FHWA and Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS)

The Federal Highway Administration is committed to the advancement of CSS nationwide as one of the objectives of its Vital Few Goal on Environmental Stewardship and Streamlining. The objective is to improve the environmental quality of transportation decision making by incorporating context sensitive solutions principles in all aspects of planning and the project development process.

The purpose of this FHWA website is to provide information about FHWA's involvement with CSS and is not intended to duplicate the contents of the FHWA sponsored context sensitive solutions website. This external website is being developed in partnership with Project for Public Spaces in collaboration with Scenic America and Federal Highway Administration to assist FHWA in accomplishing the CSS objective of the Vital Few Goal. Other partners include:

• American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
• Federal Transit Administration
• Institute for Transportation Engineers (ITE)
• National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)
• National Park Service

The best place to go for detailed technical information about CSS is http://www.contextsensitivesolutions.org/

FHWA CSS Program

Focused efforts to achieve the FHWA objective of incorporating CSS into all aspects of transportation planning and project development include; the development and delivery of CSS training through the National Highway Institute and FHWA Resource Centers; initiatives to integrate CSS concepts into university curriculums; support and sponsorship of research projects, technical guidance handbooks, competitions and conferences; management and coordination of contracts and internal and external partnerships to link CSS with planning and project development.

The continued planning, funding and implementation of these activities is referred to as the FHWA CSS Program. Management and coordination of contracts and partnerships directly or indirectly related to the advancement of the implementation of CSS are considered FHWA CSS Program Activities. This list of activities is updated quarterly and represents recently completed and current CSS projects and initiatives. Contact information is included for each activity.

More Information

• CSS Objective
• Performance Assessment
• FHWA CSS Program Activities
• Lead Organizations/Partners/Network
  • Lead Organizations
  • CSS Network