Preparing for the Greater Birmingham Metropolitan Area's transportation future involves careful planning. How does transportation affect our air quality? What is the condition of our roads and bridges? What kinds of facilities and services are needed to move people and goods today and tomorrow?  How do we implement transportation solutions that support planned growth or improve the safety of our transportation system? These are just some of the questions that will be addressed by the Birmingham Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) as it prepares the On Course: Birmingham 2035 Regional Transportation Plan, the update of the Birmingham 2030 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP).

The RTP serves as a blueprint that guides the Birmingham Metropolitan Area's transportation development over a 25-year period. Updated every four years to reflect changing conditions and new planning principles, the RTP is based on projections of growth and travel demand coupled with financial assumptions. The RTP specifically looks at major urban transportation planning concerns as environmental/air quality; access to transportation facilities and services; alternative transportation modes (especially bicycle and pedestrian), public transportation; the impact of land development on the transportation system; interstate and highway traffic congestion; and maintenance of the existing infrastructure.