About Houston-Galveston Area Council

H-GAC is the federally designated metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the 8-county Houston-Galveston metropolitan region. The H-GAC Metropolitan Planning Area (MPA) is comprised of Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller Counties. This area of approximately 8,800 square miles – slightly larger than the State of New Jersey (Map 1). The MPO is a federally funded transportation policy making organization made up of representatives from local government and state transportation authorities. As MPO, H-GAC coordinates the transportation planning activities and decides how federal transportation dollars are spent within the 8-county region.