A presentation given at NADO's 2022 National Regional Transportation Conference.

1. Rural Regional
Transportation Plans
(RRTP) in Tennessee
MAREIKE ORTMANN, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE – CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH
D. STACY MORRISON, TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION – LONG RANGE PLANNING

2. Tennessee’s Planning Organizations
12 RPO’s and 11 MPO’s

3. Tennessee’s Rural
Planning
Organizations
Structure
• 12 RPOs in Tennessee (consist of 3 to 9 counties)
• Each RPO has an RPO Coordinator who is in charge
day-to-day operations
• TDOT's Office of Community Transportation (OCT)
works closely with the RPO Coordinator
• RPOs do not have Transportation Improvement
Plans and do not receive direct funding for projects
• RPOs help TDOT rank projects that would be
included in the statewide TIP (STIP)

4. Rural Regional Transportation Plans
RRTP is a planning document that strategizes the
method in which people, goods, and activities are
moved in an area designated as “rural”.

5. Why Rural Regional Transportation
Plans?
 There were not any regional planning documents for
Tennessee's RPOs prior to this statewide effort
 TDOT's previous Deputy Commissioner had the idea to develop
RRTPs similar to other states
 The TDOT 25-Year Long Range Transportation Plan calls for
transportation plan development for Tennessee’s rural areas,
similar to MPO Long Range Plans
 The RRTP is supposed to link regional transportation and land
use into one comprehensive planning document

6. Purposes of the RRTPs
Create a regionwide comprehensive planning document linking transportation and land use
Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the state's rural transportation infrastructure investments and to increase the economic
competitiveness of the state's rural regions
Identify transportation infrastructure needs and make recommendations to address the needs
Engage the community stakeholders in TDOT's statewide Long Range Planning Process
Create a resource for TDOT Planners and RPO community stakeholders

7. Timeline
of Tennessee’s
RRTP Planning
Process
Started in 2016 with the outline of RRTP Process
In 2017 first pilot project: Dale Hollow RPO – create a Template
Plan Template was used for following plans
About 2-3 plans per year were developed
Managed by one TDOT/UT employee (Special Projects Coordinator)
New Plan Template developed in 2019
During pandemic (2020-2022), meetings were held virtually and later hybrid (virtual & in-person)
Changes are implemented to the maps and content in 2022
Current goal is to complete all RRTP’s by 2023
After first round of RRTPs is done: Evaluation of planning process and purpose of plans

8. Timeline for Tennessee’s RRTPs
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
West TN RPO
Southwest RPO
Dale Hollow RPO
East TN North RPO
East TN North RPO
Center Hill RPO
South Central East RPO
South Central West RPO
Southeast TN RPO
Northwest TN RPO
First TN RPO
Middle TN RPO

9. 1 Hr Presentation
Kick-off Meeting
•Meeting with all RPO stakeholders
•Presentation of purpose & goals, and
next steps of RRTP
Data Collection
& Inventory
•TDOT’s Data Visualization Office collects
and prepares Data
County One-on-
One Meetings
•Meetings with counties one-on-one to talk
about issues and needs
•Identifying locations on maps
Preparation and
Review of Draft
•Writing text narrative
•Review of text and graphics
•Review of document by planners and RPO
Workshop
Meeting
•Presentation of data collection and
seeking input
•Development of Regional Goals and
Strategies
Finalizing Plan
•Development of Recommendations
•Final Review
•Finalizing Text
Presentation and
Adoption
•Final presentation of plan at
RPO meeting
•Adoption of plan
2 months
1 Day
Process Steps of
RRTP
3 Months
30 Min Presentation

10. RRTP Public Engagement Process
Kick-off Meeting
•At bi-annual RPO Meeting
•Participants: RPO Executive
Board and Technical
Committee, TDOT's Office
of Community
Transportation (OCT), RPO
Coordinator
•Presentation of purpose,
content, and timeline of the
RRTP
One-on-one County
Meetings
•Participants: TDOT's OCT
staff, RPO Coordinator,
RRTP Project
Coordinator, County
officials (roadway
superintendent, public
transit operator, community
planners, county and
city mayors, other
representatives)
•Community participants
identify transportation
needs and issues in
different categories
•Locations are identified on
maps (paper or virtual)
Workshop Meeting
•Half-day meeting
•Participants: RPO
community stakeholders,
TDOT Division
representatives
(TDOT Safety, Multimodal,
Operations, Planning,
Freight)
•Present collected data/
maps and seek input
•County members would
rotate to different work
stations (by topic)
•Develop regional goals and
strategies
Final Presentation &
Adoption
•Presentation of final plan
•Adoption of plan (either at
that meeting or after final
version of the plan)
•Publishing final version of
RRTP on TDOTs website

11. Content of the RRTP
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
 Purpose and Objectives of the Plan
 Overview of the Region
• Socioeconomic and Land Use Trends
 Demographic Trends
 Industries and Freight Movement
 Economic Profiles
 Land Use
• Regional Transportation Systems
 Functional Classification
 Traffic Volumes
 Volume/Capacity Ratio
 Truck Traffic
 Travel Behavior
 Safety
 Multimodal Facilities
• Regional Goals and Recommendations
 Public Participation Process
 Regional Goals
 Identified Transportation Needs and
Recommendations

12. Content of the RRTP

15. Content of the RRTP

16. Next Steps
for RRTPs
 Implement some changes to the
Plans:
1. Further expand section on Recommendations
2. Utilizing GoogleMaps during one-on-one
meetings to mark locations of transportation
issues
3. Potentially using MetroQuest in the future to
engage the public in surveys

17. Next Steps
for RRTPs
 After completion of first set of plans
 Evaluation of planning process:
1. How are the plans used by the communities?
2. How are the plans used by TDOT?
3. How can we streamline the plans?
4. Is there any essential component missing from
the plans?

18. Conclusions
 The Good
• Increased public outreach to rural
communities by TDOT
• Strengthen relationships between TDOT
and RPOs
• Plan is resource that can be used for
county wide plans and for grant
applications
• Changes along the way improved the
outcome of the plans
• Create and share comprehensive data
and information that is useful for the
development of grant applications for
the rural communities
 The Bad
• Plan template changed several times
(labor and time intensive)
• Staff turnover complicated and
prolonged the planning process
• Overall, project took longer than
originally planned and timelines had to
be shifted several times
• Continue to be apprehensive with
identifying actual projects that may not
be obtainable

19. More Information
 TDOT’s Website:
https://www.tn.gov/tdot/long-range-
planning-home/longrange-oct/rural-
regional-transportation-plans.html
 Contact:
 Mareike Ortmann (UT):
mschuppe@utk.edu
 D. Stacy Morrison (TDOT):
Stacy.Morrison@tn.gov