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Page 94
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D - Focus Group Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2007. Best Practices to Enhance the Transportation-Land Use Connection in the Rural United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23149.
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Page 94
Page 95
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D - Focus Group Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2007. Best Practices to Enhance the Transportation-Land Use Connection in the Rural United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23149.
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Page 95

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94 A P P E N D I X D NCHRP Project 08-52, “Best Practices to Enhance the Transportation-Land Use Connection in Rural America,” highlighted transportation investments and programs that support successful community development and land use strategies that maximize transportation capacity and com- munity livability. The project also examined how the goals of rural communities and transportation agencies may conflict or support one another. A series of five focus groups was conducted between August 2005 and April 2006 to enhance the research team’s understanding of critical issues and successful strategies among rural communities across the country. Three groups targeted rural community representatives, one group in- cluded state DOT representatives, and one group was made up of Native American tribal communities. A teleconference option with a toll-free phone line encouraged a rich diversity of participants. Critical challenges cited by focus group participants included failing rural roadways and transit systems, access for increasing numbers of senior citizens and long-distance com- muters, and the decline of rural economic generators such as farming, timbering, and mining. Strategies included regional planning, corridor access management, growth management policies, Intelligent Transportation Systems, and demand- response transit services. Keys to success focused on effective coordination and sharing of resources between state, district, and local entities in infrastructure and land use planning. Regional visioning, long-term thinking, and support of community values were important. The most successful factor was the presence of local champions who fostered shared ownership and long- lasting relationships. The following topics were explored during each discussion: 1. What are the one or two critical challenges facing rural communities today? 2. Please share some observations and examples of trans- portation investments and strategies that can help commu- nities address these challenges and achieve healthy growth. 3. What kinds of land use policies and strategies do you know about that can address the challenges and optimize transportation systems? 4. In general, what would you say are the keys to success among rural communities that have developed integrated planning approaches? 5. Provide any other observations, insights, or advice you would like to share with us. Issues most often cited included the following: • Deteriorating infrastructure; traffic congestion and truck traffic stressing rural roads; • Lack of support/resources for pedestrian infrastructure; • Out-migration of young people; • Accommodating the needs of aging populations; • Lack of dedicated funding source for transit, accessing fed- eral rural transit money (difficult to raise 20–50 percent local or tribal match); • Difficulty providing transit service across vast territories with low residential densities; • Impacts of rising fuel and construction costs; • State highways doubling as Main Streets; • Declining communities bypassed by the interstate highway system; • Decreases in freight rail access to national and short-line systems; • Water resources (western US); • Housing affordability; • Lack of local planning capacity; • Lack of local champions; • Shift from industry- and natural resource-based to tourism- based economies; Focus Group Summary

95 • Loss of active farmland/pressure on farmers to sell to developers; • Growth of “mega” farms, especially in the Midwest, which have higher transportation impacts (freight); • Increased dependence on low-paying service jobs located far from the reservation; • Complex mix of roadway owners within a region—tribal, local, state, federal, and private; • Lack of in-depth, comprehensive, regional planning and growth management; and • Inconsistent priorities among localities, tribes, MPOs, and RPOs. Commonly cited strategies included the following: • Shared funding and public-private projects; • Corridor plans, Environmental Impact Statements, and Integrated Resource Management Plans as vehicles for cooperative, integrated planning; • Access management planning and agreements; • Scenario planning and visioning; • Rural consultation process: one-on-one dialogue between state DOTs and local governments; • “Fix-it-first” policies at state level, focusing investments in existing roadway capacity; • Allocating state transportation project funds according to regionally developed priorities; • Increasing density, building Traditional Neighborhood Developments; • Setting urban growth boundaries, utility service bound- aries, and annexation policies; • State policies and financial “carrots & sticks” to support growth management; • Assessing property owners for infrastructure main- tenance; • Dial-a-ride services; • ITS, especially roadway safety (curve warnings, ice/snow), callboxes, and traveler info; • Co-locating services in community centers; • Land banking, TDRs to preserve open space and farms; • Revenue-sharing arrangements; • Tax incentives; • State resources for local planning and tools; • Improving access to historic/cultural/natural sites; • Promoting infill development (a challenge in unattractive, formerly industrial towns); • Enhancing connectivity between subdivisions and the greater street network; • Using context-sensitive design—when “Main Street” is a state highway, for example; • “Complete” multimodal streets; and • Traffic calming in neighborhoods and towns. Frequently mentioned success factors included the following: • Regional cooperation; • Focus on quality of life, sustainability, and local values; • Non-traditional partners; • Sharing resources among localities, such as staff expertise; • Shifting from reactive to proactive planning; • State leadership; • Creative approaches to raising revenue; • Acceptance of density as a positive; • Flexibility from FHWA; • Understanding and accepting the reality of multimodal travel; • Education and regular dialogue; • Early involvement of all stakeholders; • Tying state/federal transportation project funding to regional planning; and • Local champions to communicate ideas and build trust with local residents.

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TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 582: Best Practices to Enhance the Transportation-Land Use Connection in the Rural United States explores how to integrate land use and transportation in rural communities. The report also highlights programs and investment strategies designed to support community development and livability while providing adequate transportation capacity.

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