The final approval of the TIP is by the Regional Planning Commission as the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, West Bend, and Wisconsin portion of the Round Lake Beach urbanized areas. For its approval, the Commission considers the recommendations of its Advisory Committees on Transportation System Planning and Programming (TIP Committees) for the Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, West Bend and Wisconsin portion of the Round Lake Beach Urbanized Areas. These Committees include representation from the local governments of the urbanized areas and State and Federal transportation and environmental agencies. The membership of each committee can be viewed by clicking on each urbanized area listed above. The representation of local governments on each urbanized area is shown on these maps: Milwaukee, Kenosha, Racine, Round Lake Beach, and West Bend.
As an example, the Milwaukee urbanized area committee membership -- which totals 22 members and is population proportional -- is as follows:
Milwaukee County
5 members – Milwaukee County
6 members – City of Milwaukee
1 member – North Shore Suburbs
1 member – Southern Suburbs
2 members – Western Suburbs
Waukesha County
2 members – Waukesha County
3 members – Waukesha County municipalities
Ozaukee County
1 member – Ozaukee County
Washington County
1 member – Washington County
The 22 members of the Milwaukee TIP Committee include local technical staff and elected officials typically appointed by the community/county’s chief elected official (with respect to the five members representing Milwaukee County, four are appointed by the County Executive and one by the County Board Chairwoman and with respect to the six members representing the City of Milwaukee, five are appointed by the Mayor and one by the Common Council President). The Milwaukee TIP Committee includes representation from each of the five public transit operators within the Milwaukee urbanized area -- Milwaukee County, Waukesha County, City of Waukesha, Washington County, and Ozaukee County. The Committee also includes ex-officio or non-voting members from the Wisconsin Departments of Transportation and Natural Resources, the Federal Highway and Transit Administrations, and the Regional Planning Commission.
In addition to guiding the preparation and development of a recommended Milwaukee urbanized area Transportation Improvement Program, the Committee also establishes the selection of projects to be funded with Federal highway and transit funds specifically allotted to the Milwaukee urbanized area. This includes guiding the development of procedures to evaluate, prioritize, and recommend projects for Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Surface Transportation Program funding allocated to the Milwaukee urbanized area (including the allocation of these funds between highway and transit projects), reviewing and approving the allocation of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5307 Milwaukee urbanized area funds to the area’s five public transit operators, guiding the selection of projects to receive FHWA Transportation Alternatives Program funding, and along with the TIP Committees for the Region’s other urbanized areas, guiding the development of the procedures to evaluate, prioritize, and recommend projects for FHWA Congestion Mitigation and Air-Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) funding.
Following approval of the TIP by the Regional Planning Commission, the TIP must be sent to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) for review and approval. Upon WisDOT approval, the Region’s TIP is incorporated in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), and the STIP is sent by WisDOT to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway and Transit Administrations. The Region’s TIP must be approved by WisDOT and incorporated in the STIP before these Federal agencies can consider funding the projects in the Region’s TIP.