Citizens transportation group to discuss its continued future

One of the functions of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is to coordinate transportation planning for the region and that includes operating the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization. That body is required to exist by the United States Department of Transportation for the purposes of making decisions related to federal funding.

The MPO is made up of elected officials from both the city and the county. One of their tasks is to update a document called the Long-Range Transportation Plan every five years. That last happened in May 2024. (read the document)

The MPO is advised by a technical committee as well as one made up of community members. There has been discussion of reducing the number of meetings for the latter and the appointed body’s future structure will be one of the topics on the agenda of the Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee on January 28.

According to the minutes of the January 28, 2026 meeting, the group was asked to make a recommendation on one of three pathways. Under scenario one, CTAC would only be tasked with assisting with creation of the LRTP and less active after that document is complete. In the second, the group would assist the MPO with public outreach on a number of plans including the LRTP.

In the third, the body would be eliminated. There is no requirement that a citizens group exist.

Many CTAC members said they believed citizens need a place to advocate for transportation policy. Other members said that other groups exist to do that. The body voted on a fourth scenario where they agreed they needed to exist but there needs to be further discussion of what they do. That’s on the agenda for this virtual meeting. (CTAC meeting page)

The full MPO Board will be asked to make the final decision on February 25, 2026.

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