The Planning Division has a 65-member staff that provides the Legislature, MDOT and the Federal Highway Administration with information to support program planning and decisions. The fundamental functions required to provide this support include:

• The Long Range Plan – The Mississippi Unified Long-Range Transportation Improvement Plan (MULTIPLAN) provides the framework for Mississippi’s transportation program. This is a 20+ year outlook.
• The Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) which is a listing of the projects to be accomplished during the next six years.
• The Traffic Monitoring System for Highways (TMS/H) includes the collection and analysis of all traffic data including traffic counts, vehicle classification counts, truck weight surveys, turning movement counts, speed surveys, and occupancy surveys.
• The Roadway Inventory Section collects geometric and feature information used in planning and statistical analyses.
• The Geographic Information Systems/Mapping Section generates maps and analyses based on existing planning data sets.
• A Federal Functional Classification System is used to distinguish highways according to the character of service provided by the facility.
• Several Special Programs and Studies are administered including Urbanized Area support (places larger than 50,000), Federal Aid to all Urban areas (places above 5,000), Transit Planning grants, Transportation Enhancement program, Environmental Noise studies, Intermodal Connector Improvement Program, Great River Road Transportation Committee, etc.
• Specialized Reports and Feasibility Studies prepared for decision makers include activities such as the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS), Statistical reports on state, city and county highway finance, and analyses of interchanges and highway improvements.
• Highway Statistical Reports include a series of reporting forms to account for motor-fuel consumption; motor-vehicle registrations; driver licensing; motor-carrier taxation; and the source, distribution, and expenditures of funds for highways.

Jeff Pierce, State Planning Engineer Administration Building, 7th Floor Phone: 601-359-7685 Fax: 601-359-7652