The 2005 report Transportation Planning in Rural America: Emerging Models for Local Consultation, Regional Coordination and Rural Planning Organizations(PDF) builds on the Research Foundation’s ten prior years of studies into the emerging and evolving partnerships between state transportation agencies and regional development organizations with respect to facilitating and enhancing the involvement of rural local government officials in statewide planning, a process best described as the gateway for accessing federal surface transportation funds. This report was produced by the NADO Research Foundationunder a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration.