Inclusive & Nondiscriminatory Transportation Planning

The Waco Metropolitan Planning Organization (Waco MPO) serves as the federally designated MPO for the urbanized area of McLennan County in Central Texas. This designation means the Waco MPO is responsible for coordinating transportation planning activities in the county and for providing a forum for local input into how federal highway and transit dollars are spent. It also means the Waco MPO is responsible for ensuring any impacts that transportation related decisions may have on “disadvantaged populations” are addressed through an inclusive and nondiscriminatory planning process.

The Waco MPO reaches out and encourages the involvement of everyone in McLennan County, including protected populations, to ensure their participation in the transportation planning and decision-making process. The Waco MPO Public Participation Plan(PDF, 3MB)  specifies these efforts and information regarding the MPO's Title VI obligations can be found in the Title VI Program and Implementation Plan(PDF, 15MB).

“Environmental Justice” refers to an executive order to ensure that federally funded programs, policies or activities, including those related to transportation, having the potential to adversely or negatively affect human health or the environment explicitly consider the effects on minority populations and low-income populations (Executive Order 12898). “Environmental Justice” is advocated based on Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The Waco MPO is committed to ensuring the transportation needs of all people in McLennan County are met and that no one population group must endure a disproportional share of the burdens in meeting those needs. The MPO periodically performs an analysis of its plans and programs in order to assess the mobility of traditionally underrepresented groups and to provide an assessment of the impacts of proposed projects upon these groups.  The analysis may be found in section 4.3 of the Waco MPO Metropolitan Transportation Plan.