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From page 30... ... 30 2.1 The Systems Analysis Model This section includes a gap analysis and identifies the challenges and opportunities that transportation agencies might face under different future scenarios. A basic systems analysis model organizes and shapes this analysis. Read the entire page →
From page 31... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 31 policy system operates. The environment (via an input–output exchange) Read the entire page →
From page 32... ... 32 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies transportation commissioners) ; interest group lobbying; lawsuits and court orders; information collected from citizen outreach; business or citizen requests; or any other method by which demand, requests, or other claims on the direction of public goods can be made. Read the entire page →
From page 33... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 33 2.1.2 Policy Community The concept of policy communities is well accepted in public policy literature (Skogstad, 2005) Read the entire page →
From page 34... ... 34 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies The policy paradigm determines the actors who should be involved in policymaking and implementation. For this report, actors are divided into three major groups (Kraft and Furlong, 2012) Read the entire page →
From page 35... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 35 The distinction between Group 2 and Group 3 is somewhat arbitrary. Some firms and businesses can be organized into civic-sector groups to attempt to lobby government (e.g., business involved in chambers of commerce) Read the entire page →
From page 36... ... 36 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies something. For example, the decision not to make a major investment in public transit may be as important as the decision to invest in public transit and may have major implications regarding who is able to use government resources. Read the entire page →
From page 37... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 37 change extremely difficult to achieve in an open, highly decentralized system such as that found in the U.S. Given such a system, it is extremely difficult to persuade sufficient people and interests to accept radical, potentially high-risk change. Read the entire page →
From page 38... ... 38 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies authority and credibility) , policy paradigms (e.g., single mode to multiple modes) Read the entire page →
From page 39... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 39 • Maturity of the policy system. Established and (perceived as) Read the entire page →
From page 40... ... 40 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies expressways in the Hartford area. After these freeways were canceled, the State of Connecticut used those allocated funds to rebuild and expand existing freeways in the greater Hartford area. Read the entire page →
From page 41... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 41 The research team identified the following five levels that transportation policy systems may achieve in moving toward TBL sustainability: • Level 0 Policy System -- Safe Mobility • Level 1 Policy System -- Compliant Transportation • Level 2 Policy System -- Green Transportation • Level 3 Policy System -- Sustainable Transportation • Level 4 Policy System -- TBL Sustainability The Safe Mobility system model is Level 0 because it does not address sustainability at all but is included to contrast how the traditional transportation policy system model differs from the sustainability-based or -aspiring models. 2.3.1 Policy System Models Based on the public policy literature, the research team identified three distinct elements of a transportation policy system: (1) Read the entire page →
From page 42... ... 42 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies transportation agencies were one of compliance. That is, balancing transportation needs against environmental concerns occurred because it was required by law rather than because it was a social good. Read the entire page →
From page 43... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 43 manager, and regulator. This role begins to change under the Sustainable Transportation system model. Read the entire page →
From page 44... ... 44 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies During this transition from Compliant Transportation and Green Transportation to Sustainable Transportation and then TBL Sustainability, the public would begin to demand a sustainable TBL balance and to set goals for risk and performance along each of the bottom lines. At the next level of the evolution (TBL Sustainability) Read the entire page →
From page 45... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 45 (2) intergovernmental transfers (e.g., grants, revenue sharing, direct financing of projects) Read the entire page →
From page 46... ... 46 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies and local citizens' activist groups in the 1960s, they became more involved. The NEPA process, as well as the state and local versions of the Federal Administrative Procedures Act, gave civic and social interest groups more access to and involvement in the policymaking and implementation processes. Read the entire page →
From page 47... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 47 review of successful experiences of sustainability shows that involving civic and social groups from the beginning of the process through implementation is vital to both developing a coalition that will support the process and ensuring it is designed to meet community needs. As the policy system moves from a Safe Mobility to a TBL Sustainability model, public participation and involvement in all levels of policymaking and implementation needs to increase. Read the entire page →
From page 48... ... 48 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies (e.g., key economic interests, important electoral groups) Read the entire page →
From page 49... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 49 as vitally important and considerable effort is devoted to outreach and consensus building. This expands during the Green Transportation phase; then there is a substantial, continuous effort to involve the public not only in responding to plans but also in helping to develop them, identify and prioritize demands, and work toward a consensus. Read the entire page →
From page 50... ... 50 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies become such a success that arguments about building extensions have ceased. Now, these communities argue over which should receive an extension (Schiller et al., 2010) Read the entire page →
From page 51... ... Policy System Model Characteristics Level 0 Safe Mobility Emphasizes mobility, safety, and quantity (more, faster) Read the entire page →
From page 52... ... 52 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies 2.3.6 Functions: Budgeting and Resource Allocation Table 16 shows the evolution of budgeting and resource allocation systems under different policy system models. The process evolves from a fundamentally antagonistic, competitive system that is highly siloed and inflexible and ignores larger social costs to a system that is integrated and flexible and incorporates the full social, economic, and environmental costs. Read the entire page →
From page 53... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 53 Policy System Model Characteristics Level 0 Safe Mobility Led by experts Heavily influenced by organized interests and economic stakeholders Minimal public involvement Level 1 Compliant Transportation Led by experts Heavily influenced by organized interests and economic stakeholders Increased public involvement Highly politicized and conflict based Level 2 Green Transportation Led by experts Open to a plurality of interests, stakeholders, and activists Substantial public involvement during post-decisionmaking phase (i.e., do you approve? Read the entire page →
From page 54... ... 54 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies As promulgators of new regulations and implementers of federal regulations, the states play a key role in the process, and regulation drives a substantial amount of state transportation activities. As such, any movement toward sustainability will require major changes in the rulemaking and regulation processes. Read the entire page →
From page 55... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 55 be heard) Read the entire page →
From page 56... ... 56 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies The advantage of these arrangements when applied to sustainability is that they leverage the asymmetries of information inherent in multiplayer and multigoal tradeoff problems, and they allow each participant to bring its own best information to the process to negotiate or create rules best suited for the situation. The results of such arrangement-based programs are mixed. Read the entire page →
From page 57... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 57 To date, the United States has been characterized by a general bias toward voluntary rulemaking for sustainability. For example, a benchmark survey of corporate sustainability programs identified nine major components: energy conservation, renewable energy purchases, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Read the entire page →
From page 58... ... 58 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies sustainability plan incorporates and integrates sustainable practices throughout the department's work, ranging from office operations to construction and maintenance. Paralleling the inclusion of sustainability into business practices, transportation agencies would need to develop a series of indicators to measure and manage sustainability. Read the entire page →
From page 59... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 59 behavior that supports the sustainability mission of the agency. The overall aim is to develop a culture of sustainability and stewardship in which every individual understands the mission and is committed to achieving that goal in all aspects of his or her work. Read the entire page →
From page 60... ... 60 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies Figure 5. Safe Mobility (Level 0) Read the entire page →
From page 61... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 61 TRANSPORTATION POLICY COMMUNITY Organizing Principles: • Support societal mobility • Compliance with environmental, economics, and social legislave requirements • Transportaon agency as Infrastructure owner manager & regulator • Top down planning Key Actors include: • State government execuves and legislators • U.S. DOT & other federal agencies • State DOTs • Local governments • Interest groups • Economic interests INPUTS OUTPUTSPOLICY SYSTEM • Resources: • Gas tax, excise taxes, impact and licensing fees • Intergovernmental transfers • Bond issues • Some user fees (e.g., toll roads) Read the entire page →
From page 62... ... 62 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies TRANSPORTATION POLICY COMMUNITY Organizing Principles: • Supports societal mobility & environmental, economic, and social needs Emphasizes Environment • Transporta on agency as infrastructure owner manager & regulator Key Actors include: • State government execu ves and legislators • U.S. DOT & other federal agencies • State DOTs • Local governments, MPO, RPO • Interest groups • Economic interests INPUTS OUTPUTSPOLICY SYSTEM • Resources: • Gas tax, excise taxes, impact and licensing fees • Intergovernmental transfers • Bond issues • Some user fees (e.g., toll roads) Read the entire page →
From page 63... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 63 TRANSPORTATION POLICY COMMUNITY Organizing Principles: • Supports sustainable transportaon • Favors partnerships between public and private sector • Transportaon agency as infrastructure coordinator (some owner operator & some private) & regulator Key Actors include: • State government execuves and legislators • U.S. Read the entire page →
From page 64... ... 64 Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies TRANSPORTATION POLICY COMMUNITY Organizing Principles: • Support societal sustainability • Agnosc on issues of ownership or control of transportaon infrastructure – whatever is most sustainable • Transportaon system steward Key Actors include: • State government execuves and legislators • U.S. DOT & other federal agencies • State DOTs & other agencies • Local governments, MPO, RPO • Interest groups • Economic interests • Cizens groups INPUTS OUTPUTSPOLICY SYSTEM • Resources: • Self financing (e.g., user fees, VMT tax, infrastructure bank) Read the entire page →
From page 65... ... Policy Systems and Transportation Functions 65 In line with the definitions of TBL sustainability as serving long-term generational equity and values, cost of TBL requires assessment through a larger lens. A measure of the total economic, social, and environmental capital gained or lost is the best indicator of the cost and benefit of a given sustainability strategy. Read the entire page →

From page 30...

... 30 2.1 The Systems Analysis Model This section includes a gap analysis and identifies the challenges and opportunities that transportation agencies might face under different future scenarios. A basic systems analysis model organizes and shapes this analysis.