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Transportation
Short Range Planning
• Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
Committee
The TIP is the short range transportation
planning program. This committee is tasked
with evaluating, scoring, and scheduling local
transportation projects that are funded with
federal dollars. Members of the committee
work to ensure that regional priorities are
addressed fairly and efficiently and that federal
monies are spent effectively.
• Freight Advisory Committee
This committee is concerned with movement
of goods by road, train, pipeline, water, and
air. The goal of the group is to improve freight
transportation efficiency and support efforts to
increase the volume of freight moving within
and through the region. Members look for ways
to improve safety and ease transfers between
freight modes.
• Public Transit Committee
Mass transit in our region includes public bus
systems and the paratransit system of vans
and buses. The committee addresses needs of
people who use public transit including those
who prefer not to drive or who do not drive:
the elderly, handicapped, children, etc. A wellmanaged
public transit system is an important
urban service that adds to quality of life in a
municipal region.
• Passenger Rail Committee
The Passenger Rail committee coordinates
efforts to improve and expand regional
passenger rail options. The committee works
with partner groups in neighboring states and
the wider region to promote development of a
broad passenger rail service, while promoting
full use and good repair of the existing regional
infrastructure.
• Pedestrian & Bikeways Committee
Growing interest in self-powered transportation
drives this committee. The group works
to incorporate pedestrian and bicycle
transportation into all surface transportation
plans to build a fully connected system. The goal
is to provide for increased availability of options
for walking, cycling, and to promote safe usage
of self-powered personal transportation within
the region.
Data Collection and Modeling
• System Performance and Monitoring
Committee
This committee collects and analyzes data
relative to safety, traffic congestion, and roadway
and bridge condition and models changes
to transportation infrastructure. Committee
members work to improve transportation safety
through programs aimed to correct problematic
infrastructure conditions.
The Transportation department and Water Quality Planning
department are the two programmatic divisions of TMACOG.
The staff perform the research, public input, and analysis
required to maintain compliance with federal and state
regulations. They also manage the committees that ensure
that members of the region are fully informed and can fully
participate in the region’s plans.
For more information on any Transportation committee or to
comment on any transportation issue, contact Vice President
of Transportation David Gedeon: gedeon@tmacog.org, or
419.241.9155, ext. 1125.
Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments
300 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Suite 300
Toledo, OH 43604
Phone: 419.241.9155 | public.info@tmacog.org
www.tmacog.org

Transportation
planning
Toledo Metropolitan
Area Council
of Governments
The Transportation department at TMACOG works
with members and regional partners to ensure
that the transportation system in our region moves
people and goods safely and efficiently. The region
served includes Lucas and Wood counties in Ohio
and the three southern townships of Monroe
County, Michigan. This area is home to about
600,000 people in 75 jurisdictions.
Transportation planning is a complex job that
requires the integrated work of certified planners,
data analysts, modelers, GIS experts, and
technicians. These planning services are informed
by the priorities and needs of the entire population
which uses the transportation system.
The commuter system of northwest Ohio and
southeast Michigan serves motorists traveling
to work, children busing to school, bicyclists,
pedestrians, and people using wheelchairs.
The movement of goods includes vans making
household deliveries, semi trucks transferring
loads from ships or rail cars, and all the commercial
vehicles serving businesses and industry.
All these groups and interests are served by
a system of roads, bridges, highways, trails,
and ports that is safe and where all modes are
integrated smoothly. A system that works for
everyone is informed by the needs and choices of
all the people and industry in the region.
To fulfill regional goals for transportation planning,
TMACOG’s work falls into three categories: long
range planning, short range planning, and data
collection and modeling.
Transportation Council
The Transportation Council is the policy-making
group that approves and supports the work of
the transportation committees. Members of the
Transportation Council include representatives
of business and industry, government, county
engineers, regional planning commissions, park
districts, and experts and advocates for bicyclists
and pedestrians, passenger rail, and public
transit. This group is responsible for ensuring
that transportation policy is fair, efficient, and
responsible. Its deliberations are public record
and all meetings are open to the public.
Long Range Planning
• Transportation Planning Committee
This group recommends actions, programs, and
policies that support investment in our region’s
transportation system coordinated through the
regional transportation planning process. This
committee and ad hoc subcommittees create
and modify the long range transportation
plan. The plan integrates the priorities of the
entire region and ensures that development
and transportation investments are managed
efficiently.