TPCB Logo Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program
 

Annual Report Fiscal Year 2004

Table of Contents
Introduction

Section I: Peer Program

Section II: TPCB Website

Section III: Information Dissemination

Section IV: Training

Section V: New Transportation Planning Resources

Section VI: Outreach

Section VII: Transportation Planning Capacity Building in 2005

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
The mission of the Transportation Planning Capacity Building (TPCB) Program is to support effective transportation planning in state, metropolitan, rural, and tribal settings. The Program is jointly sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), with support from the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. Information and resources are provided through technical assistance, information dissemination, training and education, and outreach. The Program provides products and services designed to help decision-makers, transportation officials, and staff resolve the increasingly complex issues they face when addressing transportation needs in their communities. The primary audiences for the Program include:
  • Members of policy boards or executive committees;
  • Non-metropolitan local officials and staff, including elected and appointed officials with an interest in transportation planning;
  • Staff who participate in the statewide, metropolitan, and local transportation planning processes as members of technical committees, advisory groups, or Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) subcommittees; and
  • Tribal government officials and staff.
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2004, the Program expanded its resources and services in all areas. The number of peer exchanges and similar events increased from a total of 10 in FY 2003 to 17 in FY 2004. The Program was involved in 47 deliveries of classroom training, up from 40 in FY 2003. The TPCB Program continued its central role as a clearinghouse for information on effective transportation planning, particularly through the TPCB website which experienced a sharp jump in use from the prior year. The Program also released a series of technical resources, including the MPO Database, which provides comprehensive data on all U.S. metropolitan planning organizations in a flexible, easily-searched format.

The TPCB Program’s accomplishments during FY 2004 are highlighted in this report. Detailed information on work in these topic areas is always available on the TPCB website at www.planning.dot.gov.
Section I: Peer Program
The TPCB Peer Program conducted 17 events in FY 2004, involving more than 500 participants. Summary information for each event is included below, organized by topic area. Unless otherwise noted, events are peer exchanges.
Communities
Health and Human Services
Portland, OR (January 22, 2004), 32 participants
Integrating Health and Physical Activity Goals Into Transportation Planning: Building the Capacity of Planners and Practitioners Proceedings of the Portland Roundtable

Title VI / Environmental Justice
Atlanta, GA (May 5, 2004), 12 participants
Identifying and Engaging Low Literacy and Limited English Proficiency Populations in the Transportation Decision making Process
Funding Issues
Asset Management Practices
Washington, DC (September 7-8, 2004)
Transportation Research Board (TRB) Asset Management Committee
Natural Environment
Air Quality
Houston, TX (December 3-4, 2003), 24 participants
Upcoming Transition to the New 8-Hour Ozone Air Quality Standard

Linking Planning and NEPA
Raleigh, NC (December 15-17, 2003), 27 participants
North Carolina Peer Exchange to Improve Environmental Processes
Operations
Performance Measures
Washington, D.C. (October 7-9, 2003), 30 participants
Roundtable on System Performance Measurement in Statewide and Metropolitan Transportation Planning

Performance Measures
Charleston, SC (May 6, 2004), 19 participants
American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHTO)/FHWA Performance Measurements
Planning Process
Tribal Planning
Albuquerque, New Mexico (March 2, 2004), 17 participants
National Tribal Roads Conference Peer Workshop for Tribal Transit Service Development

Planning and Programming
Salt Lake City, UT (March 2-4, 2004) and Whatcom County, WA (March 15-18, 2004), 39 participants
Preparing for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games

Philadelphia Planning
Philadelphia, PA (April 8, 2004 and June 16, 2004), 253 participants
A Two-Phase Peer-to-Peer Roundtable on Potential Transit Projects in the Nine-County Philadelphia Region
Map of USA showing areas of Peer Program participation
Rural and Small Community Planning
Fort Smith, AR (April 21- 23, 2004), 26 Participants
Best Practices for Small and Medium Sized Metropolitan Planning Organizations

Planning
Lansing, MI (June 15-17, 2004), 26 Participants
Electronic STIP Amendment Project

Financial Planning
Nashville, TN (September 27-29, 2004), 11 Participants
Role of State Departments of Transportation in Guiding Transportation Investments

Peer Forum on Transportation Planning Topics
Washington, DC (October 23, 2003)
Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations

Peer Exchange on Inter-Modal Planning
Sarasota, FL (September 23-24, 2004)
AASHTO TRB Committee

Peer Workshop on MPO Regional Experience from Florida
Gettysburg, PA (Jan 26, 2004)
FHWA PA Division
Safety and Security
Peer Exchange on Safety and Cost Estimation
Park City, UT (July 29-30, 2004)
AASHTO TRB Committee
Section II: TPCB Website
The TPCB Program website is a reliable, one-stop clearinghouse for the latest in transportation planning information and resources. Since the completion of major enhancements to the website in last quarter of FY 2003, usage has increased nearly 300%, from just over 2,600 visitor sessions in July 2003 to more than 9,900 as of September 2004. The Metropolitan Planning page and the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Process Briefing Book continue to be the most popular page (besides the home page) and downloaded document, respectively. The information below highlights some characteristics of TPCB Program website usage over the last fiscal year. (This summary is based on data starting from January 9, the date a new server was installed.)

General Statistics
The TPCB website saw a total of 654,043 hits and averaged 2,387 hits per day. (A hit is recorded each time a page on the website is visited.) Visitor sessions totaled 62,683 in the last nine months of FY 2004 and averaged 228 per day. (Each visitor session includes all hits to the TPCB Program website by a single visitor, with sessions timing out after 20 minutes of inactivity.) The average session length was over 22 minutes and 64% of visitor sessions could be confirmed as from a U.S. origin.

General TPCB Website Statistics: January – September, 2004
Hits Entire Site 654,043
Average Per Day 2,387
Home Page 16,257
Visitor Sessions Entire Site 62,683
Average Per Day 228
Average Visitor Session Length 22 min, 45 secs
International Visitor Sessions 5%
Visitor Sessions of Unknown Origin 31%
Visitor Sessions from United States 64%

The graph below shows the monthly totals for visitor sessions on the TPCB website. The statistics show a positive trend for the TPCB Program website in that usage has increased throughout the fiscal year. The last three months were the most active as usage rose above 8,000 visitor sessions in both July and August before reaching a high of 9,946 in September.

Graphic illustrating monthly totals for visitor sessions on the TPCB website
Most Requested Pages

The table below provides information on how users are navigating the website and what topics or materials are of most interest. Metropolitan planning remains significant, based on the visit count of users to that page and the volume of visits to the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Process Briefing Book (also see most downloaded files).
Most Requested Pages
Pages Visitor Sessions Avg. Time Viewed (Minutes)
1 The TPCB Program Home Page
http://www.planning.dot.gov/ 		11,644 2.5
2 The Metropolitan Transportation Planning Process: Key Issues Briefing Book
http://www.planning.dot.gov/documents/BriefingBook/BBook.htm 		5,808 5.25
3 Metropolitan Planning
http://www.planning.dot.gov/metro.asp 		3,939 2.5
4 The Returning City: Historic Preservation and Transit in the Age of Civic Revival
http://www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/CaseStudy/Cities/returning_city.htm 		2,733 5.25
5 Technical Resources
http://www.planning.dot.gov/technical.asp 		2,721 2.75
6 Peer Programs
http://www.planning.dot.gov/peer.asp 		2,489 3
7 Training and Education
http://www.planning.dot.gov/training.asp 		2,466 2.75
8 Tribal Planning
http://www.planning.dot.gov/tribal.asp 		2,279 3
9 Rural and Small Community Planning
http://www.planning.dot.gov/rural.asp 		2,238 3
10 Calendar of Events
http://www.planning.dot.gov/Events.asp 		2,173 3.75

Most Downloaded Files

This section identifies the most popular file downloads for the site. The top four were the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Process Briefing Book, the Public Involvement Tool, the TPCB 2003 Annual Report, and The Returning City.

Most Downloaded Files
File Session Downloads
1 The Metropolitan Transportation Planning Process Briefing Book
http://www.planning.dot.gov/documents/BriefingBook/BBook.pdf 		443
2 Public Involvement Techniques for Transportation Decision-Making
http://www.planning.dot.gov/Pitool/pdf/entire.pdf 		368
3 The Returning City – Part B
http://www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/CaseStudy/Cities/returning_cityB.pdf 		348
4 TPCB Annual Report
http://www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/AnnualReport/AnnualReport.pdf 		320
5 The Returning City - Part A
http://www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/CaseStudy/Cities/returning_cityA.pdf 		295
6 Public Involvement in the Development of the Long Range Transportation Plan
http://www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/Benchmark/BenchFinal/BenchmarkFinalReport.pdf 		270
7 Florida DOT Public Involvement Program
http://www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/Rural/FLDOT.pdf 		242
8 A National Model of Smart Growth
http://www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/LandUse/Robert_Dunphy.pdf 		236
9 Information on Noteworthy MPO Practices
http://www.planning.dot.gov/documents/FinalReport/final_rpt_summary.pdf 		220
10 Minnesota DOT Public Involvement Program
http://www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/Rural/MNDOT.htm 		184

Section III: Information Dissemination
In FY04, the Program distributed 5,040 TPCB Program folders, each with the following contents:
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Planning Briefing Book
  • The Peer Exchange Program brochure
  • The Executive Overview of Metropolitan Transportation Planning (CD)
  • The Program overview pamphlet
  • List of available courses
  • List of key resources
In addition to the 41% of folders distributed at professional transportation conferences, 59% were distributed on request to: FHWA Division offices and FTA regional offices (27%), Regional Planning Councils (RPCs, 13%), FHWA or FTA headquarters (10%), and MPOs and Councils of Governments (COGs, 7%). Folders were distributed to every state in the United States, plus Guam and Puerto Rico. The Program also distributed 910 copies of the Executive Overview of Metropolitan Transportation Planning video presentation (247 VHS format, 663 CD). The two charts and one table that follow provide additional details on distribution.
Graphic illustrating TPCB CD and video distribution for FY04, totaling 910 Graphic illustrating TPCB Folder distribution for FY04, totaling 5,040

State/Country Folders Distributed State/Country Folders Distributed
Tennessee 360 California 10
Ohio 260 Colorado 10
Oregon 250 Connecticut 10
Pennsylvania 220 Hawaii 10
Texas 214 Idaho 10
Georgia 172 Iowa 10
Illinois 110 Kentucky 10
Indiana 90 Louisiana 10
Florida 85 Maine 10
Michigan 60 Minnesota 10
Missouri 35 Mississippi 10
Virginia 35 Montana 10
Delaware 30 Nebraska 10
Rhode Island 30 New Hampshire 10
Utah 30 New Jersey 10
South Carolina 25 New Mexico 10
Alabama 20 North Carolina 10
Kansas 20 North Dakota 10
Maryland 20 Oklahoma 10
Massachusetts 20 South Dakota 10
Nevada 20 Vermont 10
New York 20 Washington 10
Wisconsin 20 West Virginia 10
Wyoming 20 DC 10
Alaska 10 Puerto Rico 10
Arizona 10 Guam 10
Arkansas 10 Japan 1

Section IV: Training
Working cooperatively with the National Highway Institute and National Transit Institute, the TPCB Program was involved in 47 deliveries of seven different courses in FY 2004. Details about each course are provided below.
  • Administration of FHWA Planning Grants (1 Delivery)
    This course covers the responsibilities and relationships among Federal, State, and local agencies involved in administering FHWA planning grants to States and State subgrants to MPOs and local governments.
  • Fundamentals of Title VI/Environmental Justice (2 Deliveries)
    This two-day course presents a framework for using a variety of approaches and tools for accomplishing environmental justice goals in the transportation planning and project development process.
  • Introduction to Transportation/Air Quality Conformity (8 Deliveries)
    This course is developed for staff who are not familiar with the broad ramifications of the conformity process. The course presents basic information about conformity and the relationship of the transportation and air quality planning process in order to prepare agency staff to participate in interagency consultation and work effectively in resolving conformity issues.
  • Metropolitan Transportation Planning (13 Deliveries)
    This introductory program teaches the basics of metropolitan transportation planning and the expanded role of the MPO. It reviews the procedural and technical aspects of system planning, including elements of FTA/FHWA planning regulations.
  • NEPA & Transportation Decision-Making (15 Deliveries)
    This course considers FHWA’s policies and procedures for applying NEPA to the project development and decision making processes related to transportation facilities.
  • Public Involvement in the Transportation Decision-Making Process (5 Deliveries)
    This two and a half day training program provides planning and project development professionals with the tools and techniques to effectively involve the public in transportation decisionmaking processes such as Major Investment Studies, Transportation Plans, Transportation Improvement Programs, and project development.
  • Statewide and Metropolitan Transportation Programming (3 Deliveries)
    This course provides instruction on the basic concepts, components, and participants in the transportation planning process. Current and best practices are incorporated into the program.
Section V: New Transportation Planning Resources
In FY 2004, the TPCB Program introduced a number of important technical resources, all available through the Program’s website.

The MPO Database was created to provide information about all of the MPOs in the United States. This tool is a searchable database that provides users with basic information about MPOs and links to their websites. The MPO Database also assists MPOs in finding and contacting peers with similar characteristics.
(www.planning.dot.gov/overview.asp)

The Planning Assistant is an interactive tool that enables users to identify reasonable choices of public involvement techniques for their particular context and needs. It is designed to help users who might be unfamiliar with public involvement or unsure of what public involvement techniques are appropriate for certain activities.
(www.planning.dot.gov/PublicInvolvement/pi_tool/getting-started.asp)

The Program also sponsored a domestic scan of exemplary integration of land use and transportation planning, resulting in the Domestic Scan Tour II Report: Integration of Land Use and Transportation Planning. To more closely examine local efforts to integrate transportation and land use policies, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sponsored a series of domestic scan tours. While visiting projects within the communities, the domestic scan tour teams have interviewed local staff and elected officials, regional, and state-level planners, MPO representatives, and transportation consultants. The results of these tours have been compiled and presented as useful tools for planning practitioners around the United States working to design livable communities. (www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/DomesticScan/domscan2.htm)
Section VI: Outreach
The TPCB Program conducts outreach to transportation professionals at all levels, building awareness among stakeholders and enabling staff to develop new activities based on the needs of transportation planning decision makers and practitioners. The Program was represented at a total of 17 professional meetings in FY 2004. Details are provided in the table below. In most instances, outreach included on-demand distribution of Program resources, and presentations by FHWA, FTA, or Volpe staff.
Date Conference Location
October
2003 		APTA Annual Meeting Salt Lake City, UT
AMPO Annual Meeting Washington, DC
January
2004 		Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting Washington, DC
New Partners for Smart Growth Portland, OR
February
2004 		National Association of Regional Councils Policy Conference Washington, DC
National Association of Counties (NACo) Policy Conference Washington, DC
March
2004 		American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Legislative Conference Washington, DC
Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO) Policy Conference Washington, DC
April
2004 		National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Policy Conference Washington, DC
American Planning Association Annual Meeting Washington, DC
May 2004 AASHTO Standing Committee on Planning Meeting Charleston, SC
June 2004 Community Transportation Association of America Annual Meeting Seattle, WA
July
2004 		NACo Annual Conference Phoenix, AZ
Conference of Minority Transportation Officials Annual Meeting Cleveland, OH
August 2004 NADO Annual Meeting Orlando, FL
September2004 Rail~Volution Los Angeles, CA
TRB Small & Medium Communities, Biennial "Tools of the Trade" Colorado Springs, CO


Section VII: Transportation Planning Capacity Building in 2005
Building on the success of the past few years, the Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program will continue its core set of program activities in FY 2005. Technical Assistance, particularly the Peer Programs continues to be one of the most popular and valuable aspects of the program. Additional resources will be devoted to continuous improvement of the Peer Programs, with technology applications to facilitate timely access and peer participation, as well as a more comprehensive approach to identifying experts in individual topic areas.

The field of transportation planning continues to expand to include a wide variety of related subject areas. The TPCB program will endeavor to provide information and assistance on these myriad areas. Focus in FY 2005 will remain on the core set of transportation planning requirements in statewide, metropolitan, rural and tribal areas, but with added emphasis on freight planning, financial planning and fiscal constraint, consideration of flexible funding, land use and transportation, and strategies for incorporating asset management and performance measures in the planning process.

The Program will continue a high level of outreach to stakeholder groups through regional and national conferences, training, providing presentations, displays, expert panels, roundtables, etc., wherever possible. Program staff will meet with stakeholders regularly to assess their continuing needs and to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. In addition, the Program will apply new tools and techniques to reach customers, including mini compact discs promoting the program, informational flyers, and web-based technology.

Formal training courses will continue to be another important element of the Program. Through its partnership with the National Highway Institute and the National Transit Institute, the Program will offer training courses on a variety of planning topics including: Freight, Air Quality, Statewide, Metropolitan, Financial Planning and Safety Conscious Planning. Other important courses will include Public Involvement, Linking Planning and NEPA and Fundamentals of Environmental Justice. Program staff will update existing courses and begin to develop new ones in 2005 as well.
Decorative graphic
A Publication of the
Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program

www.planning.dot.gov

Federal Highway Administration – Federal Transit Administration
For more information, contact:

Federal Highway Administration
Office of Planning
400 7th Street, SW (HEPP)
Washington, DC 20590
Phone: 202.366.0106

Federal Transit Administration
Office of Planning and Environment
Attn: Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program, TPE-12
400 7th Street, SW, Room 9413
Washington, DC 20590
Phone: 202.366.6385
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Federal Highway Administration • Federal Transit Administration