.S. DOT regulations ``Transportation for Individuals With 
Disabilities'' (49 CFR parts 27, 37, and 38);
    (4) Provide for the involvement of traffic, ridesharing, parking, 
transportation safety and enforcement agencies; commuter rail operators; 
airport and port authorities; toll authorities; appropriate private 
transportation providers, and where appropriate city officials; and
    (5) Provide for the involvement of local, State, and Federal 
environment resource and permit agencies as appropriate.
    (c) In attainment areas not designated as TMAs simplified procedures 
for the development of plans and programs, if considered appropriate, 
shall be proposed by the MPO in cooperation with the State and transit 
operator, and submitted by the State for approval by the FHWA and the 
FTA. In developing proposed simplified planning procedures, 
consideration shall be given to the transportation problems in the area 
and their complexity, the growth rate of the area (e.g., fast, moderate 
or slow), the appropriateness of the factors specified for consideration 
in this subpart including air quality, and the desirability of 
continuing any planning process that has already been established. Areas 
experiencing fast growth should give consideration to a planning process 
that addresses all of the general requirements specified in this 
subpart. As a minimum, all areas

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employing a simplified planning process will need to develop a 
transportation plan to be approved by the MPO and a TIP to be approved 
by the MPO and the Governor.
    (d) The metropolitan transportation planning process shall include 
preparation of technical and other reports to assure documentation of 
the development, refinement, and update of the transportation plan. The 
reports shall be reasonably available to interested parties, consistent 
with Sec. 450.316(b)(1).

[58 FR 58064, Oct. 28, 1993, as amended at 61 FR 67175, Dec. 19, 1996]