scholarly journals An Analysis of Public Attitude to be Involved in Long Range Transportation Planning Process

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 161-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shintaro TERABE ◽  
Tetsuo YAI ◽  
Kentaro SEKI
1998 ◽  
Vol 1617 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward A. Mierzejewski ◽  
Margaret A. Marshall

On behalf of the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization Advisory Council, the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) conducted a review of each of the state’s 25 metropolitan planning organization (MPO) long-range transportation plans and the state’s 2020 Florida Transportation Plan (FTP), to compare the policy directions of the documents and suggest areas for consideration and inclusion in future plan updates. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the issues and concerns facing MPOs in Florida, each of the state’s 25 MPO long-range transportation plans was reviewed, and telephone interviews were conducted with each of the MPO executive directors or designated staff members. Following the telephone interviews, the plans were reexamined to determine the extent to which the issues or problems stated in the interviews were described in the plans. CUTR identified the concerns common to the majority of metropolitan regions, including funding shortfalls, determination of innovative financing strategies, involvement of the public, maintenance of a mobility/livability balance, and air quality conformance. Many of the metropolitan regions also identified the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act’s planning factors, the consideration of alternative land use scenarios, differences in project selection criteria, and intergovernmental coordination as other areas of importance during plan development. The study offered suggestions to improve integration of the various MPO plans with the FTP, and to suggest improvements to the MPO long-range plans. Items for future consideration include placing greater emphasis on policy trade-offs and less reliance on transportation planning models; applying the principles of strategic planning to the transportation planning process; and incorporating a strong visioning process. Additional recommendations include incorporating current issues and problems into the long-range plans; streamlining the reporting of performance measures; standardizing when plans are updated, as well as how costs and revenues are reported; and reporting financial information by responsible agency and facility type.


Author(s):  
Leonard Voellinger ◽  
Claudia Oakes

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) requires the integration of environmental considerations into transportation planning. Although previous legislation has required the consideration of environmental elements during project planning, ISTEA necessitates a different approach. During project-specific planning, each environmental element is researched to determine baseline conditions, and project plans are superimposed to determine potential impacts and the need for mitigative measures. This approach is appropriate for project-specific planning, but it presents only a snapshot of existing conditions because environmental data are changing constantly. The integration of environmental considerations into long-range plans requires a much broader focus. It must allow dynamic systems to change without affecting the plan's validity. A case study is presented of the Oklahoma statewide intermodal transportation plan, which uses recent geographic theory to integrate planning and human activity at varying scales. This theoretical framework is based on ecological and societal units of interaction called bioregions or place-systems. The environmental baseline and analysis for Oklahoma begin with the identification of place-systems in the state: areas of biophysical and cultural similarity and context. The delimitation of such regional place-systems is sufficiently generalized and flexible to accommodate many data types and sources, yet rigid enough to be useful for planning. Both quantitative data and descriptive information are included in an analytical framework suitable to relational data bases and geographic information systems applications. These are used to create a series of map and data overlays to project potential environmental impacts and constraints, as well as opportunities for developing future transportation projects. The methods used to delineate regional place-systems in Oklahoma and their subsequent use in environmental analyses and planning are described.


Author(s):  
Eliot Benman ◽  
David Aimen

Federal Environmental Justice directives require transportation agencies responsible for planning and programming federal funds, including state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), to identify and address disproportionately high and adverse human health and environmental impacts on minority and low-income populations. Despite issuance of federal and state guidance and training programs, many MPOs nationwide continue to seek clarity on effective environmental justice (EJ) approaches and procedural considerations. The South Central Pennsylvania Unified EJ Process and Methodology study was a year-long effort undertaken by a consortium of MPOs in Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) District 8 to identify a unified and replicable approach to implementing EJ in transportation planning. PennDOT, Federal Highway Administration PA Division, and Federal Transit Administration Region III provided technical assistance and support to the effort. The consortium engaged a technical assistance consultant to facilitate a collaborative process to identify a process framework, a set of analytical methodologies, and effective strategies for advancing EJ in the regional transportation planning process. The study demonstrated a model for convening regional, state, and federal partners to reach consensus around an effective EJ process and methodology. This paper provides an overview of the study process, findings related to the concerns of the participating MPOs, and a brief description of the recommended analytical approaches. The paper discusses lessons learned during the course of the study and considers additional work required to further enhance the EJ process.


Author(s):  
Oana Deselnicu ◽  
Jason Wallis

Traditional methods used in transportation planning to identify bottlenecks and mobility issues, such as the Volume-to-Capacity Ratio and the Planning Time Index, have limited usefulness in identifying the exact location and extent of bottlenecks. Moreover, existing bottleneck identification tools flag all bottleneck types without distinction, despite the fact that strategies and resources used to address each type are different. This research first proposes a taxonomy of congestion to distinguish between different types of bottlenecks. It then describes a new methodology for identifying the location of recurring bottlenecks. Recurring bottleneck locations must experience a reduction in speed, an upstream accumulation of vehicles, and recurrence at the same location over three consecutive months. The methodology is currently used in long-term transportation planning and project selection in Colorado to identify and address the most severe bottleneck locations in the state.


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