About Long-Range Planning

Why Transportation Matters

Transportation is part of our experience every day, connecting us to jobs, our families, entertainment, the things we buy and other basic needs. It enables us to have a high quality of life. The transportation system is made up of many pieces that work together to move people and goods around and through the metro area — including vehicles, roadways, bridges, sidewalks, rivers, railways and traffic signals.

What is a Long-Range Transportation Plan?

A long-range transportation plan serves as a blueprint for managing a region's transportation system. Required by the federal government for metropolitan areas, these plans identify transportation improvements for the next 20 to 30 years. By establishing transportation goals for a region, the community lays a foundation for the kinds of plans and projects that will provide the best transportation solutions to address its needs. The plans typically consider the following elements:

• Projected population growth
• Maintenance of transportation facilities
• Safety
• Quality of life
• Preserving the human and natural environment
• Current and future transportation needs (air, bicycle, bus, pedestrian, rail, roads, water, etc.)

About Kansas City's Transportation Outlook 2040

As the federally designated planning organization for metro Kansas City, the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) must develop and maintain a long-range transportation plan that guides transportation decision making and funding decisions. In June 2010, MARC's Board of Directors adopted a new long-range transportation plan, Transportation Outlook 2040, that outlines $18 billion in multimodal investments in the bistate region over the next three decades. The plan identifies needs and budgets federal transportation funds that the metro area expects to receive over time.

While this long-range plan is a required document, MARC saw its development as an opportunity to address the region's vision for the future. A robust, well-functioning transportation system in itself is not the end we all seek. Instead, transportation is a means to carry us into our desired future.

Over a period of two years, MARC committees and staff worked closely with community planners, elected officials and area residents to create Transportation Outlook 2040 — sparking the broadest range of participation yet in developing a long-range plan for Greater Kansas City. Olathe Councilwoman Marge Vogt and Kansas City, Mo., Councilman Ed Ford co-chaired the committee of local government officials that guided the planning process. The Long-Range Transportation Plan Subcommittee included representation from air quality, land-use and multimodal transportation stakeholders.

This important plan outlines a new vision for how transportation investments will relate to land use in the future. MARC established a broad set of goals for the plan — ranging from transportation's impacts on climate change and energy, to place making, to the condition of existing transportation systems. Transportation Outlook 2040 reflects common themes of sustainable development found in local government comprehensive plans.

Transportation Outlook 2040 contains a 30-year forecast of regional population and employment growth patterns, as well as listings of priority major investments in roadways, bicycle/pedestrian facilities, transit, and projects that support activity and neighborhood centers. For the first time, the plan incorporates performance measures to evaluate progress toward goals over time. It also serves as the region's Coordinated Public Transit–Human Services Transportation Plan.

Estimating Our Future Budget

Transportation Outlook 2040 must be financially constrained. This means that MARC must forecast how much revenue the region will receive in the next 30 years and develop a list of projects that meet our goals and do not exceed our projected revenue. This requirement of the plan presents significant challenges. Transportation funding from the federal government has been in flux, and our prior revenue projections for our region have not materialized. We know transportation funds will be in short supply in the future, and our region will have some tough decisions to make about priorities. More on financial capacity

Approach to Developing the Plan

The preparation of this report is financed in part with funding from United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), administered by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT). The opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of USDOT, KDOT and MoDOT.