Testimony Before Regional Transportation Task Force Calls for NIPC to be Designated as Metropolitan Planning Organization
The
Regional Transportation Task Force has a unique opportunity to improve the
coordination of land use and transportation planning in northeastern Illinois.
With TEA-21, the federal transportation act, and Illinois FIRST, the state’s
transportation funding package, both set to expire this year, the time to act is
now. The Metropolitan Planning Council believes the best way to seize the
opportunity is for one agency — the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission
(NIPC) — to be designated as the region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization
(MPO). CATS, the Chicago Area Transportation Study, which is responsible for
developing a long-range transportation plan for the region, would be
consolidated into NIPC.
“Transportation planning is not an island unto itself.
It is a small slice of a much larger planning realm,” said MarySue Barrett,
president of the Metropolitan Planning Council, testifying
before the task force
today. “Yet, the further up we
move on our regional scale, the more fragmented these two aspects become.”
MPC
is one of several regional organizations that called for the creation of the
regional transportation task force to
study
how the region plans for land use and transportation needs, and how decisions
are made on transportation investments. Understanding just how complex such an
undertaking is, MPC offered its planning expertise and research capacity to help
move the process forward.
“I
am not coming before you today to promote one magic bullet solution,” Barrett
explained. “The results we want — less congestion, more transportation options,
efficient investments — will be achieved through a more integrated planning and
development decision-making process”
“There
is no one 'right' structure, and success is going to depend much more on strong
leadership and a commitment to innovation than on the shape of an organization
chart,” she added.
In
recommending that transportation planning be one of a number of integrated
divisions at a reorganized NIPC, MPC pointed to NIPC’s enabling legislation to
carry out comprehensive planning — which includes transportation planning — as
well as its preferred governance structure.
Said
Barrett, “In most metropolitan regions, the regional council serves as the MPO
in order to have a more integrated decision-making and management structure.
NIPC’s board is balanced in its representation of the region’s leaders, and
meets the requirements in the federal transportation bill. NIPC’s president is a
rotating position, so no one person or agency would dominate leadership of the
MPO — unlike CATS today, where IDOT holds the real
power.”
According
to MPC’s testimony, there are more than 300 MPOs around the country, and only
three are staffed by a state department of transportation, with CATS being one
of them. Of the 14 MPOs in Illinois, CATS is the only one staffed by a state
agency, while eight of them are the regional planning
councils.
Because
most planning that occurs around the region happens at the local level, MPC
recommended CATS’ Council of Mayors structure remain intact, emphasizing “it is
because of the Council of Mayors, not the regional planning agencies, that we
have built, studied, or are initiating visionary projects of regional
significance.” Among those examples cited in MPC’s testimony were: Metra’s North
Central Service Line; the region’s two circumferential studies; and the
exploration of transit alternatives in the Northwest Corridor and along
I-290.
MPC
also recommended the task force examine the following concepts to improve
coordination of land use and transportation planning in northeastern
Illinois:
- Transfer corridor planning currently being led by RTA
to a revamped NIPC;
- Review NIPC’s board make-up to ensure it reflects the
urbanization and growth in the six-county region that has occurred since NIPC
was created in 1957;
- Examine the defined metropolitan region in light of
growth beyond the six-county region that impacts land-use and transportation
decision-making;
- Appropriate at least $2 to $3 million annually to
fund the Local Planning Technical Assistance Act, which defines what an
official local comprehensive plan is and establishes a Local Planning Fund to
aid governments in putting one in place; and
- Establish predictable and continued funding for NIPC to carry out its
regional visioning and produce a world-class comprehensive plan.
Founded
in 1934, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
group of business and civic leaders committed to serving the public interest
through the promotion and implementation of sensible planning and development
policies necessary for a world-class Chicago region. MPC conducts policy
analysis, outreach, and advocacy in partnership with public officials and
community leaders to improve equity of opportunity and quality of life
throughout metropolitan Chicago.