Rural Transportation Planning
Why Is Rural Planning Treated Separately? Institutional arrangements and transportation issues can be very different in rural areas than in metropolitan areas with populations of over 50,000. In metropolitan areas, the responsibility for planning lies with designated Metropolitan Planning Organizations; in small communities and rural areas, no one official body is so designated. In some states, the State Department of Transportation conducts planning for these areas, while in other states, Rural Planning Organizations or local governments do so. In addition, rural areas sometimes face transportation issues of a different nature than those encountered in metropolitan areas. |
Welcome to the FHWA's Rural Transportation Planning website!
This site provides links to a wide variety of information resources to support transportation planning efforts in communities and areas outside those regions covered by Metropolitan Planning Organizations. Information here is intended to support studies of rural demographic and travel patterns and trends, analysis of transportation alternatives to address rural transportation issues, and coordination for prioritizing and funding rural transportation strategies.
Two other informative websites also provide resources for rural transportation planning:
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Rural Transportation, an information clearinghouse website created with help from the FHWA
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The Rural and Small Community Transportation Planning page of the FHWA's Transportation Planning Capacity Building website
On this site, you'll find links to information resources organized under the following topics of interest:
- General Topics
- Rural (Non-Metropolitan Local Official) Consultation
- Rural Planning Methods
- Rural Transit and Multimodal Planning
- Coordinating Transportation, Land Use, and Economic Development
- Rural Safety
- Rural Air Quality
- Other Relevant Topics and Resources
- Key Organizations
General Topics
Serving Rural America (2001) provides information about Federal funding programs that are targeted to or have special uses for rural areas.
Planning for Transportation in Rural Areas (2004) provides an introduction to rural planning, including a definition of what is meant by ‘rural', the major challenges faced in rural areas, the roles and responsibilities in rural planning, and tips for successful transportation planning.
A FHWA White Paper on Rapidly Urbanizing Areas (2006) provides identifies examples of how some areas are developing planning capacity and institutions to deal with rapid urbanization.
Rural (Non-Metropolitan Local Official) Consultation
The Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy For Users (SAFETEA-LU) provides for consultation with non-metropolitan officials when State Departments of Transportation make transportation decisions in their Statewide Transportation Planning and Programming processes. This consultation process, separate and discrete from the public involvement process, is required to be documented in writing. All States have completed this task. Every five years beginning in 2006, States are required to review and solicit comments from non-metropolitan local officials and other interested parties regarding this process in order to ensure that the process continues to be effective.
A rule on non-metropolitan consultation, released in 2003, describes these requirements. The actual text of the regulation is available here.
A series of workshops was held in 2005 and 2006 to explore models of rural consultation. Materials from those workshops can be found here.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has posted several documents relevant to rural planning and coordination here. Of particular relevance to rural planning coordination is the NCHRP 8-36 report on Task 35.
Rural Planning Methods
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has posted several documents relevant to rural planning and coordination here. Of particular relevance to rural planning practices and methods are NCHRP 8-36 reports on:
- Task 32, Tools, Techniques, and Methods for Rural Transportation Planning (2004)
- Task 35, Evaluating State DOT Rural Planning Practices (2003)
FHWA's Engaging Low-Literacy and Limited English Proficiency Populations provides examples of techniques that can be used to involve these populations in the transportation planning process.
Rural Transit and Multimodal Planning
A basic introduction to rural transit planning is available here. A more in-depth guide to rural transit service planning is provided here.
The Transit Cooperative Research Program has produced a number of downloadable publications on rural transit. Publication number R-101, Toolkit for Rural Community Coordinated Transportation Services, may be of particular interest.
The Federal Transit Administration also provides resources to help in providing transit services.
Coordinating Transportation, Land Use, and Economic Development
Influence of Transportation Infrastructure on Land Use - (or PDF, 146 KB) describes the development decision-making process from the private sector perspective, as well as the role that transportation and government entities play in the process.
The FHWA's Land Use Toolkit provides information on methods, strategies, and procedures for integrating land use and transportation planning, decision-making, and project implementation.
Rural Safety
The FHWA Office of Safety provides a number of resources to help with improving rural transportation safety.
Rural Air Quality
Although air quality has been mainly an urban concern, it is beginning to become an issue that rural areas will also have to manage. Several rural counties have exceeded the national standard for one or more air pollutants. The FHWA has developed a paper describing air quality issues in rural areas.
The FHWA maintains a website with information on transportation conformity that describes the basic concepts of this regulatory issue.
Other Relevant Topics and Resources
A Study of the Impact of Nine Transportation Management Projects on Hurricane Evacuation Preparedness describes lessons learned from nine states' experiences with hurricane evacuations as well as Louisiana's deployment of "Hydrowatch" information stations.
The Rural Transportation Toolbox (1998) is designed to assist public and private stakeholders in planning, developing, and improving rural areas and small communities, especially through transportation and related projects.
Key Organizations
- National Association of Development Organizations (NADO)
- National Association of Counties (NACO)
- National Association of Regional Councils (NARC)
- Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA)
- Transportation Research Board (TRB)
Contacts
- For questions and further information about rural transportation or this website, please contact Lorrie Lau at lorrie.lau@dot.gov.
