Regional Programs

MAP Forum

Metropolitan Area Planning (MAP) Forum

Map of the Metropolitan Area Planning Forum multi-state regionThe Metropolitan Area Planning (MAP) Forum is a consortium of 10 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) from New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania that have entered into an agreement to better coordinate planning activities in the multi-state region. Click here to visit the MAP Forum's website.
 
The MAP Forum is comprised of:  
The MAP Forum was initially created in 2008 as a result of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recommendations that the five MPOs of the Greater New York Metropolitan Transportation Management Area formalize the manner in which they coordinate on the development of transportation planning documents, as well as how they coordinate to meet the attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), the MPOs collaborated to craft a Memorandum of Understanding, which addressed those recommendations.

Since 2008, the MAP Forum’s membership has changed to reflect MPO reorganizations in Connecticut, and in 2017 it was expanded to include OCTC in New York and LVPC in Pennsylvania. In 2020, CRCOG in Connecticut joined the MAP Forum. Under the terms of the Planning Coordination Memorandum of Understanding, the 10 signatory MPOs agree to certain planning coordination activities, including:
 
  • Exchanging information, discussing opportunities for collaborative activities ,and engaging in consultations on the following program areas:
    • Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP)
    • Modeling
    • Long Range Transportation Plan
    • Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), and
    • Air Quality State Implementation Plan Conformity.
  • Holding an annual meeting of the executive directors and appropriate key managers of the MPOs which are parties to the agreement, as well as interested policy board member agency representatives, including the public transit operating agencies and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The MAP Forum meets periodically in person and via virtual meetings to discuss and coordinate planning issues.

These meetings provide an opportunity for discussion among the key MPOs in the multi-state region, in accordance with the provisions of the MOU. The purpose of these periodic meetings is to advance the efforts of regional planning, and to discuss and review areas of coordination, cooperation and consultation as outlined in the planning coordination MOU.