Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization Strategic Plan 2023

Introduction - Letter from Committee Chairs
(scroll down to download the Strategic Plan Document)

 

 

The release of the CCMPO strategic plan comes at a time of unprecedented change and opportunity, as highlighted in the following points: 

  • The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 upended societal norms, accelerated certain innovations, and fundamentally changed the way we live and work. Transportation has not been immune to these changes, and the effects of the pandemic and its aftermath continue to be felt today in both the way we travel and the way the MPO conducts business.
  • The passage of the historic IIJA in November 2021 not only boosted federal funding for transportation, but also introduced numerous competitive grant programs for MPOs nationwide to compete for discretionary dollars. The ability of a small MPO like Centre County to successfully compete for these dollars remains an open question. Moreover, the uncertainty of federal funding, post-IIJA, inflation, and the waning viability of the gas tax threaten the MPO’s funding picture over the longer-term.
  • Finally, the resignations in early 2022 of two key long-time MPO staff members resulted in the loss of valuable institutional memory. These departures coincided with the landmark IIJA legislation that could fundamentally change mobility in Centre County if the CCMPO can position itself through implementation of this strategic plan to realistically pursue funding opportunities.

 

It is against this backdrop that the MPO evaluated its existing structure. After a series of ad hoc adjustments during the 1980s and ’90s, the CCMPO’s governance model expanded from its original set of six municipalities to encompass the entire county by 2004. With the current model now in place for nearly 20 years, the time was right for the MPO to make a fresh examination at how the CCMPO is organized and how our constituent groups and municipalities are represented.

The strategic plan is organized around the goal areas of governance, operations, and outreach. Two important principles that guided the efforts have been equity and efficiency. These principles help ensure that the MPO committees are organized in a way that provides for a comprehensive, countywide perspective, and enables our staff of generalists and specialists to deliver on the transportation planning services our county needs. It is a product and process that should be revisited every five years for currency.

The changes outlined in the strategic plan are intended to help the MPO be better positioned to address the transportation needs of Centre County in the twenty-first century.

L. Eric Bernier, Chairman Ron Seybert, Chairman
CCMPO Coordinating Committee CCMPO Technical Committee

 

 

CCMPO Strategic Plan - Adopted 06-20-23.pdf