Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)

The Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is the forum for cooperative transportation decision-making among Charlottesville, Albemarle, state and federal officials. The MPO considers long-range regional projects and combines public input, technical data, and agency collaboration to develop forward-thinking solutions. Organized for the City of Charlottesville and the urbanized area of Albemarle County immediately surrounding the City, it is responsible for carrying out continuing, cooperative and comprehensive transportation planning and programming process*. The MPO coordinates the transportation planning activities of the various transportation-related agencies that have both a direct and indirect impact on the Long Range Plan and Transportation Improvement Program.

Changes to the MPO Meeting Schedule

The MPO committee schedule has been altered in an effort to make all MPO Committees more efficient. The Community Mobility Committee, which focuses on multimodal transportation options, and the MPO Tech Committee, which focuses on roadway and major transit issues, have been merged on a trial basis to create a more balanced perspective about transportation issues in the MPO. The merged committee will meet the third Tuesday of every other month at 10am at Charlottesville’s CitySpace, with the next meeting being November 17th. The MPO Policy Board also is now meeting bimonthly on the fourth Wednesday of every other month at 4 pm at City Space. However, the next meeting for the Policy Board is scheduled for Monday, November 23rd due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

MPO Works to Pursue Regional Transit

Since January 2006, the MPO Policy Board has been working to pursue establishing a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) that would provide fast, frequent, and dependable service to Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville. To review staff research provided to facilitate this work, click here.

The MPO Policy Board’s regional transit discussions build on earlier work created by or for communities in Charlottesville and Albemarle, which can be accessed through the hyperlinks below. Some of these works, such as the March 2005 Streetcar Study, focus primarily on transit, while others, such as the Albemarle County Neighborhood Model, include transit as an element of a larger community goal.