Seacoast Metropolitan Transportation Organization

The Transportation Planning Process

The "3C" transportation planning process was jointly developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA, now the Federal Transit Administration) in the early 1970's to ensure that effective, coordinated multi-modal transportation planning and project implementation would be conducted on a nationwide basis. Large scale highway construction which occurred during the 1950s and 1960s often had serious negative and unplanned or unanticipated impacts on the communities they were intended to serve, and on the environment. These problems were exacerbated by the fact that citizens were not adequately informed as to the consequences of these projects.

In response to these problems, the FHWA and FTA jointly developed the "3C" transportation planning process. It was designed to ensure that the process would be continuing, meaning that both long and short term transportation issues are identified and considered on an ongoing basis; cooperative, meaning that effective coordination among all public officials is maintained and that other public and private parties are included in the process; and comprehensive, meaning that all modes of transportation, as well as non-transportation elements such as land use, economic and environmental issues were considered in the planning process.

To implement this policy, states were empowered to create Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), comprised of both local and state agencies and charged with implementing the 3Cs process and with insuring that a cooperative decision-making process was in place in urban areas.

The importance of MPOs was strengthened by ISTEA. Under this new legislation, MPOs now have a greater role and responsibility in programming highway and transit projects. ISTEA also directs MPOs to develop comprehensive, project specific and financially realistic ("constrained") transportation plans with 20 year horizons. These plans will serve as the vehicle from which virtually all projects are selected and implemented.

The planning process involves a coordinated, cooperative and comprehensive effort among local, regional, state, and federal agencies.

Seacoast Metropolitan Planning Organization Communities:

Barrington * Brentwood *Brookfield * Dover * Durham * East Kingston * Epping * Exeter * Farmington * Fremont * Greenland * Hampton * Hampton Falls * Kensington * Lee * Madbury * Middleton * Milton * New Castle * New Durham * Newfields * Newington * Newmarket * North Hampton * Northwood * Nottingham * Portsmouth * Rochester * Rollinsford * Rye * Seabrook * South Hampton * Somersworth * Strafford * Stratham * University of New Hampshire * Wakefield