Planning for a Better Tomorrow

Assisting transportation officials and staff to resolve increasingly

complex issues related to transportation needs in their communities  What's New New Peer Reports Available: Best Practices in Bicycle Facilities Planning: Learning from the Chicago Experience Key Considerations in Metropolitan and Statewide Tribal Consultation MPO and Transit Authority Consolidation in San Diego Developing an Electronic STIP Process (e-STIP) in Connecticut 2008 Transportation Excellence Awards Announced The Transportation Planning Process: Key Issues A Briefing Book for Transportation Decisionmakers, Officials, and Staff

 Our Mission

The Transportation Planning Capacity Building (TPCB) Program is designed to help decision makers, transportation officials, and staff resolve the increasingly complex issues they face when addressing transportation needs in their communities. This comprehensive program for training, technical assistance, and support is targeted to State, local, regional, and tribal governments, transit operators, and community leaders.

 About the Program

Purpose:

The Transportation Planning Capacity Building (TPCB) Program is a collaborative effort of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) with various public and private organizations. Broadly speaking, it exists to help state and local transportation staff meet their complex political, social, economic, and environmental demands. On a practical level, the TPCB Program provides information, training, and technical assistance to help transportation professionals create plans and programs that respond to the needs of the many users of their local transportation systems.

Goals:

• Provide background information for transportation officials to enhance their understanding of the transportation planning process, their role within the process, and its relationship to community and societal goals.
• Strengthen transportation planning staff skills in the areas of consensus building, understanding policy guidance, and grasping the technical elements of their job through training and peer-to-peer exchanges;
• Provide a means for disseminating commendable examples of transportation planning practices across the nation; and
• Provide new metropolitan planning organizations and areas newly designated as non-attainment areas for air quality with information, training, and technical assistance.

Objectives:

• Gather and disseminate examples of effective transportation planning practices from across the nation.
• Act as a central clearinghouse for information and contacts within the transportation planning community.
• Create training programs and support peer-to-peer information exchanges that strengthen staff understanding of policy guidelines and of the technical elements of the planning process.
• Provide information, training, and technical assistance to states, local and tribal planning organizations, and transportation agencies.