MY AMPO

Roadmap to Reauthorization

What is Reauthorization?

Federal surface transportation reauthorization is the process Congress uses to renew, fund, and update the programs that build and maintain the nation’s roads, bridges, transit, and multimodal networks. Reauthorization is one of the most important tools Congress has to shape national transportation policy. Typically passed every five to six years, these bills establish funding levels, define federal priorities, and guide how transportation investments are made. These decisions influence which types of projects are eligible, what outcomes are prioritized (such as safety, mobility, economic development, etc.), and how regions access and manage federal dollars.

For MPOs, reauthorization is a key opportunity to improve the funding and policy frameworks that impact day-to-day operations and long-term regional planning. It directly affects how MPOs are funded, how flexibly they can use resources, and how much authority they have in shaping transportation decisions for their communities.

With the current Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) set to expire on September 30, 2026, the decisions made in the next year will define the future of transportation planning for years to come.

AMPO’s Policy Roadmap III

Next Stop: Reauthorization

AMPO’s Policy Roadmap III is our comprehensive strategy for shaping reauthorization. It reflects input from MPO surveys, collaboration with our committees, and extensive engagement with Congress, federal agencies, and national partners.

Looking toward 2026, our priorities focus on ensuring MPOs have the resources, flexibility, and tools to deliver results for communities nationwide. We are advancing new policy initiatives, strengthening coalitions, and amplifying MPO voices in national discussions.

Learn more in the AMPO 2025 Policy Roadmap here.

AMPO Policy Roadmap III

Legislative Priorities

Our legislative agenda prioritizes providing MPOs with the tools and flexibility to make smart, transformative investments in transportation infrastructure, ensuring that decisions made at the regional level best serve the unique needs of rural, suburban, and urban areas.

Planning: The Blueprint for Success

Why it matters: Planning is the first step and foundation of effective transportation project delivery. Planning is key to greater efficiency by building consensus, prioritizing the most impactful policies and investments, and streamlining project development. Strategic planning assures leaders at all levels—federal, state, local, and private—that transportation dollars are invested wisely.

  • The Challenge: Metropolitan Planning (PL) funding is currently less than 1% of total federal formula allocations and has not kept pace with MPOs' rising responsibilities and transportation system needs. The current structure makes this work harder than it should be. MPOs rely on state DOTs to pass through funds, which can add extra steps and delay access. The 20% local match requirement also leaves small or fiscally distressed regions struggling to access available planning funds.
  • Our Proposal:
    • Increase PL Funding: Increase to 3% of total formula allocations and establish a funding floor to support small and rural regions.
    • Streamline Access: Allow MPOs to receive PL funds directly, with an opt-out for those that prefer the current state-administered model.
    • Remove Barriers: Eliminate the local match requirement for PL funds, recognizing that federally mandated planning should not create an unfunded mandate for local governments.

Outcome: By modernizing planning funds, MPOs will be better equipped to support local governments and partner with state governments, anticipate challenges, keep projects moving, and meet national goals. Strong planning delivers tangible results: safer roads, quicker commutes, and faster project delivery that benefits every community, from urban centers to rural towns.

Learn more in AMPO's Policy Roadmap here.

Empower Regional Decision-Making

Why it matters: Local and regional governments plan for, own, and maintain more than 75% of U.S. road miles but, on average, receive only 14% of federal transportation funds through suballocations. Despite this critical responsibility, local and regional entities often have limited influence in determining which projects move forward with federal funding. As a result, the communities that manage much of the system are not always able to directly shape the investments that influence daily travel, safety outcomes, and economic growth.

Transportation investment is most successful when federal, state, and local partners work together. MPOs are a proven means to do that. They bring together towns, cities, counties, transit providers, state officials, and other key stakeholders to identify shared priorities and plan for regional growth. MPOs contribute local knowledge, data, and community input that ensures projects meet real-world needs.

  • The Challenge: Even when MPOs have fulfilled their responsibilities—identifying regional priorities, securing local consensus, and programming projects in their TIPs—those projects can still face delays or reprogramming due to broader administrative processes, procedural bottlenecks, or shifting priorities at the state level. These hurdles, often outside MPO control, contribute to unobligated balances, slow project delivery, and uncertainty for local partners.
  • Our Proposal:
    • Clarify and Strengthen Project Selection Roles: Ensure that MPOs and federally designated RTPOs have clearly defined authority to select projects funded by suballocated programs (e.g., STBG, CMAQ, CRP).
    • Enhance Coordination and Transparency: Establish clear expectations for coordination so programming is predictable, timely, and transparent, with public documentation of allocations and project selection.
    • Pilot Streamlined Regional Funding: Create a pilot program for select TMA MPOs to receive suballocated capital funds directly through a simplified process.
    • Establish Dedicated Formula Funding for Rural Transportation Planning: Create an RTPO formula program, modeled on MPO PL funding.

Outcome: With clear authority, sufficient funding, and the right implementation tools, MPOs and their partners are positioned to advance projects that reduce roadway fatalities, ease congestion, support economic development, and reflect community-driven priorities.

Learn more in AMPO's Policy Roadmap here.

Right-size, Align, and Streamline

Why it matters: Federal programs work best when funds can be deployed quickly, predictably, and with flexibility. Yet MPOs and their local partners often encounter administrative hurdles that slow delivery and reduce the impact of federal dollars.

  • Challenge 1: Local Match Requirements: The 20% local match creates financial and administrative hurdles that disproportionately affect small, rural, and resource-limited communities.
  • Challenge 2: “Use-It-or-Lose-It” Practices: Some states impose additional deadlines that shorten federal timelines, discouraging strategic investment.
  • Challenge 3: Administrative and Permitting Delays: Lengthy reviews and layered approvals drive up costs and extend timelines.
  • Challenge 4: Funding Uncertainty and Access: While discretionary grants open opportunities, many communities face capacity constraints to access and deliver them.
  • Our Proposal:
    • Right-size Local Match: Lower match for suballocated capital programs and allow in-kind/flexible approaches.
    • Align Timelines with Reality: Provide carryover authority by aligning obligation timelines with contract authority.
    • Streamline Reviews and Permitting: Expand Categorical Exclusions and reduce redundant approvals.
    • Strengthen Predictable and Accessible Funding: Expand formula programs with guaranteed regional access while refining key discretionary programs for simpler applications and faster award-to-execution.

Outcome: Aligning federal processes with how projects are planned and delivered strengthens the impact of every dollar, ensures broader participation across communities of all sizes, and improves accountability.

Learn more in AMPO's Policy Roadmap here.

Drive Safety Improvements Through Regional Action

Why it matters: America is facing a roadway safety crisis. Each year, more than 40,000 people are killed in traffic crashes, and hundreds of thousands more are seriously injured. Addressing this requires targeted, data-driven, locally informed solutions. MPOs are uniquely positioned to work with local and state stakeholders to guide federal safety dollars to areas of greatest need.

Bridge safety and local asset management are also critical. Locally owned bridges make up half of all U.S. bridges yet are twice as likely to be in poor condition as state-owned bridges. Suballocating bridge formula funds and strengthening the local role in asset management would enable urgent, needs-based repairs.

  • Our Proposal:
    • Empower MPOs to Advance Safety Outcomes: Expand MPO eligibility and decision-making authority for federal safety programs guided by local data and regional safety action plans.
    • Incorporate SS4A into HSIP with Guaranteed Local/Regional Access: Preserve SS4A’s flexibility while delivering it through formula funding with predictable local access.
    • Strengthen Regional and Local Role in Bridge Programs: Continue the Bridge Formula Program and convert it to a suballocated program so local/regional governments can prioritize based on regional safety and asset needs.

Outcome: Strengthening the regional and local role in safety and asset management ensures that federal investments save lives, protect critical infrastructure, and improve the roads and bridges Americans use every day.

Learn more in AMPO's Policy Roadmap here.

The Highway Trust Fund

Another focus area is ensuring the long-term stability of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The reauthorization process presents an opportunity to address chronic funding shortfalls and identify durable, sustainable solutions that support the federal transportation program. AMPO is committed to working with policymakers to strengthen the fiscal foundation of the HTF so local, regional, and state partners can continue delivering critical infrastructure projects without disruption or uncertainty.

To keep our members informed, we've created a one-pager and a detailed primer on this topic.

LOT Coalition Legislative Priorities

The LOT Coalition

AMPO’s priorities align with the Local Officials in Transportation (LOT) Coalition’s shared goals for supporting federal policy that recognizes the pivotal role that local and regional organizations play in our national transportation system and that make it easier for communities to develop, plan for, and build infrastructure that connects people, neighborhoods, and businesses.

Our coalition is made up of the organizations representing metropolitan planning organizations (AMPO); counties, boroughs, and parishes (NACo); economic development organizations and rural transportation planning organizations (NADO); regional planning organizations (NARC); cities, towns, and villages (NLC); and mayors (USCM). Together, our members own, maintain, plan for, and support millions of road miles and hundreds of thousands of bridges nationwide.

Learn more about the LOT Coalition’s priorities here.

Strategic Engagement

As reauthorization nears, AMPO is taking proactive steps to address MPO issues in the federal funding process. We’re engaging with elected officials and industry partners to ensure MPO needs are prioritized. Our strategies include coalition building, data-driven approaches, strategic communication, targeted engagement, grassroots mobilization, and continuous adaptation.

Your support is key in making sure our community’s voice is heard. Since not every MPO can engage on its own, AMPO is here to champion our members’ collective interests. We look forward to continuing this important work together.

Get Involved: AMPO’s Engagement Toolkit

AMPO invites MPOs to get involved and explore the MPO Engagement Toolkit. This toolkit is here to help you educate decision-makers on transportation initiatives that improve transportation outcomes for communities nationwide. Whether you’re new to engagement or looking to refine your approach, you’ll find essential resources to make your efforts more effective.

Access AMPO’s Engagement Toolkit here.

MPO Engagement Toolkit

For more information on how to get involved in AMPO’s reauthorization efforts, please contact Katie Economou, Legislative Director, at keconomou@ampo.org.

Resources

AMPO produces a wide range of resources to support member engagement, from policy roadmaps and issue papers to survey reports. These tools ensure MPOs are well-equipped to engage with policymakers and stakeholders. You can view all of our policy resources here.

AMPO’s Policy Roadmaps

AMPO’s Policy Roadmaps summarize our legislative priorities and recommended actions for MPOs. Each edition refines and updates the framework as the policy landscape evolves while maintaining continuity across core themes.

How to use these documents: start with the latest Roadmap for the current position and messaging; refer to earlier editions for background and evolution of the recommendations.

AMPO’s Survey Reports and Issue Papers

AMPO conducted surveys to identify key needs and challenges faced by MPOs, leading to reports on our legislative priorities. These reports guide our engagement efforts to ensure MPOs’ voices are heard.

How to use these reports: Use them for background information and talking points when engaging with policymakers and stakeholders.

For more information on AMPO’s reauthorization efforts and any policy-related issues, please contact Katie Economou, Legislative Director, at keconomou@ampo.org .