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Transportation Planning

Long Range Transportation Planning


A long-range transportation plan is the statement of the ways the region plans to invest in the transportation system over the next twenty years.

Federal law instructs that the plan shall “include both long-range and short-range program strategies/actions that lead to the development of an integrated intermodal transportation system that facilitates the efficient movement of people and goods.” (23 CFR450C, Sec.450.322)

Some key purposes of the plan are to:
  • Identify policies, strategies, and projects for the future;
  • Determine the demand for transportation services over 20 years;
  • Focus on the systems level, including roadways, transit, non-motorized transportation, and intermodal connections;
  • Articulate regional land use, development, housing, and employment goals and plans;
  • Estimate costs and identify reasonably available financial sources for operation, maintenance, and capital investments; and
  • Determine ways to preserve existing roads and facilities and make efficient use of the existing system.
Metropolitan Planning Organizations make special efforts to engage interested parties in the development of the plan. In addition, the Baltimore metropolitan area is designated as a nonattainment area, therefore the plan must conform to the State Implementation Plan for air quality.

The current plan is the 2007 Baltimore Regional Transportation Plan, known as Transportation Outlook 2035. New federal legislation SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users) provided a context for development of the new plan. Transportation themes from Vision 2030 continue to serve as a core frame around which the goals and policies of Transportation Outlook 2035 were developed.

Want to be involved in the next long-range transportation plan? Sign up to be on our mailing list!

For more information:
Regina Aris, raris@baltometro.org or 410-732-9572.


Links within this web site:


Transportation Outlook 2035 logo

Transportation Outlook 2035 (2007)

Transportation Outlook 2030 (2004)

Baltimore Regional Transportation Plan, 2001.

Baltimore Regional Transportation Plan, 1998, Executive Summary. (pdf)

Short range transportation planning

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