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What is the SMTC?
Purpose
As the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) designated by the Governor of the State of New York, the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council (SMTC) was created in 1966 to carry out the continuous, comprehensive and cooperative transportation planning process for the Syracuse Metropolitan Area, which includes all of Onondaga County and small portions of
Madison and Oswego Counties. View a map of the SMTC area.
In addition to maintaining a long range transportation plan (a 20-year vision of future transportation projects and improvements), the SMTC conducts a number of specific transportation planning
activities, some of which include: traffic corridor studies; transportation data collection; accident surveillance; congestion management; and multi-modal transportation planning (including
bicycle and pedestrian planning). The SMTC is also responsible for the maintenance of the area’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), a
multiyear program that funds capital projects such as transit, local streets and roads, highways, bicycle and pedestrian routes, and more. It is important to note, however, that the SMTC is not an agency that can implement particular
transportation improvements, but serves as a collaborative forum where transportation issues are studied, and recommendations made. All of the transportation planning work done by the SMTC can be classified into one of the following three categories:
History
The 1962 Federal Aid Highway Act mandated that all urbanized areas with a population over 50,000 establish a continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive (referred to as "3C") planning process. The 1974 Federal Aid Highway Act mandated the creation of an MPO in each area required to have a 3C planning process. Currently, funding for an MPO is provided by both the Federal
Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration via TEA-21 legislation. (This link opens in a new window.)
An MPO is required to periodically undergo a Federal certification process to ensure that it is adequately meeting Federal mandates.
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