# Urban Institute Urges Coordinated Transportation Planning

The Urban Institute recommends that Congress make housing and land-use coordination a required, funded component of metropolitan planning and federal surface-transportation investment during the next transportation reauthorization. The proposal is not an enacted requirement and identifies no active solicitation, award, contract value, or procurement deadline; if adopted, it could affect planning, transit, land acquisition, and project-approval work for the U.S. Department of Transportation and metropolitan planning organizations.

- Transportation and planning contractors may need to account for closer integration of housing, land use, and surface-transportation investments if Congress adopts the recommendation.
- Firms serving metropolitan planning organizations could assess their capabilities in integrated regional planning, transit, land acquisition, and project approvals; the signal identifies no current procurement to pursue.
- The proposal would make coordination a funded component of planning and investment, potentially influencing how future federal transportation resources are planned and delivered.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Transportation, Construction & Infrastructure
**Topics:** Physical Infrastructure
**Published:** October 28, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)
- Congress
- Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs)
- Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC)
- Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization (Broward MPO)

### Sources
- [To Maximize Federal Transportation Spending, It Should Be Coordinated with Housing Policy | Urban Institute](https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/maximize-federal-transportation-spending-it-should-be-coordinated-housing-policy) - Urban Institute