Planning Practices
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- Analysis of Statewide Transportation Plans (2005) - This report is the result of a review of 15 of the most recently updated statewide long-range transportation plans to identify trends and examples of planning practice in three topic areas: (1) Type of Plan (Needs-Based, Vision-Based, Policy, Project, Corridor, or Fiscally Realistic); (2) Incorporation of the Planning Factors Identified in TEA-21 and SAFETEA-LU, the federal laws that define an approach to statewide and metropolitan area planning; and (3) Multi-Modal Planning.
- Asset Sustainability Index: A Proposed Measure for Long-Term Performance (PDF, 4886KB) - This report examines the concept of asset sustainability metrics. Such metrics address the long-term performance of highway assets based upon expected expenditure levels. It examines how such metrics are used in Australia, Britain and the private sector. It also reviews asset management data from selected states to illustrate that long-term sustainability metrics could be produced using available US asset management data.
- Evaluation of Statewide Long Range Transportation Plans (2002) - This report is the result of a comprehensive review of current statewide plans nationwide available at the time of the review. The goals of the research were to assess how individual states approach a series of important transportation planning themes in their plans; to identify national planning trends from this analysis; and to highlight "noteworthy practices." The noteworthy practice sections of the report provide short case studies of innovative approaches to the themes by individual states. The report and forthcoming data base are intended to provide insights and references for state planning stakeholders as they develop future plans that are increasingly informative and useful for decisionmaking.
- Examples of Statewide Transportation Planning Practices (1995) (PDF, 246 KB) This report presents examples of practices that were state of the art at the time of its publication.
- Integrating Asset Management into the Metropolitan Planning Process (PDF, 425KB) - A peer exchange organized by the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Asset Management and Office of Planning was held in Traverse City, Michigan in July 2006 which included representatives from state departments of transportation together with representatives of metropolitan planning organizations to discuss the use of Asset Management techniques in the metropolitan planning process.
- Incorporating GHG Emissions in the Planning Process (March 2013) - Although Federal regulations do not require analyzing GHG emissions as part of statewide or metropolitan transportation planning, many actions to address GHG emissions can be initiated at the state and regional level. GHG consideration can be incorporated into the transportation planning process.
- Land Use and Economic Development in Statewide Transportation Planning (1999) (PDF, 1.65 MB) - This report provides an overview of land use activities of state departments of transportation.
- Reissued: Planning for Transportation in Rural Areas (January 2004) - This document provides resource information needed by rural planners, city and county engineers, stakeholders, local officials, and other decisionmakers involved with developing rural transportation plans. Readers will gain a better understanding of "rural", the variety of jurisdictions involved in rural transportation planning, including transit, and samples of successful transportation planning.
- Rural Transportation Toolbox - A project of the 1998 partnership between the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Transportation, this toolbox was designed to assist public and private stakeholders in planning, developing, and improving rural areas and small communities, especially through transportation and related projects.
- Statewide Opportunities for Integrating Operations, Safety and Multimodal Planning: A Reference Manual - This reference manual is intended to assist managers and staff at State DOTs in their efforts to more effectively integrate operations, safety, and planning. The manual builds on a previous Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) document, Statewide Opportunities for Linking Planning and Operations: A Primer. While the primer identifies broad opportunities for State DOTs to integrate planning and operations, the reference manual extends this information to provide practical instruction on how to implement these opportunities and others along with case study examples and "toolkits" to help get started. This reference manual also expands the focus of integration to include operations, safety, and planning in a multimodal context.
- Statewideplanning.org - This website of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Standing Committee on Planning identifies and share resources and best practices on statewide transportation planning practice.
- STIP State Of The Practice Review: Development and Use of Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs - This report examines the state of the practice in the development and use of statewide transportation improvement programs (STIPs) by state departments of transportation (State DOTs). It includes the results of a scan of all 52 publically-available STIPs as of January 2014, a more detailed analysis of 14 STIPs which were selected as a group representing varying styles and techniques, and a discussion of three general descriptive models for understanding how ways in which State DOTs develop and use STIPs in the statewide transportation planning process both to meet regulatory requirements and to support broad agency goals such as communicating information to the public and performance-based planning and programming. The report features numerous illustrative examples of STIP practices from the 14 STIPs selected for more detailed analysis and summarizes potential future advancements in STIPs as "food for thought" in a theoretical "Enhanced STIP" model.
- Summary Report: Peer Workshop on Adaptation to Climate Change Impacts - FHWA developed this report to summarize the peer exchange results for the use and benefit of DOTs and their stakeholders across the country. The report summarizes participant presentations and the key issues that emerged during the event. To help support state DOT and other transportation agency efforts to adapt to climate change impacts, this report identifies suggestions from the peer exchange participants for potential elements of guidance, research and policy at the national level.
- The Transportation Planning Capacity Building website has more in depth information about and resources for Statewide Transportation Planning