Surface Transportation Environmental Research A Long-Term Strategy -- Special Report 268 (2002) / Chapter Skim
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7 Research Area 6: Planning and Performance Measures
7 Research Area 6: Planning and Performance Measures
Pages 159-184
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From page 159... ...
Methods and tools that address contemporary concerns regarding environ mental protection and enhancement, sustainability, economic impacts, effi cient goods movement, community quality of life, customer satisfaction, and the performance of an oversaturated highway system are few and far between. Moreover, a strong case can be made that the methods and tools available to planners for understanding travel and economic behavior lag behind current issues by at least a generation.
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From page 160... ...
When publicprivate partnerships are sought, considerable difficulty is encountered in harmonizing the short time frame and site-specific nature of private-sector investment decisions with the long time frame and community wide nature of public-sector investments. SURFACE TRANSPORTATION AND THE PLANNING PROCESS The environmental significance of transportation planning and decision making processes lies in the fact that transportation facilities, services, and usage directly affect community cohesion, human health, ecosystem health, global energy consumption, and climate change.
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From page 161... ...
The dynamics of travel demand are apparent at an aggregate level, but not at a detailed level: planners may be competent at cre ating models to estimate the total number of trips emanating from a subarea, for example, but cannot describe why a particular household chooses to drive a teenaged child a third of a mile for soccer practice even though sidewalks are available. Without understanding the underlying activities, preferences, and travel options of householders and businesses, planners are left with the chal lenge of using aggregate models to estimate the subtleties of complex, emerg ing travel behavior.
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From page 162... ...
Coupled with decision processes that are disjointed between the public and private sectors, between planning and project design, between construction and operations, between land use and transportation, and among various levels of government, the current knowledge base is too weak for addressing the critical transportation planning issues of the 21st cen tury. Such fundamental questions as how an oversaturated highway system behaves and how the presence of an oversaturated system influences other per sonal and business decision processes cannot be answered reliably at present.
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From page 163... ...
Despite acknowledgment of the inadequacy of current processes, the con ferences offered grounds for optimism. Through federal participation, major metropolitan transportation decisions are now among the most open, partici patory public decision processes in the nation.
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From page 164... ...
In addition to research problem statements, the Refocusing Transporta tion Planning conferences produced documentation identifying a number of cross-cutting challenges that will be faced by practitioners in the first decade of the 21st century: Developing a customer- and user-based planning process; Linking planning to the political decision process; Creating a vision for the community and defining the role of transporta tion in achieving that vision; Understanding the current and future movement of freight; Addressing the unsatisfactory nature of current technical processes, including models; Exploring the role and impact of technology in the transportation arena; Relating land use and transportation; Resolving questions about the adequacy of existing institutions and rela tionships; Ensuring professional development for those in the transportation field; Linking transportation planning to other program-area processes; and Encouraging the consideration of certain transportation solutions or outcomes. These cross-cutting challenges underscore the growing recognition that improve ment of the methods and tools to be used in meeting tomorrow's transportation planning challenges is a critical need.
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From page 165... ...
With respect to transportation planning, performance measurement, and institutional issues, the research program recommended below can be grouped more simply and the contributions of other work incorporated more effectively by combining the bottom two levels of the pyramid into a basic research category labeled "More Effective Understanding of Travel Dynam ics." The top two levels of the pyramid can likewise be combined into a single applied research category labeled "Effective Techniques and Respon sive Institutions." The recommendations that follow are grouped in these two categories. In some cases, these recommendations generalize those made in earlier chapters to address the transportation planning context.
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From page 166... ...
There is a need for serious exploration of personal travel behavior, structured according to underlying needs and desires, activities, resources, and con straints. While much work is being done in the international arena on this sub ject, the work is still largely in the exploratory stage, and the results have not reached the mainstream of the transportation planning community.
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From page 167... ...
If so, planning processes must adjust to these chang ing circumstances. Special concern: Effects of technological advances on travel behavior.
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From page 168... ...
Develop a more effective understanding of the nature of commercial travel and the freight industry, as well as associated trends and deci sion processes. During the past 10 years, states and metropolitan planning organizations have sought to include private-sector stakeholders from the freight commu nity more fully in the planning process.
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From page 169... ...
Whether this benefit is expected to accrue to society primarily through decreased travel time or through removal of barriers to access, economic impact is central. Further research is required to produce a more meaningful understanding of these rela tionships and methods for better incorporation into transportation decision processes.
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From page 170... ...
Develop tools that incorporate the complex dynamics of travel behavior. Improved understanding of travel dynamics is useful if it can be incorporated into the tools used by planners and decision makers.
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From page 171... ...
Performance measurement is a technique for assessing the degree to which cur rent transportation systems and usage match community aspirations, as well as the ability of available policy, investment, and operational options to help achieve those aspirations. Defined in this manner, transportation system per formance extends far beyond traditional measures of travel time and cost, ranging from effects on economic vitality to levels of customer satisfaction (Pedersen 1999)
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From page 172... ...
There is a need for methods and tools that can be used to test alternative visions and public policies against the ability of a metropolitan area or community to maintain its systems over time. Research regarding the impacts of trans portation policy and investments on environmental protection and enhance ment, energy consumption, land consumption, economic health, and affordability must be translated into tools available for use at the front lines of transportation decision making (Burwell 2000)
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From page 173... ...
To achieve improved decision processes in turn requires research into meth ods of articulating critical choices and communicating performance compar isons to decision makers and the public. Undeniably, the more sophisticated and comprehensive a technical process becomes, the more opaque it becomes, and the more difficult it is to apply the process in accommodating the often short time frame and site-specific nature of private-sector investment deci sions.
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From page 174... ...
At a minimum, this capability requires capacity building at both the policy and technical levels of transportation agencies, planning organizations, and state and local governments. It may also require investigation of the barriers to effective coordination between transportation decisions and land development (Marshment 1999)
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From page 175... ...
Few of the transportation planning tools available today address fuel use, let alone carbon dioxide emissions, or account for changes in travel behavior or in vehicle technology and fuels that might be consid ered in planning to reduce the impacts of climate change (see Chapter 5)
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From page 176... ...
Beyond integration of decision-making processes across disciplines, improve ment is needed in the institutional arrangements and practices within the trans portation discipline. Too frequently there is a disconnect between system plans and the prioritization of projects for funding, while design and environmental impact assessment processes discount decisions made earlier in the planning process regarding scale and purpose.
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From page 177... ...
In Conference Proceedings 20: Refocusing Transportation Planning for the 21st Century, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., pp.
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From page 178... ...
A More Robust Planning Process Identifying emerging 21st-century user needs driving 200 demand for transportation services Extent to which transportation investments result in 450 economic development and growth Future trends and expected changes in goods movement 200 Barriers to intermodal freight 150 Overcoming institutional barriers to multimodalism 150 Role of planning in improving the reliability of 200 transportation system performance Effect of system reliability on freight-sector planning 200 and decisions Comparative benefits of investments in management, 500 operations, system preservation, and capacity expansion Institutional issues associated with addressing maintenance 200 and operation (M&O) in the planning process
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From page 179... ...
91189mvp(171_196) 12/17/02 12:17 PM Page 179 RESEARCH AREA 6: PLANNING AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES 179 How congestion-pricing projects could redistribute financing 150 responsibility for transportation improvements Understanding the linkages between transportation systems 200 and sustainable communities: evaluating alternative plans and policies Consideration of environmental factors in 750 transportation planning Identifying and communicating the purpose of and need 250 for transportation projects Integration of transportation corridor and land use 300 planning Defining and analyzing disparate impacts in the context 350 of environmental justice Methods and techniques for better identifying transportation issues of disadvantaged populations and 350 costs associated with providing potentially different transportation services to these populations How to examine the equity of benefits and disbenefits 150 in the planning process Understanding the travel characteristics of welfare 200 recipients and low-income individuals Planning for effective coordination of nonemergency 200 transportation services Systemwide approaches to planning for safety 250 Creative approaches to transportation planning 150 Identifying transportation planning needs of the future 250 Applying new information technology to improve the 300 transportation planning process Integrating new environmental concerns into the 350 transportation planning process Survey of international best practices in planning processes 250 and implementation Resource and energy consumption and sustainable 200 transportation Using performance data generated by intelligent 200 transportation systems (ITS)
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From page 180... ...
91189mvp(171_196) 12/17/02 12:17 PM Page 180 180 SURFACE TRANSPORTATION ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH: A LONG-TERM STRATEGY Developing a Customer- and User-Based Planning Process Identifying what basic research is needed to develop customer-related planning and to create a vision for the community User's guide to the transportation planning process 60 Promoting effective public involvement in the greatest 250 transportation challenges Tools for fostering stakeholder collaboration and dispute 180 resolution in transportation planning Public involvement and customer interaction in analysis 250 for transportation decisions Cultural sensitivities and communication with diverse populations 75 Measuring the effectiveness of Internet tools for soliciting 50 public involvement Tools for assessing the effectiveness of public-involvement processes 250 Institutional barriers to integrating public involvement 200 into transportation planning Incorporating visioning into the transportation planning process 100 Aligning Planning Processes, Decision-Making Institutions, and the Political Process to Meet 21st-Century Challenges Measuring the impact of transportation systems decisions in 300 terms that matter to decision makers and the public Effectively defining and communicating investment trade-offs 200 and choices for decision makers Closing the gap between regional planning and positions taken 500 by decision makers and the public Improving the linkage between decision making and 250 accountability through performance audits and program assessments Aligning the planning process with faster-paced political 200 change and participatory democracy Reinventing transportation planning 250
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From page 181... ...
Understanding the Current and Future Movement of Freight Understanding the freight industry: trends and future characteristics 250 Integrating freight needs into regional land use planning 200 Strategic measurement for evaluating and assessing the 2,000 impacts of freight-related projects Identifying freight forecasting guidelines and methods 100 Impact of technology on the way commodities are 250 purchased and delivered Land use and circulation implications of express 50 package-delivery services Intermodal terminal capacity and access 100 Unsatisfactory Nature of Technical Processes, Including Models Socioeconomic research program for metropolitan and 250 + 150/year nonmetropolitan areas Techniques for equity analysis in metropolitan 120 transportation planning Enabling research program on travel behavior 25,000
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From page 182... ...
91189mvp(171_196) 12/17/02 12:17 PM Page 182 182 SURFACE TRANSPORTATION ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH: A LONG-TERM STRATEGY Development of guidelines for collecting impact and 400 performance data System operation considerations in planning models 900 Integration of current travel demand forecasting 500 procedures with dynamic assignment models M&O performance indicators 120 Multimodal evaluation 200 Methods for assessing public preferences and 150 incorporating them into transportation decision making Development of a holistic ecosystem evaluation tool 840 Tools for assessing the impacts of neighborhood-scale projects 180 Sensitivity analysis and error assessment in travel 450 demand forecasting models Comparison of forecast and actual travel trends 400 Integrating significant and emerging emission-factor 1,080 elements with travel demand models Techniques for improving communication with community 250 groups and the general public Package of quick-response planning tools for small communities 120 Time-use research to support a new generation of travel 300 and activity models Induced travel and mode substitution as reactions to 400 transportation improvements Interactions between telecommunications and travel 900 Statewide planning model 240 Development of procedures and tools for investing in 5,000 transportation assets to improve the overall transportation system Strategic data research: transportation equity 250 Role and Impact of Technology on Transportation Technology and organizations: learning from other industries 400 Bringing transportation planning alive: use of advanced 300 technologies to enhance the interactivity of the transportation decision-making process Using ITS data to enhance the transportation planning process 250
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From page 183... ...
91189mvp(171_196) 12/17/02 12:17 PM Page 183 RESEARCH AREA 6: PLANNING AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES 183 Evaluation of benefits provided by information 500 technology to transportation system operations Reexamination of transportation planning assumptions 500 that may have become outdated as a result of technological advances Technology scanning 2025 150 every 35 years Best-practice survey methods for capturing impacts of 425 information technology on transport activity Applying technology to improve performance 400 measurement for transportation systems Land Use and Transportation Land use and the transportation planning process: 100 evaluation of existing land use tools applied in transportation decision making, and development of improved tools for use by decision makers in demonstrating the effects of managed growth Transportation strategies for successful redevelopment 525+ of established areas Analytical methods using geographic information systems to evaluate potential transportation and land use impacts on new land development, redevelopment, and rural community development Considering environmental and land use issues and community values in the transportation planning process Techniques to increase multimodal accessibility in 150 suburban communities Flexible approaches to parking development Linking metropolitan travel growth and sprawl 100 Integration of corridor and local land use planning 300 Best practices in metropolitan land use planning 500 and regulation Impacts of new community and neighborhood 1,000 designs on household travel behavior
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From page 184... ...
91189mvp(171_196) 12/17/02 12:17 PM Page 184 184 SURFACE TRANSPORTATION ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH: A LONG-TERM STRATEGY Professional Development Professional development in transportation planning 150 Linkages to Other Programs and Outcomes Development of a national shared-knowledge network 350 for social and environmental aspects of transportation planning Information sharing among planning processes 495 Rural participation in transportation decision making 400 Determining and planning for the impacts of tourism 100 on transportation infrastructure Analysis of network connectivity for bicycling and walking 400 Revisiting vision in the planning process 425
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