The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (also known as Metro (branding), MTA or LACMTA) is the California state-chartered regional transportation planning agency (RTPA) and public transportation operating agency for the County of Los Angeles formed in 1993 out of a merger of the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission. The agency develops and oversees transportation plans, policies, funding programs, and both short-term and long-range solutions that address the county's increasing mobility, accessibility and environmental needs. The agency is the primary transit provider for the City of Los Angeles providing the bulk of such services while the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) operates a much smaller system of its own Commuter Express bus service to outlying suburbs in the city of Los Angeles and the popular DASH (Downtown Area Short Hop) mini-bus service in downtown and other neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles. The MTA has its headquarters in central Los Angeles.