The transportation sector is faced with new legislative mandates as reflected by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991. ISTEA, coupled with the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990, provides an impetus for change in transportation planning and project implementation. Statewide transportation planning is one of the mechanisms for change that ISTEA provides. Statewide transportation plans integrate planning for multiple transport modes to balance the mobility needs of the state with future revenue sources. To support this requirement, FHWA and FTA have issued statewide transportation planning rules. These rules identify twenty-three factors to be addressed in statewide plans. The case studies included in this report demonstrate examples of coordination.

Through the statewide transportation planning process, states decide how to spend fed. transportation funds -- almost $46 billion in FY 2009. Draft legislation to reauthorize federal surface transportation legislation would, among other things, revise planning requirements to recognize states' use of rural planning org. (RPO) and require performance measurement. This report examined: (1) states' planning activities and RPOs' satisfaction that rural needs are considered; (2) states' planning challenges; (3) the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's approach to overseeing statewide planning; and (4) states' use of performance measurement and opportunities to make statewide planning more performance based. Tables. This is a print on demand report.