Each state, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, is required to carry out a continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive statewide transportation planning process. The statewide transportation planning process addresses both urbanized and nonmetropolitan areas of the state and includes both highway and transit needs. For urbanized areas with a population of 50,000 or more, state DOTs must coordinate planning activities with MPOs—federally recognized and funded organizations representing local governments that lead transportation planning activities in metropolitan areas. To receive federal transportation funding, any project in an urbanized area must emerge from the relevant MPO and state DOT planning process. For nonmetropolitan areas not covered by an MPO, states must consult with and provide opportunities for local officials to participate in statewide planning. Some states choose to fulfill this requirement by consulting with RPOs, which are typically voluntary planning organizations that serve as a forum for local officials to develop consensus on regional transportation priorities. In some cases, RPOs may serve a wide geographic area comprising multiple rural counties whose combined population may greatly exceed 50,000. States without RPOs may consult directly with nonmetropolitan local officials with responsibility for transportation planning to fulfill their consultation requirements. To meet federal planning requirements, states must develop a long-range statewide transportation plan and a state transportation improvement program (STIP) (see fig. 1). The long-range statewide transportation plan establishes a state’s strategic vision and direction for its transportation investments for at least a 20-year period. This plan may vary in content from state to state, from a broad, policy-oriented document to a document containing specific project information. However, the plan must provide for the development and implementation of a multimodal transportation system for all areas of the state, and for public comment before it is published. Currently, there are no requirements for the long-range statewide transportation plan to include specific project information, a financial plan demonstrating how the plan is to be funded and implemented, performance measures for achieving goals, or a regularly updated schedule, and the state is not required to obtain federal approval for the plan. The STIP is the state program of transportation projects covering at least a 4-year period that are to be supported with federal surface transportation funds, as well as regionally significant projects requiring an action by FHWA or FTA, whether or not federally funded. Each project must be consistent with the long-range statewide transportation plan and approved long-range metropolitan transportation plans. The STIP must be fiscally constrained, meaning it shall include a project, or an identified phase of a project, only if full funding can reasonably be anticipated within the time period contemplated for completion of the project. Although federal planning statutes and regulations do not define specific national goals or outcomes that states should address in their planning documents, the statewide planning process must provide for the consideration and implementation of specific statutorily defined planning factors in developing both the long-range statewide transportation plan and the STIP, which include economic vitality, safety and security, accessibility and mobility, protecting and enhancing the environment, and promoting energy conservation, among others. MPOs are also required to produce a long-range transportation plan, referred to as a metropolitan transportation plan, and a transportation improvement program (TIP). The metropolitan transportation plan spans at least 20 years and includes long- and short-range strategies and actions to ensure an effective, integrated multimodal transportation system. The TIP spans at least 4 years and includes all projects in the MPO’s jurisdiction that are to receive federal surface transportation funding or that are of regional significance. The TIP must, at a minimum, be updated every 4 years, and the metropolitan transportation plan must be updated every 4 or 5 years. Both the TIP and the metropolitan transportation plan must be fiscally constrained. In addition, MPOs serving urbanized areas with a population of more than 200,000 are required to develop a congestion management process that identifies actions and strategies to reduce congestion. States participate in the metropolitan planning process by, for example, reviewing and approving the MPO’s TIP. If the state approves the TIP, the state must incorporate it, without change, into the STIP. At least every 4 years, state DOTs are required to submit an updated STIP to FHWA and FTA for review and approval, in which the state certifies that the transportation planning process has been carried out in accordance with federal planning requirements. FHWA and FTA must review each state DOT’s STIP and make a joint finding on the extent to which the STIP is based on a planning process that meets or substantially meets the federal planning requirements, including but not limited to whether the state has demonstrated fiscal constraint in the STIP, used a documented process for involving the public and consulting with nonmetropolitan local officials, and included MPO TIP projects in the STIP. USDOT is not required to review or approve long-range statewide transportation plans, but states must provide copies of any new or amended plans to USDOT for informational purposes. The Federal-Aid Highway Program is administered through a federal-state partnership. State and local governments execute the programs by matching and distributing federal funds; planning, selecting, and supervising projects; and complying with federal requirements. FHWA, through its division office in each state, delivers technical expertise and fulfills oversight functions. Federal transit programs are generally administered through a federal-local partnership, although rural programs are administered at the state level. FTA, through its headquarters and 10 regional offices, provides financial assistance, establishes requirements, performs oversight, and conducts research. Grant recipients such as local transit agencies are responsible for matching federal funds and for planning, selecting, and executing projects while complying with federal requirements. In supporting the statewide transportation planning process, FHWA provides states with the bulk of the federal funding for planning and research (see fig. 2). Through its State Planning and Research (SPR) program, FHWA provides sums equal to 2 percent of each state’s formula apportionment for several Federal-Aid Highway programs. In fiscal year 2009, FHWA provided states with a total of more than $680 million in SPR funds. FHWA regulations give states significant flexibility in applying SPR funds for planning—as long as FHWA has determined that the state has collected data that FHWA requires on the performance, condition, and use of the nation’s transportation systems, including the condition of road and pavement surfaces. These data are collected through FHWA’s Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) and they constitute some of the performance data that states collect on the condition of their public roads. A state may apply up to 75 percent of its annual SPR allocation to activities of its choosing to support long- and short-range planning requirements, but generally must expend no less than 25 percent of its annual SPR funds on research, development, and technology transfer activities. State DOTs may apply their SPR funds to in-house planning activities or allocate amounts to support the planning activities of MPOs, RPOs, or other planning partners. States must document activities proposed to be accomplished with SPR funds, and FHWA must approve these activities. FTA apportions planning funds to states through its State Planning and Research Program (SPRP). As with their SPR funds, states may authorize some of their SPRP assistance to support the planning activities of MPOs, local governments, or other planning organizations. State DOTs are encouraged to provide FTA with an SPRP work program in their SPRP grant applications. In recent years, we have recommended that federal transportation programs be based on well-defined goals and that planning be more performance based and better linked to outcomes. We have previously reported that, for many surface transportation programs, goals are numerous and conflicting and federal oversight of these programs has no relationship to the performance of either the transportation system or of the grantees receiving federal funds. Performance measurement, a central component of performance-based planning, is the ongoing monitoring and reporting of program accomplishments. As our prior work has shown, measuring performance allows organizations to track the progress they are making toward their goals and gives managers crucial information on which to base their organizational and management decisions. Recently, we asked Congress to consider making federal and metropolitan transportation programs more performance based by requiring MPOs to identify specific transportation planning outcomes and requiring DOT to assess MPOs’ progress in achieving these outcomes through a certification review process. Draft legislation authorizing surface transportation programs would require USDOT to set transportation planning performance measures for MPOs and require MPOs to develop performance targets to meet those measures. In addition, we have recommended that FHWA link its activities and staff expectations to its oversight goals and measures and to develop an overall plan for its oversight activities tied to goals and measures. Through our survey and interviews, we found that state DOTs commonly conduct several research activities in developing their long-range statewide transportation plans, including developing inventories and reviewing existing transportation assets, conducting corridor studies, and using transportation demand models. In addition, most state DOTs reported that their long-range statewide transportation plans include some performance-based planning elements, such as broad goals and objectives for the state’s transportation system, but most state DOTs reported that their plans do not include other key elements, such as quantitative performance targets and project and cost information. Developing inventories and reviewing existing transportation assets. Forty-six state DOTs reported that they inventoried major elements of their existing transportation system, such as interstate highways and bridges, and 34 state DOTs reported that they reviewed the condition of existing assets to determine those with the greatest need. USDOT officials and transportation stakeholders told us that many state DOTs have focused their statewide long-range planning efforts on maintaining the condition and operation of their existing assets. States must collect pavement condition and other data and annually report these data to FHWA’s HPMS program, generally using SPR funds to pay for the data collection.