The Mid-Cumberland office of Rural Planning Organization is responsible for administering the Middle Tennessee Rural Planning Organization and the Title VI & Environment Justice program.

Programs

The Mid-Cumberland office of Rural Planning Organization is responsible for administering the Middle Tennessee Regional Planning Organization, the Title VI & Environmental Justice program.

Middle Tennessee Rural Planning Organization

The Middle Tennessee Rural Planning Organization develop and maintain in cooperation with the state of Tennessee, regional long-range multi-modal transportation plans; develop a regional transportation improvement service for consideration by the state of Tennessee; foster local coordination of local planning, land use, and economic development plan with the state of Tennessee, regional, and local transportation plans and service; provide technical assistance to local officials; and provide a forum for public participation in the statewide transportation planning process.  Stewart, Houston, Humphreys, Dickson, and Cheatham counties are all members of the Middle Tennessee Regional Planning Organization.

Title VI & Environmental Justice

Title VI & Environmental Justice program ensures that no person shall be excluded from the participation in or be denied the benefit of, or be subjected to discrimination under any agency service or activity. This is done through comprehensive planning, analysis, implementation, and training.

Voting Members

The RPOs are comprised of an Executive Board and a Technical Committee. Executive Board membership consists of county mayors, municipal mayors, state legislators, and other stakeholders. The Technical Committee membership consists of county and city appointees who are most knowledgeable about transportation issues in their community. There are also representatives for other modes of transportation, such as aviation and bike/pedestrian, as well as a citizen representative.

RPO Process

The RPO process is a consistent, transparent, structured method for involving local officials and the public in TDOT's transportation planning and decision-making process.

• Transportation needs identified at local level.

• Needs referred to TDOT for study and analysis cooperation with the local RPO Technical Committee members.

• The Technical Committee reviews proposals with regard to: 

             a. Safety
             b. Congestion relief
             c. Economic development

• Recommendations made to Executive Board.

• Priorities expressed by consensus (or vote) of the

• Executive Board

• TDOT considers recommended priorities, along with public support, environmental impacts and funding considerations to propose for the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)

• Proposed State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) submitted to Legislature for consideration and budgeting

Articles

The need to understand the transportation planning process is becoming more important as communities large and small look to build more sustainable communities. But for citizens they often get lost in the jargon used by planners. For this reason it is important that the RPO Coordinator stride to educate the community about transportation and the transportation planning process. In this section you will find helpful articles on transportation and transportation planning.