The purpose of the UPWP is to identify the transportation planning activities proposed by the cooperative partners involved in the metropolitan transportation planning process and the source of funds proposed to pay for these activities.  The transportation planning process provides a forum for deciding how to improve the regional transportation system and how to allocate federal transportation funds to pay for those improvements.  Certain transportation planning products (Metropolitan Transportation Plan, Transportation Improvement Program, Unified Planning Work Program, and the Public Participation Plan) need to be reviewed and adopted on a periodic basis.  The UPWP provides the framework for ensuring that these required documents are produced in a timely fashion.