Federal Lands Management 

Agency Coordination in Transportation 

Planning and Programming 

 

Comprehensive transportation planning can provide 

tremendous benefits by helping to create systems that 

best meet user needs. Coordination among 

transportation agencies, State Departments of 

Transportation (State DOTs), Metropolitan 

Transportation Planning Organizations (MPOs) and 

Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs) including 

military installations, provides opportunities for better 

transportation planning and programming decisions. 

This compendium provides insights, identifies effective 

practices, and resources that can assist State DOTs, 

MPOs and FLMAs to work together to address 

transportation needs that benefit all partners and 

support continued coordination among agencies.

Recognizing the Importance of Planning Coordination 

A robust coordination process improves participant satisfaction and engenders better transportation planning outcomes.

The first step in engaging partner agenciesis to recognize the value of coordinating transportation planning for improved 

the overall effectiveness of the transportation system to meet common goals. This includes understanding the 

differences in agency priorities, processes, agencies’ role, and available resources to engage in effective coordination. 

Agency Identification

Knowing who to coordinate with is critical for successful 

transportation planning and programming processes. There 

are three main considerations when identifying State DOT, 

MPO or FLMA stakeholders: 

• Identify the agency(s) located within 

your planning area.

• Understand the differences in each 

agency structure and how transportation 

decisions are made. 

• Identify who to contact within each agency. 

Source: https://hepgis.fhwa.dot.gov/fhwagis/ViewMap.aspx

Transportation Agency and Federal Lands 

Management Agency Coordination

Effective Practice: FHWA’s Office of Planning offers an interactive map that enables users to select FLMAs, MPOs and State 

layers to help clarify where agency boundaries may overlap. The map uses adjusted MPO planning area boundary data from 

the 2020 census. https://hepgis.fhwa.dot.gov/fhwagis/#
Engagement Methodologies 

Engagement methodologies vary among agencies. For States and MPOs, the methodology for engagement is generally 

outlined in their Public Participation/Involvement Plan, which is generally available to all stakeholders and the public on 

the agency’s website. Understanding each agency’s engagement methodology helps partners to know when and how to 

coordinate effectively when an invitation is extended. 

Agency Participation in Transportation Planning Coordination 

Building lasting institutional relationships among FLMAs, State DOTs and MPOs, outside of coordination requirements is

the best approach to successful coordination in the transportation planning and programming processes. There are four

key considerations when extending an invitation for coordination. These include:

• Limitation of staff available to participate in coordination opportunities

• Level of priority for transportation planning at the local level

• Perceived value of participating in coordination opportunities

• How agency structure determines transportation decision-making and coordination

FHWA's Role for Agency Coordination in the Transportation Planning Processes 

FHWA provides a wide range of resources and expertise to help improve Agency coordination in the transportation 

planning and programming processes. Federal-aid Divisions assist State DOTs and MPOs, while Federal Lands Highway 

Divisions (FLHD) provide assistance to FLMAs. The topic of coordination is an agency priority with new and expanding

tools and resources to ensure agencies have what they need to successfully engage one another in planning and 

programming coordination activities. 

Source: https://highways.dot.gov/federal-lands/about

Resources 

FHWA’s GIS in Transportation Program: Interactive GIS Mapping 

Tool: https://hepgis.fhwa.dot.gov/fhwagis/#

Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program: MPO 

Database - https://www.planning.dot.gov/mpo/

Federal Lands Planning Program: 

https://highways.dot.gov/federal-lands/programs-planning

Federal Lands Access Program: https://highways.fhwa.dot.gov

/federal-lands/programs-access

State Long Range Transportation Plans and Statewide Transportation 

Improvement Programs: https://www.planning.dot.gov/stateplans/

For more information contact Theresa Hutchins at Theresa.Hutchins@dot.gov or Aung Gye at Aung.Gye@dot.gov. 

Effective Practice: Proactive coordination increases engagement in the transportation planning process. An engagement 

tracker can help an agency keep records of who has been contacted for coordination, who provides responses, captures 

feedback, indicates how feedback is addressed, and includes notes and recommendations to improve future coordination 

opportunities. 

Effective Practice: Federal-aid Divisions will often engage FLHD during Transportation Management Area (TMA) 

Certification review processes to assistant and expand understanding between the MPO, State DOT and others by focusing 

on opportunities to coordinate with the specific FLMAs located in each TMA planning area.