Federal law and regulations require that local and State officials work cooperatively to maintain a continuous and comprehensive long-range transportation planning program in all urbanized areas with a population of over 50,000 persons, which includes Centre County, Pennsylvania.  This Federal mandate is carried out by a formal group called a "metropolitan planning organization (MPO)".

The Centre County MPO evolved from two predecessor organizations:  1) Centre Region Area Transportation Study (CRATS), which was responsible for conducting long-range transportation planning in the State College, Pennsylvania area in the 1970s;  and 2) Centre Region MPO, which was formed in 1982 and succeeded CRATS as the entity responsible for coordinating transportation planning efforts.  In November 2003, the Centre Region MPO Coordinating Committee approved the expansion of the MPO to a countywide organization.  Effective in January 2004, the Centre County MPO assumed responsibility for coordinating transportation planning efforts in all of Centre County, Pennsylvania.

In the past, the MPO worked closely on transportation issues with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), the Centre County Planning Commission (CCPC), the Centre County Planning Office (CCPO), and SEDA-COG, a multi-county regional economic development organization headquartered in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.  In the future, the expanded CCMPO will continue to work with these organizations to identify and prioritize transportation improvement projects in Centre County.