Regional planners say they need your input to help guide future transportation needs in North Texas.

It comes as two long-term projects are underway that could lay the groundwork for how cities and the region plan for their transit needs in the decades to come.

While leaders in many cities grapple with current concerns like limiting property tax revenue, how to grow businesses and improving public safety, there is one agency with a longer-term vision.

Michael Morris leads the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG).

“We’re the crazy uncle or aunt who has to say, ‘Wait a minute, you have to go to school and you have to get an education,’” Morris said.

NCTCOG not only manages long-range regional planning, but also provides cities with guidance on how to prepare for increased growth in a region already the fourth largest in the United States with more than 8 million residents.

The region is expected to have nearly 12 million residents over the next two decades.

Monday, NCTCOG held a public meetingin person and online, to receive comments and contributions on two initiatives.

A, Mobility 2050aims to prioritize what is called multimodal transportation, to think about more public transportation options for bicycles and pedestrians.

The other initiative will provide guidance to existing transit agencies like DART and TRE, as well as city leaders on how to collaborate for growth planners who know what’s ahead.

Transit 2.0 should be released next spring.

“We’re going to 12 and a half million people. A larger portion of them are not within existing transportation authority boundaries,” Morris said. “What are we going to do about it?”

“Having independent consultants with international experience is a very timely solution that could help us. »