Regional Coordination

Written by Walker Kahn, Gianmarco Katz, Griffin Beronio, Max Prestigiacomo, & Gabriel Kahan

What's the Problem?

More than ever, we need to think and act regionally. Critical issues like climate change and the declining standard of living cannot be solved by individual communities, while economic, transit, and energy policy are more effectively implemented by working across municipal boundaries. The overwhelming lesson is that lasting social change can only come from working together effectively.

Some collaboration can be accomplished through bilateral agreements between local governments, while others might take shape as regional organizations pursuing shared goals. No matter how intergovernmental coordination is organized, these efforts should promote equitable development across municipalities by sharing information, facilities, operational costs, and revenues.

What are People Currently Doing? 

Councils of Governments (CoGs) are voluntary associations that help local governments coordinate, negotiate, and implement regional policies. CoGs may collect revenue from their members to fund regional projects or receive grant funding from state or Federal governments. Northern Arizona’s CoG created a regional economic development plan to address issues like workforce development and natural resource management in 30 municipalities. The Triangle J CoG in North Carolina created an Environment and Resilience Department to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution in the region. A report by the Center for Neighborhood Technology provides tools for communities building regional energy efficiency and retrofitting programs.

Shared service agreements allow municipalities to save money by consolidating services while increasing their quality. Pasquotank County and Elizabeth City, NC merged their Parks & Recreation departments in 2010 to save money and improve service. The City of Madison uses shared service agreements with other local governments, universities, and private companies to extend bus service across municipal boundaries. The IBM Center for the Business of Government has a helpful guide to these agreements. Mutual Aid Agreements (MAAs) are used in emergencies to allow one jurisdiction to administer services on behalf of another. See the National League of Cities’ Model MAA for an instructive example.

Data-sharing agreements are an efficient tool for enabling collaborative policymaking. The North Central Texas CoG improved road safety and efficiency by migrating local work zone data onto a shared software platform. In 2015, Camden, NJ improved resource allocation through public and private data-sharing agreements to aggregate criminal justice, healthcare, and housing data. This Delaware Valley Regional Commission guide to shared service agreements includes additional practices for effective data sharing.

At its core, organizing regional coordination requires the following steps: designating staff, analyzing feasibility and stakeholders, surveying to assess needs, identifying strengths in prospective partners, piloting programs, and organizing meetings that include staff with technical expertise. For steps tailored to specific projects, there are a variety of checklists available for initiatives like transit-oriented coordination, shared service agreements, and workforce development.

Transit systems are uniquely positioned to benefit from collaboration between municipalities, with such efforts leading to improved accessibility, expanded service, and lowered costs. Shared operating standards make ridership more affordable while improving operational efficiency. The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council identifies regional coordination as an opportunity to improve transit accessibility for seniors and individuals with disabilities across Downstate New York. This plan creates a centralized transit information system, coordinates transfer policies between paratransit providers, and increases travel options for communities with limited connections. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s regional transportation plan for Northeastern Illinois unifies fare payment methods, provides free or discounted interagency transfers, and facilitates complementary modes of travel like bikeshare. For automobile transit, planning organizations can establish Regional Traffic Signal Operations Programs (RTSOPs) that coordinate signal timing to reduce travel times.

Transit expansion projects require collaboration for effective planning, financing, and development. The Boston Region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) coordinates between municipalities, transportation authorities, and regional planning councils through its Long Range Transportation Plan. MPO members have agreed to develop complete streets, improve intersections, coordinate bicycle and pedestrian networks, and collaboratively fund projects. The Montgomery County Department of Transportation collaborated with Washington D.C. Metro Area Transit Authority to expand its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), cutting regional commute times by 30%. The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission partnered with Arlington and Fairfax counties to begin developing a regional BRT network.  

Regional cooperation can also enhance utility services and improve sustainability through natural resource coordination. Members of the Pierce County, WA Water Utility Coordinating Committee (which includes both municipalities and water service providers) updated their Coordinated Water System Plan to address changing demand, identify new transmission strategies, and improve system integration. The Global Water Partnership’s handbook features best practices for local and regional integrated water resource management.

Finally, coordinating energy infrastructure makes systems more efficient and improves sustainability. The North Central Texas Council of Governments’ Strategic Plan for 2021-2025 supports collaboration to improve energy management and planning by prioritizing renewable energy development, improving building performance, and advancing climate resiliency. Communities in Dane County have developed a collaborative energy planning process that establishes baseline energy use profiles for municipal operations, identifies opportunities to improve efficiency, and design energy strategies for individual municipalities. This plan helped transition all municipal facilities to 100% renewable energy. One useful partner in coordinating solar energy policy is SolSmart, which provides technical assistance to municipalities, counties, and regional organizations to develop and expand solar energy projects.

Taking it to the Next Level

Regional coordination can make workforce development programs more effective, but successful efforts require both the inclusion and the leadership of the business, specifically from business leaders and organizations that can represent entire regions or industry sectors. In the absence of this large-scale coordination, problems consistently arise. For example, traditional workforce development boards often prioritize eliminating first-level barriers to employment (such as childcare) and usually partner with a small number of employers that are structured to take advantage of a steady supply of subsidized disposable labor, and do not invest in employee training or lasting job creation. Similarly, American employers are desperate for skilled labor, but individual employers are often reluctant to pay for training because they fear upskilled employees will be poached by competitors.

To overcome these barriers, workforce development programs should be organized to establish priorities and goals across entire sectors and regions. While unions and other organizations are critical partners, successful collaborations must address the demand side of the labor market, and extant practices of training, hiring, retaining, and promoting workers. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s report on regional and sectorial workforce development partnerships is a touchstone resource for structuring these public-private collaborations, including step-by-step strategies and case studies. Once these partnerships are developed, they can be adapted to expand the human capital pipeline and make high-quality career opportunities more available to women and people of color. 

Helpers, Allies, and Other Useful Organizations

• The Center for Cities & Schools (CC&S) at the University of California-Berkeley engages in action-oriented research focused on the challenges and promise of regional cooperation on housing, planning, education, and other policy areas.
• The National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) serves as the national voice for regional coordination organizations and advocates for effective policies to address a variety of community planning and development issues.
• SolSmart is a federally funded, no-cost technical assistance team that helps local governments and regional organizations accelerate the growth of clean and affordable solar energy.