The RRTPO voting members include the Counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan, the City of Richmond, the Town of Ashland, Capital Region Airport Commission, GRTC Transit System, Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and the VA Department of Transportation. Non-voting members include the Community Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC), Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Ridefinders, Inc., VA Department of Aviation, and the VA Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
Purpose
The Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RRTPO) is a federally mandated and federally funded transportation policy-making organization comprised of representatives from local government and governmental transportation authorities. TPOs were created to ensure regional cooperation in transportation planning. Federal funding for transportation projects and programs are channeled through this planning process to ensure that existing and future expenditures of governmental funds for transportation projects and programs are based on a continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive (“3‑C”) planning process.
Scope
There are six core functions of the RRTPO:
Provide a fair and impartial setting for effective regional decision-making,
Evaluate transportation alternatives,
Develop and update a fiscally constrained long-range transportation plan for the region covering a planning horizon of at least twenty years,
Develop a transportation improvement program (TIP),
Engage the general public and all the significantly affected sub-groups in the four essential functions listed above,
Preserve air quality through transportation plans, programs, and projects that conform with the state air quality plan, known as the “state implementation plan” (SIP).