Innovations in Long-Range Transportation Planning: Observations and Suggestions

2003 ◽  
Vol 1858 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Kramer ◽  
Edward A. Mierzejewski
Keyword(s):  
Long Range ◽  
Transportation Planning ◽  
Urban Transportation ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Technical Approach ◽  
Metropolitan Planning Organizations ◽  
Metropolitan Planning ◽  
Planning Organizations ◽  
Transportation Research ◽  
Innovation And Change

In 1997, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issues and concerns facing metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in Florida, the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) thoroughly reviewed the long-range transportation plans of each of the state’s 25 MPOs. The study made some substantial recommendations about technical approach and structure for improvements to MPO long-range plans. In 2002, CUTR again reviewed the state’s 25 MPO long-range transportation plans, following completion of the subsequent update cycle. The recent updates of Florida’s 25 MPO long-range plans are compared with the versions completed 3 to 5 years earlier. There has been much innovation and change in long-range transportation-planning practice across the state. These findings will be of interest to MPOs nationwide.

Review of Long-Range Transportation Plans of Florida’s Metropolitan Planning Organizations

1998 ◽  
Vol 1617 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward A. Mierzejewski ◽  
Margaret A. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Long Range ◽  
Transportation Planning ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Advisory Council ◽  
Metropolitan Regions ◽  
Telephone Interviews ◽  
Metropolitan Planning ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Planning Models ◽  
Transportation Research

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.

Financially Constraining Washington's Transportation Plan

1996 ◽  
Vol 1518 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-41
Author(s):  
Brian Ziegler ◽  
Eric Meale
Keyword(s):  
Long Range ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Metropolitan Planning Organizations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Revenue Sources ◽  
Metropolitan Planning ◽  
Surface Transportation ◽  
Historical Pattern ◽  
Planning Organizations ◽  
Transportation Plan

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) requires states and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to develop long-range transportation plans. These plans must be financially realistic and be based on available revenues. In the past, states and MPOs have not forecast transportation revenues beyond 6 years. The ISTEA requirements prompt the need for new approaches to forecasting revenue. An approach adopted by Washington State in developing its financially constrained 20-year plan for state highways is presented. The methodology predicts a revenue stream based on no changes in revenue sources or levels (called current law). The methodology also forecasts a revenue stream assuming a historical pattern of transportation revenue increases. In Washington State, the current law forecast will fund about one-third of the 20-year needs on state highways. The historical trend forecast will fund about two-thirds of these needs.

scholarly journals An Item Response Theory Model of Inter-Regional Collaboration for Transportation Planning in the United States

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 947
Author(s):  
Soyoung Kim ◽  
Woo-Je Kim ◽  
Richard Clark Feiock
Keyword(s):  
Item Response Theory ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Item Response ◽  
Transportation Planning ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Metropolitan Planning Organizations ◽  
Regional Collaboration ◽  
Metropolitan Planning ◽  
Planning Organizations ◽  
Regional Problems

Regional governments and regional intergovernmental organizations play an increasingly important role in land use and transportation planning in many countries. In the U.S., regional organizations such as metropolitan planning organizations provide regional forums and institutions to coordinate actions of local government necessary to overcome collective action problems that result from the fragmentation of local authority. Their regional scope allows them to directly address collaboration problems or broker collaborative arrangements among local governments within their boundaries. Nevertheless, the scale of regional problems often extends beyond the boundaries of these regional entities. Thus, collaboration across regional governance organizations is necessary to address problems that have multi-regional impacts, such as large transportation projects. Extant research generally measures regional collaboration based on counts of collaboration actions undertaken, but this does not account for the fact that some are symbolic, while others require resources and commitment. Drawing insights from the institutional collective action framework, we advance an explanation for how regional organizations overcome collaboration risks to participate in collaborative solutions to regional and multi-regional problems. The analysis employs a unique national survey of metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and adds a novel application of item response theory (IRT) to capture differences in risk or difficulty among collaborative actions. The IRT results offer support for our ICA-based explanation of collaboration commitments. The implications of the findings for theory development and empirical study of RIGOs are discussed in conclusion.

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