The AMPO Planning Tools and Training Symposium is tailored to the requirements of MPOs as well as the challenges associated with meeting such requirements and structured to meet the needs of small, medium, and large MPOs. The symposium brings together MPO staff and practitioners to share information on a variety of MPO technical issues and provides peer-to-peer training for the MPO community to discuss challenges, opportunities, and implementation strategies with regard to current planning tools and applications. The goal of the symposium is to share good practices; provide practical training; and develop materials that can be shared across the MPO community.

The symposium takes place over the course of two and a half days and consists of multiple roundtable sessions. Attendance is capped to allow for smaller sessions and greater ease of networking. The sessions are divided into two tracks: MPO 101 and MPO Deep Dive.

• The MPO 101 track is aimed at staff with less experience at MPOs or who are interested in a refresher. Sessions focus on MPO core products, operations, and engagement with key stake holders.
• The MPO Deep Dive track is for seasoned MPO professionals and provides peer-to-peer exchange and training opportunities to discuss the state of the practice, innovation, the thorny issues that MPOs often encounter.

The Planning Tools & Training Symposium occurs every other year. The next scheduled event will be April 20-23, 2026, in Lexington, Kentucky.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

The AMPO Planning Tools and Training Symposium brings MPO staff and practitioners together to share information on various MPO technical issues and provides peer-to-peer training for the MPO community to discuss challenges, opportunities, and implementation strategies regarding current planning tools and applications. The goal of this symposium is to identify and share good practices, provide practical training, and develop materials that can be shared across the MPO community.

To guide budget planning, below are the registration fees from the 2024 symposium. AMPO will announce fees for 2026 when registration opens.

Call for Proposals
A Call for Proposals for the 2026 Symposium will be open through Nov. 4, 2025. We encourage you to review What Makes a Good Proposal, which has guidance on crafting a proposal that will earn you a spot on the agenda.

Because the Symposium is different from our Annual Conference, with a lower attendance cap and a focus on interactive sessions, we’re asking for submissions that are something other than a 20-minute PowerPoint. You’ll find more details in the submission application itself, but the session types we’re looking for are:

• Skill-Building Lab
• Lighting Talks with Discussion
• Roundtables
• Hands-on Design, and
• Case Study Clinic

You can also submit under the category of “other” if you have a compelling idea that doesn’t fit into one of these categories.

All valid submissions will be reviewed by AMPO’s Technical Committee, with the top-ranked sessions included in the Symposium agenda.

We encourage you to prepare for submitting your proposal by reviewing all of the information you’ll be asked for, which you can find here.

We want to make sure you have all the information to craft a winning submission, so we’ve scheduled a drop-in Zoom session where you can ask questions of AMPO staff and get feedback on your proposal idea.

• Date: Oct. 22
• Time: Drop in anytime between 2:30 and 4 PM ET
• Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6coeKybNTpagat17QctKXQ

You can also contact AMPO Transportation Planning Manager Ellen Zavisca with any questions at ezavisca@ampo.org

Start your submission by clicking the button below!

Small MPO Incentive

To help us create an agenda that’s representative of the entire MPO community, we’re offering an incentive for sessions that feature small MPOs.

Up to five selected sessions including staff from small MPOs (under 200,000 population) will be eligible for half-price registration and a travel stipend of up to $1,000. AMPO began offering these incentives for its 2025 Annual Conference and found that they greatly increased the number of session featuring staff from small MPOs. We’re offering it again for the Symposium to help us provide content that’s relevant to the work of small MPOs. We encourage staff from small MPOs to submit proposals!

Agenda

To get a taste of the Symposium, you can view the 2024 agenda by clicking the button below.

Exhibitor Program Sponsor

Additional Sponsor Opportunities