The TIP is developed annually by the SRPEDD Transportation Planning staff, acting as staff to the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for southeastern Massachusetts in consultation with federal, state and local officials, adjacent MPO’s, the state of Rhode Island, transit authorities and the public. Regional priorities for projects are established by the Joint Transportation Planning Group (JTPG), which acts as the transportation policy advisory group to the MPO, and is a forum for public participation for transportation planning in the region.

Development of the TIP constitutes the selection of projects to be included in the five- year programming element of the TIP. The SMMPO staff identifies potential projects for inclusion based on readiness from both the existing out year projects and the Supplemental Project List.

Once potential projects are identified, the SMMPO's staff contacts each project proponent to obtain a project schedule, which is required for programming in the SMMPO TIP, and specific detailed information (relevant to the scope of work) to assist in the prioritization process. Projects are then evaluated through the SMMPO's Evaluation Criteria, which scores the project based on regionally prioritized criterias and takes into consideration their impact on meeting performance targets.