Investing in transportation projects

Planning and conservation › Transportation › Investing in transportation projects

Metro selects projects to receive some of the federal transportation funds spent in the Portland metropolitan region and administers federal funds to ensure consistency with federal laws and the Regional Transportation Plan.

Economic stimulus funding for regional projects

Learn about local transportation projects eligible for federal economic stimulus funding. More

Depending on the funding decisions of the many transportation agencies in the region, approximately $600 to $700 million is spent on transportation in the Portland metropolitan region each year through a combination of federal, state, regional and local sources. This includes spending on maintenance and operation of existing roads and transit as well as the construction of new roads, sidewalks and bike facilities, and implementation of programs to manage or reduce demand on the region's transportation system.

Metro’s role in funding transportation projects

Regional Transportation Plan

Metro influences transportation spending in three ways. First, all projects that receive federal transportation funding must be included in the Regional Transportation Plan. TheRegional Transportation Plan identifies a 20-year list of future transportation projects based on regional transportation and land-use policies. Most transportation projects of importance to the region are funded with state and federal money. The cost of all the projects approved in the RTP exceeds the amount of funding available at any one time. As a result, careful prioritization of projects is necessary in order to make the most of available transportation resources...More

Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Plan

Second, spending of federal revenues in the region is managed through the Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP), a four year program of projects identified to receive federal funds balanced against the forecasted availability of federal funds. The MTIP is updated every two years as project costs and schedules and forecasted revenues are updated. The MTIP is approved by the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation, the Metro Council and the Governor of Oregon. Spending of state revenues is managed through the State Transportation Improvement Program, which is approved by the Oregon Transportation Commission. The governing bodies of the region's cities, counties, TriMet, South Metro Area Rapid Transit and the Port of Portland control spending of local transportation revenues within their jurisdictional boundaries...More

Regional flexible funding

Finally, Metro coordinates the allocation of regional flexible funds every two years. Through this program, projects are selected that will receive funding from the combination of two federal grant programs: the Surface Transportation Program and the Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality program. Approximately $30 million per year, or about 4 percent of all regional transportation spending, is allocated through this process...More

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Metro transportation planning
503-797-1735
trans@oregonmetro.gov

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