French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization

The French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization (FBRMPO) is a partnership between local and state government that makes decisions about transportation planning in urbanized areas and meets planning requirements established by federal authorizing legislation for transportation funding. In addition, FBRMPO is required to prepare long range transportation plans for the planning area with a minimum 20-year horizon. Additional tasks include developing an annual planning work program and assistance in prioritization of projects to be included in the State Transportation Improvement Program (NCDOT’s funding for a 10-year period). FBRMPO was created in 1962 as the region centered around Asheville continued to experience growth and reached a population density threshold of 50,000 which constitutes the federally-mandated creation of a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). The MPO currently serves over 414,000 people across 21 municipalities.