Washington State law (RCW 47.80.020) authorizes the creation of Regional Transportation Planning Organizations (RTPOs), formed through voluntary associations of local governments within contiguous counties. Each RTPO must meet minimum population and geographic requirements, include all counties in the region, and have at least 60% of cities and towns representing 75% of the regional city/town population as members. In urbanized areas, the RTPO is the same body as the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), also known as a COG.Open full document
Notes
This Washington State law authorizes the creation of regional transportation planning organizations (RTPOs) through voluntary association of local governments within contiguous counties. It establishes membership, population, and geographic requirements for such organizations, and notes that in urbanized areas, the RTPO is the same as the metropolitan planning organization (MPO, also known as COGs) designated for federal transportation planning purposes. The state Department of Transportation must verify compliance with these requirements.