The week of October 21-25, the Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) along with the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB), hosted the 2019 AMPO Annual Conference at the Hyatt Regency Inner Harbor. The Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO) is a nonprofit, membership organization established in 1994 to serve the needs and interests of “metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs)” nationwide.
Over 320 representatives of MPOs from across the country attended the Annual Conference, along with Policy Board Members, Federal and State employees, and consultants who shared information on MPO issues.
The conference included workshops and sessions to share best practices of regional efforts to advance sustainable, multi-modal transportation planning. These sessions and workshops included topics such as environmental justice, the future of transportation, transportation planning capacity building, MPO roles and relevancy, accessibility, public involvement, funding and financing, and data.
Highlights of the conference included addresses by the Federal Highway Administrator Nicole Nason, MDOT Deputy Secretary R. Earl Lewis and the Baltimore City DOT Director Steve Sharkey.
Also of note, BMC’s Director of Transportation Planning, Todd Lang, was re-elected to the nine member AMPO Board of Directors during the conference.
BMC and BRTB were pleased to host this year’s gathering that welcomed national and regional experts to greater Baltimore, and highlighted the great work of MPOs throughout the Country.