Southern California Association of Governments

The Southern California Association of Governments, also known as SCAG, is an association of various Southern California local governments and agencies, which serves as the region's metropolitan and transportation planning agency. SCAG is the nation's largest metropolitan planning organization and represents six counties, 191 cities, and over 18 million residents. SCAG's stated mission is to "foster innovative regional solutions that improve the lives of Southern Californians through inclusive collaboration, visionary planning, regional advocacy, information sharing, and promoting best practices," and its vision statement is to be "Southern California's catalyst for a brighter future." SCAG was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, with regional offices in Imperial County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and Ventura County.

The Southern California Association of Governments is governed by the eighty-six-member Regional Council, which is composed of a representative from each of the sixty-seven regional districts with approximately equal population levels and one representative from each county Board of Supervisors, in addition to one representative of the Southern California Native American Tribal Governments, all members of the Los Angeles City Council, and the mayor of the City of Los Angeles, who serves as the Los Angeles City At-Large Representative. Each of the regional council members have a voting seat on one of SCAG’s three major policy committees: Community, Economic and Human Development Committee, Energy and Environment Committee, or Transportation Committee. The Regional Council is supported by the the Executive/Administration Committee, which addresses matters pertaining to human resources, budgets, finance, operations, and communications.

At least once a year, usually in April or May, SCAG convenes the General Assembly of its members, a forum where policy matters are identified and addressed and the agency's course for the coming year is set. SCAG makes policy decisions regarding transportation and municipal planning and undertakes a variety of planning and policy initiatives to encourage a more sustainable Southern California.

SCAG's programs and projects focus on economy and finance, federal and state compliance, housing, sustainability, and transportation. In 2020, SCAG launched its 2020-2045 regional transportation plan and sustainable communities strategy, Connect SoCal, a plan for over 4,000 transportation projects to meet future mobility and housing needs, balanced with economic, environmental, and public health goals. SCAG provides public services, including earthquake preparedness; Go Human, a biking and walking safety outreach program; the Sustainable Communities Program; Toolbox Tuesday, which provides free professional online training to local government employees; 100 Hours, a campaign to reduce traffic congestion; and the Government to University Initiative.