We continue our series on transportation with today’s conversation focused on the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. Joining us in the discussion today are Dylan Mullenix, assistant director of the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and Allison van Pelt who is the senior planner focused on environmental resiliency from the DM Area MPO.
According to a 2017 article written by Gian-Claudia Sciara, Metropolitan Transportation Planning: Lessons From the Past, Institutions for the Future, published in the Journal of the American Planning Association, “There are more than 400 U.S. metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) overseeing multiple transportation projects totaling billions of dollars, yet these crucial organizations and their history and current role are generally unknown or confusing to many planning practitioners and scholars. MPOs face major challenges in developing meaningful long-range regional transportation plans. MPOs may approve projects and their funding, but disparate agencies and often competitive local governments control budgets and actually build projects.” Yet, “History suggests that MPOs can be a force for regional change.”
Tune in to today’s podcast to learn about our local MPO and some of the initiatives they have collaborated on in the realm of more sustainable transportation solutions.
Key Takeaways from our discussion:
- The DM Area MPO consists of 21 member communities.
- It is a federally required entity for every urban area over 50,000 in population
- MPOs are funded by the federal government yet locally derived
- The MPO was integrally involved in developing The Tomorrow Plan: Central Iowa’s Plan for Sustainability
- The MPO does not build anything but they do plan, analyze, facilitate, convene & fund projects such as the new electric buses, bridge replacements, new construction, etc.
- In the sustainability realm, they have funded pervious surface projects and the new Transload Facility
- They have also been very involved in the Water Trails Project and developing a system of greenways
- The MPO provides a blueprint for the region with regards to the Economy, the Environment and Housing
- Planners from the MPO go out to meet people and communities where they are in order to understand their needs in order to convene and gather the appropriate individuals and organizations to make projects happen.
“How do we slow down what matters the most
And speed up what benefits change and progress?
We don’t want to impede progress,
But we are seeking reconnection to ourselves,
To each other, and with the world.”
~John Maeda
“Anyone who believes in indefinite growth
On a finite planet
Is either mad, or an economist.”
~ David Attenborough
Thank you for listening to today’s discussion. Let’s continue the conversation and learn from each other.