Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
Encyclopedia
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) is the federally required Metropolitan Planning Organization
responsible for the continuous and comprehensive transportation planning process in the Austin, Texas
area, including Williamson
, Travis
, Hays
, Bastrop
, and Caldwell
counties. CAMPO is one of 25 Texas
MPOs.
The CAMPO board has 19 voting members, consisting mostly of elected politicians. The board Chairman is currently Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe. Of the elected officials one is a county representative, two are county judges, three are city council members, five are county commissioners, and six are mayors. The two non-elected officials represent the Capital Metro transportation authority and the Texas Department of Transportation
(TxDOT) Austin district.
The board typically meets the second Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. Meetings are typically held on the University of Texas campus in the Joe C. Thompson Conference Center auditorium.
The CAMPO staff office is at One Texas Center Building at 505 Barton Springs Road, Suite 700, in Austin, Texas.
and TxDOT.
, the regional newspaper, endorsed the toll plan. The anti-toll group Austin Toll Party formed in response to the July 2004 vote. The Austin Toll Party, led by Sal Costello, was vocal in their charges that the July 2004 vote for toll conversions of existing freeways amounted to "double taxation". Their efforts included sponsoring a recall election
petition against the Austin mayor Will Wynn
and other Austin city council members who voted for the toll conversions, but the petition drive ultimately failed to collect enough signatures.
Subsequent efforts by the Austin Toll Party played a role in unseating the Dwight Thompson, the mayor of West Lake Hills
, and Karen Sonleitner, a Travis County commissioner, who both voted for the Phase 2 toll conversions.
In the aftermath of the vote, various allegations of conflicts-of-interest were made against CAMPO board members. In September 2004, the Austin American-Statesman
editorial page wrote that State Representative Dawna Dukes "should have abstained on the controversial plan to toll seven Central Texas roads" after the paper reported Rep. Dukes' sister signed a consulting contract with the general engineering contractor for the region's toll authority days before the CAMPO vote. In March 2005, Texas Comptroller
Carole Keeton Strayhorn
issued a report titled Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority: A Need for a Higher Standard alleged conflicts-of-interest for board members of the toll authority (the CTRMA
) charged with building and eventually running the Phase 2 toll roads. The CTRMA subsequently issued a response contesting the Comptroller's report. In June 2006 Johanna Zmud, one of the CTRMA board members who the Comptroller called to resign in the report, subsequently announced plans that she would resign in order to pursue consulting opportunities.
One project in the Phase 2 toll plan was to open the nearly-complete extension of Loop 1 South as a toll road. For an estimated $11 million construction cost to set up toll booths on the otherwise near-finished roadway, bonding the future toll revenue from the bridge over William Cannon Drive would immediately generate $27 million. This plan provoked a massive public outcry; planning and building a freeway but then opening it as a toll road was simply too much for the public to accept.
Even though 16 CAMPO board members had voted for the Phase 2 toll roads with Loop 1 South slated for quick toll conversion just six months earlier, in January 2005 the CAMPO board voted unanimously to remove the already-constructed Loop 1 extension and bridge over William Cannon Drive from the toll conversion package. The Loop 1 South extension has since opened without tolls.
Austin City Council Member and CAMPO board member Brewster McCracken, under pressure from the anti-toll recall effort, began advocating an independent study to assess the Phase 2 toll plan. On March 3, 2005, the Austin City Council approved funding for "an independent review of the TxDOT/CTRMA Toll Plan". Other area municipalities joined the study and pooled over $300,000 to pay for the study. Brewster McCracken invited pro-tolling Rep. Mike Krusee and fellow CAMPO board member to co-chair the steering committee for the study. The study was named the Mobility Alternative Finance Study (MAFS). Due to the delays in organizing the study and concerns stemming from McCracken's inviting an ardent pro-toll voice to co-chair the study's steering committee, Sal Costello alleged the study had become co-opted by pro-tolling advocates. The Boston
-based CRA International consulting firm conducted the study. Despite plans for a citizens advisory board to provide input to the study, no such board was ever formed. CRA presented its final report to the MAFS Steering Committee and CAMPO in December 2006.
Subsequent CAMPO board meetings after the July 2004 vote were subject to substantial public protest. In response, the CAMPO board instituted new rules that substantially curtailed public comment by requiring persons wishing to address the board to register prior to the meeting and limiting the number of such speakers.
On June 12, 2000, CAMPO adopts plans for US 183-A Toll Road.
In January 2001, Cambridge Systematics issues its CAMPO Peer Review of Capital Area Transportation Planning final report to critique CAMPO's decision making process and offer recommendations. The report noted "polarized debate on transportation projects for many years" and "a history of factionalism between urban and suburban interests". One key recommendation was to form a Technical Advisory Committee.
On February 10, 2003 CAMPO's Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) voted to expand our current planning boundary to cover all of Williamson, Travis, and Hays Counties in Central Texas.
On February 19, 2003 Governor Rick Perry
approved CAMPO's boundary expansion to include all of Williamson, Travis, and Hays Counties. Bastrop
and Caldwell
Counties, while a part of the Austin-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), are not included in the CAMPO planning area.
On March 10, 2003, the Transportation Policy Board appointed a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to be made up of representatives of local agencies or jurisdictions within the CAMPO boundary. The board charged the TAC to "Make recommendations to the TPB on the CAMPO Long-Range Plan and the Transportation Improvement Program, as well as other related technical issues."
On April 12, 2004, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) and TxDOT presented the CTRMA's proposed regional implementation program to CAMPO. This identified the greater Austin area's immediate mobility needs and proposed toll-road projects for CTRMA to operate or develop.
On July 12, 2004 at a highly contentious board meeting observed by an overflowing public audience, CAMPO voted to include all of the toll-road projects CTRMA and TxDOT had proposed. Much of the discussion at this meeting focused on approving eight amendments to the toll conversion plan. Loop 360 was designated as a tollway in the CAMPO 2030 plan but left unfunded in the approved Transportation Improvement Program (TIP),
On January 25, 2005, the CAMPO board votes unanimously to remove the Mopac bridge over William Cannon from the toll road plan.
On June 6, 2005, the CAMPO board adopted the CAMPO Mobility 2030 Plan, a planning guide that contains transportation policies, projects, programs and action items for the next 25 years to 2030.
On January 24, 2005, CAMPO initially adopted the CAMPO fiscal year 2006-2008 TIP.
On January 22, 2007, the CAMPO board agreed, subject to approval of area governments, to reduce the size of its board to 18 from 23 by removing legislators. The board also voted to remove the proposed Phase 2 toll roads but intends to reconsider the Phase 2 toll roads in the summer.
On October 8, 2007, the CAMPO board voted on and approved construction of 5 more toll roads, four of which to be built on existing roads.
On March 31, 2008, the CAMPO board chose a new executive director, Joseph Cantalupo, currently a senior planning manager at Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. Mr. Cantalupo was chosen from a field of six candidates.
Metropolitan planning organization
A metropolitan planning organization is a federally-mandated and federally-funded transportation policy-making organization in the United States that is made up of representatives from local government and governmental transportation authorities...
responsible for the continuous and comprehensive transportation planning process in the Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
area, including Williamson
Williamson County, Texas
Williamson County is a county located on both the Edwards Plateau to the west, consisting of rocky terrain and hills, and Blackland Prairies in the east consising of rich, fertile farming land, The two areas are roughly bisected by Interstate 35...
, Travis
Travis County, Texas
As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...
, Hays
Hays County, Texas
Hays County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its official population had reached 157,107. It is named for John Coffee Hays, a Texas Ranger and Mexican-American War officer. The seat of the county is San Marcos....
, Bastrop
Bastrop County, Texas
Bastrop County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2006, the population was 71,700. Its county seat is Bastrop. Bastrop County is named for Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop , an early Dutch settler who assisted Stephen F...
, and Caldwell
Caldwell County, Texas
Caldwell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area. In 2000, the population was 32,194. Its county seat is Lockhart...
counties. CAMPO is one of 25 Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
MPOs.
Governance
CAMPO is governed by its CAMPO Transportation Policy Board (the CAMPO board) composed of state, regional and local officials.The CAMPO board has 19 voting members, consisting mostly of elected politicians. The board Chairman is currently Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe. Of the elected officials one is a county representative, two are county judges, three are city council members, five are county commissioners, and six are mayors. The two non-elected officials represent the Capital Metro transportation authority and the Texas Department of Transportation
Texas Department of Transportation
The Texas Department of Transportation is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Texas. Its stated mission is to "work cooperatively to provide safe, effective and efficient movement of people and goods" throughout the state...
(TxDOT) Austin district.
The board typically meets the second Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. Meetings are typically held on the University of Texas campus in the Joe C. Thompson Conference Center auditorium.
Staff
CAMPO has a staff of 16 including the Executive Director (Interim Director Mareen McCoy).The CAMPO staff office is at One Texas Center Building at 505 Barton Springs Road, Suite 700, in Austin, Texas.
Funding
CAMPO receives all its funding through the U.S. Department of TransportationUnited States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
and TxDOT.
Controversy
The CAMPO 2030 Plan adoption of the CAMPO-designated "Phase 2" toll conversions of Austin-area freeways (US 183, SH 71, US 290 East and West, Loop 1, and Loop 360) generated substantial public controversy in July 2004 and afterward. Public feedback received by CAMPO at the time ran 90% against the Plan 2 toll conversions, but the final board vote was 16-7 in favor of the toll conversions. The Austin American-StatesmanAustin American-Statesman
The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises. The Newspaper places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region....
, the regional newspaper, endorsed the toll plan. The anti-toll group Austin Toll Party formed in response to the July 2004 vote. The Austin Toll Party, led by Sal Costello, was vocal in their charges that the July 2004 vote for toll conversions of existing freeways amounted to "double taxation". Their efforts included sponsoring a recall election
Recall election
A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
petition against the Austin mayor Will Wynn
Will Wynn
William Patrick Wynn served as mayor of Austin, Texas from 2003 to 2009. He is a Democrat.- Family :Born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, Wynn was the sixth of seven children. He attended Texas A&M University, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in Environmental Design in 1984...
and other Austin city council members who voted for the toll conversions, but the petition drive ultimately failed to collect enough signatures.
Subsequent efforts by the Austin Toll Party played a role in unseating the Dwight Thompson, the mayor of West Lake Hills
West Lake Hills, Texas
West Lake Hills is a city in Travis County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,116 at the 2000 census, and 3,021 in the 2005 census estimate. The city of West lake Hills is a relatively wealthy suburb of Austin, located on the west side of Austin on the edge of the Hill Country...
, and Karen Sonleitner, a Travis County commissioner, who both voted for the Phase 2 toll conversions.
In the aftermath of the vote, various allegations of conflicts-of-interest were made against CAMPO board members. In September 2004, the Austin American-Statesman
Austin American-Statesman
The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises. The Newspaper places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region....
editorial page wrote that State Representative Dawna Dukes "should have abstained on the controversial plan to toll seven Central Texas roads" after the paper reported Rep. Dukes' sister signed a consulting contract with the general engineering contractor for the region's toll authority days before the CAMPO vote. In March 2005, Texas Comptroller
Comptroller
A comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.In British government, the Comptroller General or Comptroller and Auditor General is in most countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the...
Carole Keeton Strayhorn
Carole Keeton Strayhorn
Carole Keeton Strayhorn is the former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts....
issued a report titled Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority: A Need for a Higher Standard alleged conflicts-of-interest for board members of the toll authority (the CTRMA
Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is a Regional Mobility Authority in the US state of Texas. CTRMA was created in 2003 by Travis and Williamson counties after authorization by the Texas Transportation Commission in October, 2002. It was the first Regional Mobility Authority created...
) charged with building and eventually running the Phase 2 toll roads. The CTRMA subsequently issued a response contesting the Comptroller's report. In June 2006 Johanna Zmud, one of the CTRMA board members who the Comptroller called to resign in the report, subsequently announced plans that she would resign in order to pursue consulting opportunities.
One project in the Phase 2 toll plan was to open the nearly-complete extension of Loop 1 South as a toll road. For an estimated $11 million construction cost to set up toll booths on the otherwise near-finished roadway, bonding the future toll revenue from the bridge over William Cannon Drive would immediately generate $27 million. This plan provoked a massive public outcry; planning and building a freeway but then opening it as a toll road was simply too much for the public to accept.
Even though 16 CAMPO board members had voted for the Phase 2 toll roads with Loop 1 South slated for quick toll conversion just six months earlier, in January 2005 the CAMPO board voted unanimously to remove the already-constructed Loop 1 extension and bridge over William Cannon Drive from the toll conversion package. The Loop 1 South extension has since opened without tolls.
Austin City Council Member and CAMPO board member Brewster McCracken, under pressure from the anti-toll recall effort, began advocating an independent study to assess the Phase 2 toll plan. On March 3, 2005, the Austin City Council approved funding for "an independent review of the TxDOT/CTRMA Toll Plan". Other area municipalities joined the study and pooled over $300,000 to pay for the study. Brewster McCracken invited pro-tolling Rep. Mike Krusee and fellow CAMPO board member to co-chair the steering committee for the study. The study was named the Mobility Alternative Finance Study (MAFS). Due to the delays in organizing the study and concerns stemming from McCracken's inviting an ardent pro-toll voice to co-chair the study's steering committee, Sal Costello alleged the study had become co-opted by pro-tolling advocates. The Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
-based CRA International consulting firm conducted the study. Despite plans for a citizens advisory board to provide input to the study, no such board was ever formed. CRA presented its final report to the MAFS Steering Committee and CAMPO in December 2006.
Subsequent CAMPO board meetings after the July 2004 vote were subject to substantial public protest. In response, the CAMPO board instituted new rules that substantially curtailed public comment by requiring persons wishing to address the board to register prior to the meeting and limiting the number of such speakers.
History
CAMPO was established in 1973 when it went under the name ATS (Austin Transportation Study).On June 12, 2000, CAMPO adopts plans for US 183-A Toll Road.
In January 2001, Cambridge Systematics issues its CAMPO Peer Review of Capital Area Transportation Planning final report to critique CAMPO's decision making process and offer recommendations. The report noted "polarized debate on transportation projects for many years" and "a history of factionalism between urban and suburban interests". One key recommendation was to form a Technical Advisory Committee.
On February 10, 2003 CAMPO's Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) voted to expand our current planning boundary to cover all of Williamson, Travis, and Hays Counties in Central Texas.
On February 19, 2003 Governor Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
approved CAMPO's boundary expansion to include all of Williamson, Travis, and Hays Counties. Bastrop
Bastrop County, Texas
Bastrop County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2006, the population was 71,700. Its county seat is Bastrop. Bastrop County is named for Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop , an early Dutch settler who assisted Stephen F...
and Caldwell
Caldwell County, Texas
Caldwell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area. In 2000, the population was 32,194. Its county seat is Lockhart...
Counties, while a part of the Austin-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), are not included in the CAMPO planning area.
On March 10, 2003, the Transportation Policy Board appointed a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to be made up of representatives of local agencies or jurisdictions within the CAMPO boundary. The board charged the TAC to "Make recommendations to the TPB on the CAMPO Long-Range Plan and the Transportation Improvement Program, as well as other related technical issues."
On April 12, 2004, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) and TxDOT presented the CTRMA's proposed regional implementation program to CAMPO. This identified the greater Austin area's immediate mobility needs and proposed toll-road projects for CTRMA to operate or develop.
On July 12, 2004 at a highly contentious board meeting observed by an overflowing public audience, CAMPO voted to include all of the toll-road projects CTRMA and TxDOT had proposed. Much of the discussion at this meeting focused on approving eight amendments to the toll conversion plan. Loop 360 was designated as a tollway in the CAMPO 2030 plan but left unfunded in the approved Transportation Improvement Program (TIP),
On January 25, 2005, the CAMPO board votes unanimously to remove the Mopac bridge over William Cannon from the toll road plan.
On June 6, 2005, the CAMPO board adopted the CAMPO Mobility 2030 Plan, a planning guide that contains transportation policies, projects, programs and action items for the next 25 years to 2030.
On January 24, 2005, CAMPO initially adopted the CAMPO fiscal year 2006-2008 TIP.
On January 22, 2007, the CAMPO board agreed, subject to approval of area governments, to reduce the size of its board to 18 from 23 by removing legislators. The board also voted to remove the proposed Phase 2 toll roads but intends to reconsider the Phase 2 toll roads in the summer.
On October 8, 2007, the CAMPO board voted on and approved construction of 5 more toll roads, four of which to be built on existing roads.
On March 31, 2008, the CAMPO board chose a new executive director, Joseph Cantalupo, currently a senior planning manager at Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. Mr. Cantalupo was chosen from a field of six candidates.