The Long-Range Transportation Plan is the product of one of the most comprehensive statewide planning efforts undertaken by the Missouri Department of Transportation. It builds upon past plans and needs studies and breaks new ground for MoDOT. It examines transportation needs and sets the direction for making transportation investments for all modes of transportation, not just highways. Many factors led to MoDOT developing the Long-Range Transportation Plan. The department already had several documents that addressed transportation needs and specific projects. It needed a document that would look at the total system, lay a new planning foundation, incorporate information from previous needs studies and plans and give the department one clear direction to set the course for all modes of transportation. The Long-Range Transportation Plan provides Missourians with a comprehensive picture of the state's transportation needs. It is not a list of specific improvement projects. Instead, it is a needs-based planning process that combines responsible engineering principles and information about the state's transportation system with information gathered by the most extensive statewide public involvement effort MoDOT has ever sponsored. The product is the result of a technically sound process that considers Missourians' needs and expectations of the state's transportation system. While it establishes a 20-year horizon, the Long-Range Transportation Plan is a dynamic, changeable document that can be revised to accommodate changing circumstances. For example, since MoDOT started developing it in 1999, needs that were not anticipated in the original studies, including interstate highway and major bridge needs, have become more pressing and more costly. The ability to react to these and similar needs are critical to the success of the department. The Long-Range Transportation Direction will be re-examined and revised periodically as needs and conditions change. The Long-Range Transportation Plan is the over-arching document under which MoDOT's plans take shape. It sets the tone for developing and implementing MoDOT's strategic and business plans, and the 5-year Statewide Transportation Improvement Program. In addition to assessing the state's highway and bridge system, the Long-Range Transportation Plan includes an assessment of aviation, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, freight rail, passenger rail and bus service between cities, public transportation and ports. Each of these modes has needs, which must be addressed.