Transportation Planning 101

Transportation planning guides decisions about where we will build or expand our infrastructure. The decisions we make today will influence the location, direction and shape of the development that happens tomorrow, and hence the location, types and quality of habitat that we are able to protect.

History of Transportation Planning

Mt. Vernon Mem. Highway, Horydczak Collection, Library of CongressWe have had highways for a century now but transportation planning did not begin in earnest until the 1960s. Prior to that, billions of dollars were spent to repair old and obsolete highways and to build the shiny new interstates, but neither were done with local input or consideration of long-term  impacts.

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962 created the first federal requirement for urban transportation planning, whereby urbanized areas (with 50,000 or more residents) were required to plan all transportation projects cooperatively with state and local governments in order to receive federal road dollars.

Since then, Congress has incrementally strengthened the planning process by further engaging local elected officials and incorporating a wide range of social, economic and environmental concerns.

In 1991, Congress proclaimed a new era in transportation policy with the Intermodal Surface Transportation Equity Act (ISTEA). In theory, the old top-down decision making would be replaced with inclusive and honest planning at the state and metropolitan levels.

Planning Factors

Congress set forth a list of planning factors meant to guide the transportation planning process, written into law as follows:

  • Support the economic vitality of the United States, the states and metropolitan areas, especially by enabling global competitiveness, productivity and efficiency.
  • Increase the safety and security of the transportation system for motorized and nonmotorized users.
  • Increase the accessibility and mobility options available to people and for freight.
  • Protect and enhance the environment, promote energy conservation, improve quality of life, and promote consistency between transportation improvements and state and local planned growth and economic development patterns.
  • Enhance the integration and connectivity of the transportation system, across and between modes throughout the state, for people and freight.
  • Promote efficient system management and operation.
  • Emphasize the preservation of the existing transportation system.

With a list like this, how can we go wrong?
As good as the planning factors are, they are merely guidance and not regulatory in nature. Failure to consider any factor is not reviewable in court and could be disregarded by any Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) or state transportation planning office.  Also, terms such as “environment” and “quality of life” are exceptionally (and intentionally) vague. As a result, MPOs and state transportation agencies are free to interpret these terms in their own way.

This is Easy, Right?

Transportation planning should be easy, right? All you have to do is figure out how to move people and goods, safely and efficiently in the least expensive, fastest, most aesthetically pleasing manner, while balancing land use, economic development, security, and cultural preservation and meeting the impossible demands of local businessmen and a politician up for reelection.

Oh, and please do so in the most environmentally sensitive fashion, with full participation and input from the public. And whatever you do, don’t put it in my back yard.

The Three C's

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962 mandated urban transportation planning and gave rise to the “three C's,” which continue to be a good idea for planning. The act read:

“After July 1, 1965, the Secretary shall not approve under section 105 of this title any programs for projects in any urban area of more than fifty thousand population unless he finds that such projects are based on a continuing, comprehensive transportation planning process carried out cooperatively by states and local communities in conformance with the objectives stated in this section.”

The Fundamentals of Transportation Planning

To help you begin to understand this complicated process, let’s break it down into these essential elements:

Planners
Who does transportation planning?

Process
What is the process whereby roads are planned?

Products
What are the finished plans, what do they look like and where can I find them?

Funding
Who pays for transportation funding?