TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

The GBRPA, under the designation of the Governor, has, since 1982, been the primary organization responsible for transportation planning in the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region. In this role, the Agency facilitates the distribution of federal highway funds in the Bridgeport Urban Area through the Greater Bridgeport and Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). The MPO is comprised of the six Greater Bridgeport communities and the four municipalities of the Valley Planning Region – Ansonia, Derby, Seymour and Shelton. The chief elected officials of the ten MPO communities and the chairpersons of the RPAs, GBTA and VTD regularly meet to decide how federal transportation funds will be spent for various highways and transit projects in the Bridgeport Urban Area.

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) authorizes funding for highway, highway safety, transit and other surface transportation programs over a six-year period from October 1997 through September 2003. TEA-21 requires the MPO to approve all federal funds for transportation improvements and transit operations within the Greater Bridgeport and Valley Planning Regions. Federal regulations further require the MPO to prepare and maintain a staged transportation improvement program (TIP) and conduct a multi-modal transportation planning process.

ANNOUNCEMENT: The GBRPA, as the transportation planning agency for the MPO, is in the process of updating our 30-year regional transportation plan. The Plan is working to identify the major transportation issues facing the Region and will present a set of ambitious goals and recommendations to alleviate existing problems and deficiencies and address and meet future travel needs. It is updated every four-years.

The Greater Bridgeport and Valley MPO Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is the metropolitan area’s near term capital plan for specific transportation projects. It lists all highway and transit improvement projects within the Greater Bridgeport and Valley Planning Regions programmed to receive federal assistance over the next three fiscal years. The TIP corresponds the federal fiscal years beginning October 1, 2002 and ending September 30, 2004. It is organized by federal transportation funding category. Project descriptions, cost estimates and schedules are provided for each project. Projects included in the TIP come from the adopted regional or state transportation plans.

Federal regulations require the TIP to be "financially constrained." This means there must be a reasonable expectation of federal financial assistance to implement endorsed projects and that the funding source must be identified for each project.

Transportation improvements in the TIP are funded by a combination of federal, state and local dollars. Federal transportation aid programs sponsored by the FHWA and FTA typically provide 80% of the cost of the project. The state covers the remaining 20% for projects on state highways and about 10% of the cost of a local road project.