How does the Planning Assistance for Rural Areas Program work?
The ADOT Planning Assistance for Rural Areas (PARA) Program is administered through ADOT-MPD. The primary objective of the PARA Program is to develop a comprehensive transportation plan for a proposed local area or region to guide multi-modal transportation planning and programming for a 20-year timeframe. Through its planning process, a PARA will generally identify and address current transportation problems for all travel modes, determine future transportation system needs, and analyze alternative solutions. In addition, the study will develop a recommended plan of transportation improvements and provide a staged implementation guide to meet short-, mid-, and long-range needs. Eligible participants in the Program include towns, cities, counties and tribal governments, which in coordination with ADOT, administer the PARA and conduct it in cooperation with a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). Depending on the area to be studied, a TAC could be comprised of representatives from local t
