Community and Quality of Life Data Needs for Informed Decision Making (2002) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 103-130
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From page 103... ...
These factors include mobility and equity consequences across locations within a region and across stakeholder groups; impacts on land use and development patterns and the consequences of those development patterns; the interaction of transportation operations with the natural and built environments, and impacts on sustainability; distribution of economic benefits and costs spatially and demographically; and consequences for community cohesiveness and character. As communities, transportation planners, and decision makers have sharpened their understanding of the links between transportation and livability, the list of questions to be considered in making transportation 103
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) , to highly detailed consideration of the interactions between transportation improvements and other valued community features, to the final decision on whether action is warranted based on the projected benefits, costs, and impacts.
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From page 105... ...
Instead, transportation planners and providers are often criticized as being impediments to the creation of more livable places and failing to look at transportation choices through the lens of livability. Much planning continues to be narrowly focused on transportation alone, particularly on highways, while concerns such as alternative ways to meet mobility needs, land use interactions, and environmental impacts are given less attention.
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From page 106... ...
Such information was generally not available in the 1960s (and frequently is not available today) , so transportation planners often had to create the data for themselves.
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From page 107... ...
Long-range plans typically have a 20- or 30-year time horizon and build on the area's long-term vision, as well as long-term projections of population, economic development, and transportation needs. They also include a short-term element, in which specific transportation improvements are programmed for each of the coming years either a statewide transportation improvement program or the MPO's transportation improvement program, including specific projects.
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From page 108... ...
Although the practice of transportation planning is technically sophisticated, it tends to be focused on travel and traffic outputs and does not pay much attention to sustainability and livability indicators. Most of the standard tools are not easy to use and require special training and experience available only to the most technically sophisticated agencies.
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From page 109... ...
However, with sufficient support at the federal level, livability could be introduced as one of the specific items to be addressed in federally funded transportation planning. It is important to change the attitudes of participants to make livability an important goal.
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From page 110... ...
0 COMMUNITY AND QUALITY OF LIFE transportation planning, and they should be incorporated in the planning process at an early stage. The relevance of each factor will of course vary depending on local circumstances, as will the manner in which transportation planners consider and analyze these factors.
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From page 111... ...
ME DEC~1~-S~~T FROCESS 111 FnWA and Me FLEA recognize me complexities involved in me considerabon and analyst of some of these factors' and have established general guidelines ~1~ respect to considerat10n and analysis of the 15 factors. Weir consideraUon may also be a part of the p~Uc involvement process' a major investment study POISE or adjustments to management systems
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From page 112... ...
A decision-oriented approach to urban transportation planning should focus on the information needs of interested decision makers and should recognize the often limited capability of individuals unfamiliar with technical analysis to interpret the information produced. Planning should provide not only the information desired by decision makers, but also the information needed to provide a more complete understanding of the problem and of the implications of different solutions.
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From page 113... ...
THE DECISION-S UPPORT PROCESS 113 Decisions Resolve Conflicting Ideas Tension between technical and political decisions often contributes to transportation-related conflict. One contributing factor is that the locus of decision-making control is often not the same as the area of impact.
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From page 114... ...
At the other end of the spectrum, decisions involving real estate development, which affect future travel needs, are local, with state transportation agencies having little influence. Major transportation facilities have a long life span, justifying the care and planning invested in such projects; however, elected officials and citizens often have a much shorter time perspective.
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From page 115... ...
Those who make decisions on transportation investments include both elected and appointed public officials and boards, along with staff members of transportation agencies. While much of the focus is on major decisions that come at the end of the planning process for example, by the chief executive of a state department of transportation to construct a new highway or by the public transportation agency to expand a bus terminal many important decisions are made in the course of the transportation planning and analysis process.
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From page 118... ...
Better data related to livability would help to inform these in-process decisions and make the planning process more reflective of the real impact of transportation investments on communities. Further, an improved planning process provides the potential for improved decision making, not only because it yields a more complete body of information for deci
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From page 119... ...
Role of Public Involvement in the Decision Process Strong public involvement is essential for sound transportation decision making. lust as definitions of what livability means in real communities derive from the perceptions and aspirations of their members, so must good decisions on transportation investments build on the wants and needs of the community and its perceptions of the desirability of investment options, including the no-build alternative.
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From page 120... ...
Nyerges argues that all eight system types make significant contributions to sound decision making by individual groups. Items e, f, and h (i.e., choice models, structured-group process techniques, analytical reasoning methods)
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From page 121... ...
Table 4.1 presents a summary of what Nyerges terms "Micro, Decision Strategy Activities" the basic steps that are undertaken in any decision process in the first column, and "Macro, Decision Strategy Phases" in the next three columns. The cells highlight helpful decision-support tools when carrying out different activities within different phases of the decision-making process.
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From page 122... ...
SOURCE: Nyerges (2001~. Information Needs of Decision Makers To make responsive, responsible decisions on potential transportation investments, decision makers need information such as that outlined in the 15 metropolitan planning factors in Box 4.1.
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From page 123... ...
· Who was involved in developing the plan? In particular, was there significant, extensive, inclusive public involvement, and to what extent does the plan reflect the input of community participants, from individuals to interest groups, to elected and appointed officials, and including traditionally underrepresented and underserved members of the community?
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From page 124... ...
These interactions and the resulting impacts must include the kinds of data and crosscutting indicators that help explain what the consequences of the project or plan are in terms of community livability. The Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB)
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From page 125... ...
A decision-oriented approach to transportation planning should focus on the information needs of decision makers. As discussed throughout this report, the information needed for decision making that leads to livable communities often includes what we consider spatial data: for example, data about the location of resources such as hospitals or data about the relationship between one place and another, including the public transportation links between a city and its suburbs.
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From page 126... ...
26 COMMUNITY AND QUALITY OF LIFE nity's definitions of livability in framing the issues and needs to be addressed in planning; conducting transportation planning whether for a regional system or facility or a local project within the regional context and relating issues, needs, and choices to that larger regional context; · developing transportation plans within the context of long-term community and regional goals, including consideration of population and economic growth, land use and development, transportation access and mobility needs, and potential impacts on the natural and built environments; · following the principles of context-sensitive design in developing transportation plans, particularly through collaboration with community members, consideration of the fit between facilities and services in the local context, and use of design principles that meet both community and technical standards for sound, responsible practice; · collaborating with other units of government within a region to better integrate transportation considerations across responsible agencies, jurisdictions, and modes; · planning transportation in cooperation with land use, natural resources, economic development, and other agencies responsible for these community assets; · including livability as an important goal in transportation planning and measuring the consequences of transportation choices with reference to livability, among the host of factors that go into planning; actively using data and crosscutting measures that show the relationships of transportation choices to land use, economic development, and the environment and the potential impacts of these choices on livability; using GIS and other tools to support analysis and decision making, emphasizing interrelationships, and making the content and implications of planning information clear to analysts, community members, and decision makers; using the 15 metropolitan planning factors, with appropriate supporting information, to develop and assess transportation plans and their impacts; implementing active, inclusive community involvement programs as an integral part of the planning and decision-making process, including diverse stakeholders from public officials to users, residents, businesses, civic and special interest groups, and those traditionally underinvolved and underserved; incorporating community perspectives and needs via the partici
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From page 127... ...
2001. Urban Transportation Planning: A Decision Oriented Approach.
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From page 128... ...
1992. Urban Transportation Planning in the U.S.
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From page 130... ...
If Only Traffic Would Match the Car, 1952, by Art Bimrose. Courtesy of The Oregonian magazine.
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