For the LRTP, metro areas are defined as the five counties with 50,000 or more people and a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) that helps coordinate transportation issues for the area. As population swells in these five counties, congestion will increase, harming economic growth. Transit needs and opportunities are also increasing from a stakeholder perspective. Capacity improvements are needed to accommodate increasing freight, commuter traffic, and economic growth. Metro group members
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The Metropolitan Issues Topical Working Group (TWG) reviewed many cross-cutting issues, but the main goal of this group as summarized below was to generate and evaluate solutions. They were asked to:
Generate and Evaluate Solutions: In Meetings 1 and 2, the Metropolitan group will be presented with several possible ways to address the metropolitan transportation issues identified in Phase 1 of the LRTP. They will be asked to:
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Identify any other metropolitan transportation issues that might have been missed in Phase 1.
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Evaluate possible solutions to these issues (i.e., identify benefits and concerns about the solutions).
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Generate other possible solutions to transportation issues.
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While this group doesn’t have to prioritize solutions in the first two meetings, they may work to develop a sense of which solutions seem most likely to be cost effective.
The input from Meetings 1 and 2 helped inform the investment scenarios the consultants develop. The additional issues and possible solutions were forwarded to the Policy and Technical Committees for review.
