The Impact of Plans, Policies and Practices of Metropolitan Planning Organizations on the Design and Implementation of Streets for All Users

The Impact of Plans, Policies and Practices of Metropolitan Planning Organizations on the Design and Implementation of Streets for All Users
Author: Deborah Riemann
Publisher:
Total Pages: 129
Release: 2013
Genre: Cities and towns
ISBN:

Abstract: Since the rise of the automobile, urban planners, and traffic engineers were confronted with the question of balancing the different needs of all users of the street. Over the last decades that balance tended to favor car-oriented street designs. Health and air quality concerns, as well as an aging population have started to challenge the old ways of transportation planning. The heavy reliance on the private vehicle in the U.S. is facilitated by local land use decisions and investments in the public street and highway network were made. As most road projects are funded by federal dollars, metropolitan planning organizations are in a crucial position to increase active transportation options as they manage federal funds and facilitate regional decision making. This thesis will provide a comparative analysis of the approach employed bz two Ohio MPOs of comparable size and transportation budget - the Northeast Ohio Area-wide Coordinating Agency (NOACA; Cleveland) and Mid-Ohio Regional-Planning-Commission (MORPC; Columbus). The thesis will focus on the differences between MORPC's Complete Streets planning approach and NOACA's bicycle and pedestrian planning approach. The thesis analyzes policies and plans through a document review and uses interviews to identify organizational practices and cultures. The cases are described within the four factor categories that impact the implementation of transportation projects: (1) MPO intention and commitment, (2) MPO culture, structures and practices, (3) funding availability, and (4) state and local operating context. One conclusion of this thesis is that while the focus on bike and pedestrian planning tends to create transportation projects that are only focused on one single mode, the focus on users of Complete Streets helps to integrate the needs of different users of the street into every single project. The thesis concludes by outlining different strategies and tools that can be pursued by MPOs to increase the number of Complete Streets and projects that enhance active modes of transportation within the region.

Scenario-based Transportation Planning with Involvement of Metropolitan Planning Organizations

Scenario-based Transportation Planning with Involvement of Metropolitan Planning Organizations
Author: James Hamilton Lambert
Publisher:
Total Pages: 78
Release: 2009
Genre: Transportation
ISBN:

The Office of Virginia's Secretary of Transportation identified 21 transportation policies and 42 performance criteria in Virginia's long-range multimodal transportation plan, VTrans2025. A subsequent planning effort, VTrans2035, provided direction for the effort described in this report. Although there has been considerable discussion of the potential impact of the VTrans policies on the Commonwealth as a whole, there has been little effort to characterize the regional and local impact of the policies. Further, the sensitivity of the policies to a variety of assumptions about the future needs to be better understood at statewide, regional, and local levels. This research effort developed and tested a methodology for scenario-based assessments of the impacts of the VTrans polices for several regions of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The methodology is implemented in an MS Excel workbook that is available for download at www.virginia.edu/crmes/multimodal2. This report describes a typical application of the methodology for a locality or regional planning organization, e.g., a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) or Planning District Commission (PDC), to assess the impact of statewide multimodal policies across several of its long-range planning scenarios. The report includes a review of scenario-based planning, documentation of future scenarios, preliminary results of a survey of MPOs in Virginia for their best practices in scenario-based planning, an application of the methodology to the Roanoke region of Virginia, and recommendations. A major recommendation is that the methodology be used in VTrans2035 to catalyze and benchmark Virginia MPOs and localities in their respective efforts involving scenario-based transportation planning. The effort provides a cost-effective analysis tool that enables VTrans and MPOs and PDCs to identify and collaborate on the regional impacts of statewide transportation planning. The tool can further be cost-effective for individual MPOs and localities to engage in scenario-based long-range planning as encouraged by the Federal Highway Administration, particularly to guide the assumptions that are input to regional travel demand models. Appendix A provides the survey and study of scenario-based planning best practices. Appendix B documents the design of the Microsoft Excel workbook developed in this effort. Appendix C provides the lists of statewide policies, scenarios, and performance criteria used in the deployment of the workbook. Appendix D describes a related input/output analysis of economic growth based on transportation investments that was requested by the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment. The developed methodology is being adapted for long-range scenario-based analysis of the Afghanistan Sustainable Infrastructure Plan, with research support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Communities in Action

Communities in Action
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 583
Release: 2017-03-27
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309452996

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Environmental Health

Environmental Health
Author: Howard Frumkin
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 896
Release: 2016-02-09
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 111898806X

The bestselling environmental health text, with all new coverage of key topics Environmental Health: From Global to Local is a comprehensive introduction to the subject, and a contemporary, authoritative text for students of public health, environmental health, preventive medicine, community health, and environmental studies. Edited by the former director of the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health and current dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Washington, this book provides a multi-faceted view of the topic, and how it affects different regions, populations, and professions. In addition to traditional environmental health topics—air, water, chemical toxins, radiation, pest control—it offers remarkably broad, cross-cutting coverage, including such topics as building design, urban and regional planning, energy, transportation, disaster preparedness and response, climate change, and environmental psychology. This new third edition maintains its strong grounding in evidence, and has been revised for greater readability, with new coverage of ecology, sustainability, and vulnerable populations, with integrated coverage of policy issues, and with a more global focus. Environmental health is a critically important topic, and it reaches into fields as diverse as communications, technology, regulatory policy, medicine, and law. This book is a well-rounded guide that addresses the field's most pressing concerns, with a practical bent that takes the material beyond theory. Explore the cross-discipline manifestations of environmental health Understand the global ramifications of population and climate change Learn how environmental issues affect health and well-being closer to home Discover how different fields incorporate environmental health perspectives The first law of ecology reminds is that 'everything is connected to everything else.' Each piece of the system affects the whole, and the whole must sustain us all for the long term. Environmental Health lays out the facts, makes the connections, and demonstrates the importance of these crucial issues to human health and well-being, both on a global scale, and in our homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods.

Transit Street Design Guide

Transit Street Design Guide
Author: National Association of City Transportation Officials
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2016-04-14
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1610917472

"The Transit Street Design Guide sets a new vision for how cities can harness the immense potential of transit to create active and efficient streets in neighborhoods and downtowns alike. Building on the Urban Street Design Guide and Urban Bikeway Design Guide, the Transit Street Design Guide details how reliable public transportation depends on a commitment to transit at every level of design. Developed through a new peer network of NACTO members and transit agency partners, the Guide provides street transportation departments, transit operating agencies, leaders, and practitioners with the tools to actively prioritize transit on the street."--Site Web de NACTO.

Transportation Planning Handbook

Transportation Planning Handbook
Author: ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers)
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 1200
Release: 2016-07-11
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1118762401

A multi-disciplinary approach to transportation planningfundamentals The Transportation Planning Handbook is a comprehensive,practice-oriented reference that presents the fundamental conceptsof transportation planning alongside proven techniques. This newfourth edition is more strongly focused on serving the needs of allusers, the role of safety in the planning process, andtransportation planning in the context of societal concerns,including the development of more sustainable transportationsolutions. The content structure has been redesigned with a newformat that promotes a more functionally driven multimodal approachto planning, design, and implementation, including guidance towardthe latest tools and technology. The material has been updated toreflect the latest changes to major transportation resources suchas the HCM, MUTCD, HSM, and more, including the most current ADAaccessibility regulations. Transportation planning has historically followed the rationalplanning model of defining objectives, identifying problems,generating and evaluating alternatives, and developing plans.Planners are increasingly expected to adopt a moremulti-disciplinary approach, especially in light of the risingimportance of sustainability and environmental concerns. This bookpresents the fundamentals of transportation planning in amultidisciplinary context, giving readers a practical reference forday-to-day answers. Serve the needs of all users Incorporate safety into the planning process Examine the latest transportation planning softwarepackages Get up to date on the latest standards, recommendations, andcodes Developed by The Institute of Transportation Engineers, thisbook is the culmination of over seventy years of transportationplanning solutions, fully updated to reflect the needs of achanging society. For a comprehensive guide with practical answers,The Transportation Planning Handbook is an essentialreference.

Complete Streets from Policy to Project

Complete Streets from Policy to Project
Author: Carissa Schively Slotterback
Publisher:
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2013
Genre: Streets
ISBN:

Complete streets is emerging as an influential movement in transportation planning, design, and engineering. This guidebook, with accompanying case studies, explores the variety of ways in which complete streets is conceptualized and institutionalized by various jurisdictions. It offers practical and applicable insights for jurisdictions in Minnesota and elsewhere. The research focused on best practices in 11 locations across the nation: Albert Lea, Minnesota; Arlington County, Virginia; Boulder, Colorado; Charlotte, North Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Dubuque, Iowa; Fargo-Moorhead, North Dakota/Minnesota; Hennepin County, Minnesota; Madison, Wisconsin; New Haven, Connecticut; and Rochester, Minnesota. The guidebook is informed by an analysis of multiple data sources from each jurisdiction. The authors conducted a review of key documents (e.g., plans, policies, design guidelines), site visits, photo documentation, and in-depth interviews with more than 100 key informants. Six best practice areas emerged through the analysis: (1) framing and positioning, (2) institutionalizing complete streets, (3) analysis and evaluation, (4) project delivery and construction, (5) promotion and education, and (6) funding. The six best practice areas are described in detail and illustrated by examples from the case locations. The guidebook concludes with an appendix of complete streets case reports that offer additional details about each of the 11 case jurisdictions.