Toolbox for Regional Policy Analysis Report

Welcome! The toolbox report of analytical methods for testing the regional impacts of transportation and land use policies was completed in 2000. Although the report reflects the state of practices during the 1990s, it contains a wealth of information on analytical framework, evaluation methods, case studies and bibliographic references. Many sections of the report are still applicable today. To access more recent case studies, please go to "Tool Kit for Integrating Land Use and Transportation Decision-Making". For latest applications of emerging forecasting methods or integrated land use and transportation modeling approaches, please go to "Travel Model Improvement Program(TMIP)". Enjoy this web-interactive Toolbox Report!

The toolbox is designed for use by metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), state departments of transportation (DOTs), and other analysts who wish to assess a range of impacts in regional transportation and/or land use planning. Impacts of interest may include economic development, environmental justice, accessibility, land development, wetland and habitat impacts, and other social and environmental measures associated with transportation investments and land use policies.

The toolbox includes techniques ranging from sketch-planning methods and GIS-based analyses to integrated urban models. In contrast to project-level analysis techniques, the methods are primarily designed for analyzing the impacts of a regional transportation plan, regional land use scenarios, or other policies applied on a regionwide basis. The toolbox includes two primary components:
First, a series of case studies of applications of methods. You can begin by viewing a list of case studies by impacts measured or by policy addressed.

Second, a discussion of the various types of impacts and how they relate to each other. Within this section, each impact area is discussed in more detail, including:

• An overview of what factors influence it, and how;

• Links to related case studies;

• The types of forecasting methods available, and where they have been applied; and

• Where to find additional information on forecasting methods.