On January 31-February 1, 2023, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) facilitated the certification review site visit meetings to discuss the transportation planning process for the New Orleans urbanized area (UZA), as conducted by the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). FHWA and FTA are required to jointly review and evaluate the transportation planning process for each UZA over 200,000 in population, known as a Transportation Management Area (TMA), at least every four years to determine if the process meets Federal planning requirements. This review is risk-based, focusing on areas of greatest concern for non-compliance. The FHWA and FTA joint review team determined areas of risk by reviewing previous certification review findings, and considering recent MPO meetings, experiences, the new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), the 2020 Census, and current Federal transportation policies.
