About the Jackson Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
As the regional transportation planning agency for Jackson and Madison County, the Jackson Area MPO helps coordinate transportation planning at the local, state and federal levels. The goal is a continually improving transportation system that is safe and efficient, sustainable and well designed with options among common types of transport. This results in multi-modal transportation planning that includes individual vehicles, motor freight, rail, transit, bicycles, and pedestrians.
Locally, the MPO works with governments and agencies including the City of Jackson, Madison County, the City of Medon, the City of Three Way and the Jackson Transit Authority (JTA). The MPO also works in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) as well as the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Transportation officials describe the coordinated planning effort as the “3 C’s”: continuing, cooperative and comprehensive. Among other benefits, this helps ensure that state and federal funding requirements are met in order to secure locally needed transportation projects.
The MPO was established in 1982 with designation by the State of Tennessee when the Jackson Area had first grown to a population over 50,000. The MPO is served by professional staff at the Jackson Municipal Regional Planning Commission with plans subject to MPO Technical Staff Committee concurrence and MPO Executive Board approval. The Board is led by the mayors of Jackson and Madison County.
