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2 <br /> RURAL PLANNING ORGANIZATION REPORT <br /> January 18, 2002 <br /> North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), to ensure that all rural counties <br /> will be able to form a Rural Planning Organization (RPO) with other counties having <br /> similar transportation interests and needs, has requested that counties consider their <br /> interest in participating in the RPO Program. The following report gives a brief outline of <br /> the program, Orange County's options and advantages and disadvantages of each <br /> option for Orange County. <br /> Background <br /> North Carolina General Assembly, in 2000, enacted legislation that authorized North <br /> Carolina Department of Transportation in cooperation with local elected officials to <br /> establish Rural Transportation Planning Organizations (RPOs) to plan rural <br /> transportation systems and to advise the DOT on rural transportation policy. The <br /> purpose of the RPO program is to provide a cooperative unified voice for rural entities to <br /> advocate for their funding and project needs, and to be meaningfully involved in <br /> integrated multi-modal transportation planning and the project programming process. <br /> Participation in the program is voluntary. <br /> The core functions of the RPO are: <br /> (1) to coordinate local.and regional multi-modal transportation plans; <br /> (2) to provide a mechanism for meaningful public participation in the transportation <br /> planning process; <br /> (3) to develop and prioritize transportation projects for input into the Statewide <br /> Transportation Improvement Program (STIP); and <br /> (4) to provide a transportation-related information clearinghouse (information resource <br /> center) for local governments and other interested organizations and persons. <br /> The Rural Planning Organization includes representatives from three to fifteen <br /> contiguous counties, with total population of at least 50,000, and is set up like the <br /> Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) with a lead planning agency (LPA). <br /> However, the RPO, unlike the MPO which is a policy board, acts in an advisory <br /> capacity. <br /> The State has appropriated a base of $80,000 and a ceiling of $100,000 for each RPO. <br /> Local jurisdictions must provide a twenty-percent match. The funds are being made <br /> available to pay for lead planning agency staff and their planning work. <br /> The local entities seeking to establish an RPO in their region would develop a <br /> Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), to be signed by all local members, as well as <br /> by NCDOT. The RPO MOU specifies the RPO's geographic area, mission, eligible <br />