What Lehigh Valley Planning Commission does

The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) is a non-profit regional planning agency established in 1961 by Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania, headquartered at 615 Waterfront Drive in Allentown. LVPC serves all 62 municipalities in the two-county, 726-square-mile region covering more than 708,000 residents through integrated planning across land use, transportation, housing, and environmental domains. It also operates the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study (LVTS), the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization with exclusive authority over regional transportation planning and federal fund allocation, administering a $548 million four-year Transportation Improvement Program and a $2.7 billion fiscally constrained long-range transportation plan.

The commission's core products include FutureLV (the regional comprehensive plan), the Transportation Improvement Program, BuildLV monthly subdivision and land development activity reports, the Housing Supply and Attainability Strategy, the PlanLV online submission portal, and the Lehigh Valley Government Academy training program. Underlying technology is centered on Geographic Information Systems, ArcGIS Story Maps, interactive web-based dashboards (Housing Attainability Dashboard, Interactive TIP Map), and Microsoft Teams for hybrid public meetings. The organization maintains a 25-person professional staff including specialized roles such as an AI Engineer and Innovation Planner, Senior Data and Analytics Planner, and GIS Planner, plus a 37-member appointed Commission.

LVPC is funded primarily through annual appropriations from Lehigh and Northampton counties supplemented by federal transportation planning funds via MPO designation; core planning services to municipalities are provided free of charge. Limited fee revenue is generated through the Government Academy training program (e.g., $130 per zoning administration course). The commission is governed by 37 appointed commissioners and has no parent company, subsidiaries, or outside equity investors.

Name

Lehigh Valley Planning Commission

Legal name

Lehigh Valley Planning Commission

Website

https://lvpc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lehigh Valley Planning Commission is a non-profit regional planning agency serving 62 municipalities across Lehigh and Northampton counties in Pennsylvania, providing land use, transportation, housing, and environmental planning under a federally designated MPO authority.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Planning Services

NAICS

Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (925120), Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (925)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Urban & Regional Planning (Land Use, Zoning, Master Planning) (BPAIANAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Transportation & Infrastructure Planning (BPAHAKAF), State/Provincial Housing, Urban/Regional Planning & Community Development (BPAIABAM)

Keywords

• Regional planning services
• Transportation planning
• Land use planning
• Comprehensive planning
• Municipal planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Allentown

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Funded by Lehigh and Northampton counties through annual budgets. Operates as a bi-county planning commission established in 1961. Revenue comes from county government allocations and federal transportation planning funds through the Metropolitan Planning Organization designation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission is a regional planning agency that provides comprehensive planning, transportation planning, and land use analysis for the two-county Lehigh Valley region. It serves as the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) coordinating federally funded transportation planning across Lehigh and Northampton counties and their 62 municipalities.

Product overview

The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission provides a suite of planning services, programs, and reports for the Lehigh Valley region covering Lehigh and Northampton counties. The core offerings include FutureLV: The Regional Plan (the comprehensive bi-county plan), the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for infrastructure planning, the BuildLV subdivision and land development reporting service, and the Housing Supply and Attainability Strategy. Supporting services include employment and population projections, GIS mapping, transportation planning, and the Lehigh Valley Government Academy education program. The organization also maintains the PlanLV Portal for digital plan submissions. These offerings work together to coordinate regional planning across 62 municipalities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LVPC: Abbreviated name used for Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
• LVTS
• BuildLV
• FutureLV
• LVGA
• NewsLV
• Walk/Roll LV
• PlanLV Portal

Products and services

• Comprehensive Regional Planning
• Metropolitan Transportation Planning

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 100,000 people expected to be added to the region by 2050
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• WSP (Consultant)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2024PennDOT-commissioned consultant WSP released the Lehigh Valley Passenger Rail Analysis on March 27, 2024, during a special informational meeting of the LVTS Technical and Coordinating Committees.
• Eastern Pennsylvania Freight Alliance (EPFA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Multi-regional coalition including Lehigh Valley, Northeast Pennsylvania, Lackawanna-Luzerne, Berks County, and Lebanon County areas covering 10 counties and 400 municipalities. Created to develop a new freight infrastructure plan, with plan adopted December 18, 2024.
• Urban Land Institute (ULI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Urban Land Institute for the Lehigh Valley Housing Supply and Attainability Strategy. ULI provides technical assistance panels and expertise for housing strategy development, collaborating with LVPC and Lehigh County to address the region's 9,000-unit housing shortage.
• Lehigh CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLehigh County is a key partner in the Housing Supply and Attainability Strategy, working with LVPC and ULI to develop achievable ways of increasing housing supply in the region.
• Northampton CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorthampton County partners with LVPC on housing strategy and regional planning initiatives to address housing attainability across the Lehigh Valley.
• Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPennDOT partners with LVPC through the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study (LVTS) Metropolitan Planning Organization. PennDOT District 5 and Central Office participate in LVTS committees for transportation planning and project selection.
• Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLANTA is a key partner in transportation planning, participating in LVTS committees and coordinating public transit planning with regional transportation improvement programs.
• Lehigh-Northampton Airport AuthorityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipates in LVTS Technical and Coordinating Committees, contributing to airport access and regional transportation planning coordination.
• PennDOT Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLVPC partners with PennDOT LTAP to provide free training opportunities to municipalities on transportation technology, maintenance, and safety methods. LVTS is one of 58 LTAP centers across the nation.
• Coalition for Appropriate Transportation (CAT)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerActive transportation partner receiving TASA funding for bicycle safety and maintenance education for 4,000 students K-8 across the Lehigh Valley.
• Community Bike WorksminorGTM or Marketing PartnerActive transportation partner providing community programs teaching life lessons through bicycles. Received TASA funding for programs at locations in Allentown and Easton.

Scale indicators9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lancaster County Planning Commission: Lancaster County's planning commission providing land use, transportation, and environmental planning to 60 municipalities. Comparable in regional scale, MPO-adjacent function, and small professional staff model for serving multiple boroughs and townships.
• Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC): MPO and regional planning commission for the 10-county southwestern Pennsylvania region around Pittsburgh. Comparable to LVPC in performing combined MPO transportation programming and regional comprehensive planning duties for a multi-county area.
• Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC): Federally designated MPO for the greater Philadelphia region serving 9 counties across PA and NJ. Directly comparable to LVPC as a bi-state/multi-county MPO that performs regional planning, TIP programming, and subdivision/land development coordination on a larger scale.
• Tri-County Regional Planning Commission: Regional planning commission for Dauphin, Cumberland, and Perry counties in central PA. Comparable in mandate and scope to LVPC: land use, transportation, housing, and environmental planning across multiple counties and dozens of municipalities.
• Chester County Planning Commission: County-level planning commission for Chester County, PA, providing comprehensive planning, subdivision review, and transportation planning to 73 municipalities. Comparable municipal-coverage scale to LVPC's 62 municipalities with similar technical assistance and training programs.
• Berks County Planning Commission: County-level planning commission providing planning, subdivision, and transportation coordination services to municipalities in Berks County, PA. A direct functional peer to LVPC's land use and transportation planning work for similarly-sized PA communities.

Others

• Urban Land Institute (ULI): Not a competing planning commission but a strategic partner of LVPC on the Housing Supply and Attainability Strategy; comparable as a knowledge partner and housing-strategy convener that informs LVPC's planning output.
• WSP: Engineering consulting firm contracted by PennDOT for the Lehigh Valley Passenger Rail Analysis. Comparable as an external technical consultant whose outputs inform LVPC's regional planning work, rather than a direct competitor.

Regional players

• Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance (NEPA): Multi-county regional planning and economic development organization serving 7 counties in northeastern PA. Comparable as a coalition-style regional partner within the Eastern PA Freight Alliance and a counterpart in cross-county coordination.
• Lackawanna-Luzerne Transportation Study (LLTS): Metropolitan Planning Organization serving Lackawanna and Luzerne counties in northeastern PA. Comparable as a peer MPO inside the same Eastern PA Freight Alliance coalition as LVPC, with similar rural-urban mix and freight/active transportation programs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LVplanning
• Facebookfacebook.com/LVPCommish
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lehigh-valley-planning-commission

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lehigh Valley Planning Commission