U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Missouri Division
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are agencies or organizational arrangements that carry out the required planning process as described in the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962. The Act required, as a condition attached to federal transportation financial assistance, that transportation projects in urbanized areas of 50,000 or more in population be based on a continuing, comprehensive, urban transportation planning process undertaken cooperatively by the states and local governments. As such, MPOs have responsibility for planning, programming and coordination of federal highway and transit investments in the urban areas which they cover.
Missouri has nine MPOs that perform the planning functions for the St Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, St Joseph and Jefferson City, Cape Girardeau and Bella Vista urban areas.