The Anderson Area Transportation Study (ANATS) is a Federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). MPO’s come about when the Census Bureau designates a list of Urbanized Areas (UZAs). Federal law requires every UZA (over 50,000 in population) to be represented by a MPO to carry out transportation planning and allocate federal funds. MPOs develop Study Areas from the census defined UZAs. These study areas represent the area surrounding the UZA projected to be urban in 20 years. All MPO federal funds are spent within the Study Area.
All MPO funding comes directly from the federal transportation bill (currently FAST Act) and is funneled through the SCDOT. Guide share funds are distributed to MPOs to complete projects which improve the transportation system within the designated study area. The funding is allocated through the SCDOT based on a formula and distributed on an annual basis.
Currently, ANATS has 9 active projects with over $12 million allocated for their completion. In addition, there are plans in place to improve our transportation network by spending roughly $50 million over the next 20 years. These guide share funds are earmarked for 26 additional intersection improvements.
Link to the Anderson Area Transportation Study (ANATS) Page