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ATTACHMENT2 <br />5 <br />Purpose and Goal <br />The Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro (DCHC) Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is <br />committed to a balanced transportation system within the urban area and the region that facilitates <br />safe and efficient movement of people and goods. This balanced transportation system will provide <br />opportunities for greater use of alternative modes of transportation, including public transportation, <br />bicycling, and pedestrian movement. Transportation Demand Management programs and land use <br />policies that reduce use of single occupant vehicles and promote transportation choices are also <br />important elements of this regional transportation policy. <br />In the past, the governing board of the DC.HC. MPO, the Transportation Advisory <br />Committee, has stated a goal for the Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP): <br />"Maintain and improve the quality of metropolitan area transportation systems while <br />striving to have a safe, efficient and balanced transportation system. Balanced <br />transportation promotes mobility, integration of land use, and minimizes negative <br />impacts on the environment." <br />The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is a seven-year funding document for <br />highway, public transportation, bicycle, pedestrian, and rail projects. Projects must be in the TIP in <br />order to receive State or federal funding. Every two years, the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro <br />(DCHC) Metropolitan Planning Organization WO) works with local citizens, government <br />officials, elected officials, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation to develop a <br />Metropoli tan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) that is eventually adopted as part of <br />the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). To begin the TIP development process, <br />the MPO develops a Regional Priority List to communicate the MPO's project priorities to the <br />NCDOT. <br />Development of Regional Priority List <br />The development of the Regional Priority List has several principal steps: <br />1. The DCHC MPO Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) will review the currently <br />adopted methodology for ranking transportation projects, and make changes, as desired. <br />2. Local governments and transit systems develop a list of local transportation priorities <br />based on a comparison of local needs and the projects that are already funded in the <br />preceding Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). <br />3. The MPO consolidates the local lists into a single regional list and uses the currently <br />adopted methodology for ranking the projects in the regional list. <br />4, The MPO conducts a 21-day public involvement process that includes publishing the <br />regional priority list (which has the projects ranked by the ranking methodology), <br />conducting a public hearing (scheduled for August 10, 2005), and providing ample <br />opportunities for the public to provide comments. <br />5 The TAC makes the final changes to the Regional Priority List, and the List is officially <br />provided to the NCDOT.