Metro, formerly known as Metropolitan Service District, is the regional governmental agency for the Oregon portion of the Portland metropolitan area. It is the only directly-elected metropolitan planning organization in the United States, and performs the following functions:

• It provides land use planning and is responsible for maintaining the Portland-area urban growth boundary, a legal boundary which separates urban from rural land, and is designed to reduce urban sprawl. It coordinates with the cities and counties in the area to ensure a 20-year-supply of developable land.

• It is the metropolitan planning organization for the area, responsible for the planning of the region's transportation system, though TriMet operates most of the region's buses and the MAX Light Rail system.

• It manages several park facilities, including Blue Lake and Oxbow Regional Parks, Howell Territorial Park, Glendoveer golf course, the Sauvie Island and Gleason Memorial Boat Ramps, Chinook Landing Marine Park, the Smith and Bybee Lakes Wildlife Area, Beggars-tick Wildlife Refuge, and fourteen "pioneer" cemeteries in Multnomah County, including Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery and Lone Fir Cemetery.

• It is responsible for maintaining a closed landfill called St. Johns Landfill, and owns and operates two garbage, hazardous waste and recycling transfer stations.

• It owns and operates the Oregon Convention Center, Oregon Zoo, Portland Center for Performing Arts, and Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center.

• It is responsible for planning for regional fish and wildlife habitat protection.

• It is responsible for the region's Geographic Information System (GIS) and maintains the Regional Land Information System (RLIS).

Metro in its current form was created through the combination of the Columbia Region Association of Governments (CRAG) and a predecessor Metropolitan Service District (MSD) in a statewide referendum in May 1978. It went into operation on January 1, 1979. In 1992 voters approved a home-rule charter that identified Metro's primary mission as planning and policy making to preserve and enhance the quality of life and the environment, and changed the agency's name to Metro. This charter was amended in November 2000 when Ballot Measure 26-10 was passed by voters. The measure eliminated the Executive Officer and reorganized Executive staff.

Metro is governed by a council president (David Bragdon) elected region-wide and six commissioners who are elected by district (Rod Park, District 1; Brian Newman, District 2; Carl Hosticka, District 3; Kathryn Harrington, District 4; Rex Burkholder, District 5; and Robert Liberty, District 6). Metro also has an auditor - currently Suzanne Flynn - who is elected region-wide. Each serves a four-year term. The council appoints a chief operating officer and an attorney.