Last year, SSTI and partner Smart Growth America published “The Innovative DOT: A Handbook of Policy and Practice,” covering more than 30 topic areas. We are now preparing the second edition of the handbook, and we need …
Focus Areas
Regional TDM Action Plan (Pugest Sound Regional Council, 2013)
This transportation demand management plan from the Puget Sound Regional Council and the TDM Steering Committee lays out strategies to reduce single occupancy car trips through the region. A variety of efforts are outlined, including neighborhood-based alternative transportation education, car-sharing, employer-based ride-sharing, parking management, and regional transit cooperation.
Tools for Estimating VMT Reductions from Built Environment Changes (Anne Vernez Moudon and Orion Stewart , University of Washington, 2013)
This report reviews the built environment characteristics associated with travel and the tools available that utilize these built environment characteristics to estimate travel and related outcomes such as vehicle emissions and health co-benefits. Tools ranged from simple to complex, and a number of factors should be considered when applying a tool to a planning effort.
Getting on Board for Health (Alameda County Public Health Department, 2013)
This health impact assessment informed the development of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Regional Transportation Plan. It focused specifically on transit-dependent populations and the expected health outcomes that may result from changes to bus access as determined by RTP.
Who Pays for Climate Change? (National Resources Defense Council, 2013)
U.S. taxpayers outspend private insurers three-to-one to cover climate disruption costs. Paying for climate disruption was one of the largest non-defense discretionary budget items in 2012. Private insurers themselves only covered about 25 percent of these costs, leaving the federal government and its public insurance enterprises to pay for the majority of the remaining claims.
How MPOs Are Handling TAP and SRTS (National Center for Safe Routes to School, 2013)
This white paper from the National Center for Safe Routes to School is based on in-depth interviews with a selection of MPO managers and state SRTS coordinators, conducted as they were setting up and launching their programs after the changes in the program with MAP-21.
Assessing the Extent and Determinates of Induced Growth (Montana DOT, 2013)
Transportation improvements affect the accessibility of places, which in turn can result in changes in land use in combination with factors that support or discourage development (such as land prices, market demand, local land use regulations, and environmental constraints). Transportation projects alone cannot change surrounding land use. The Montana Department of Transportation has released a report that discusses a legally defensible process for assessing the indirect land use and environmental effects of transportation projects.
Our Built and Natural Environments: A Technical Review of the Interactions Among Land Use, Transportation, and Environmental Quality (EPA, 2013)
The EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities Smart Growth Program offers this comprehensive review on how the built environment – the way we build our cities and towns – directly affects our environment and public health. It provides evidence that certain kinds of land use and transportation strategies – where and how we build our communities – can reduce the environmental and human health impacts of development.
The New Majority: Pedaling Toward Equity (League of American Bicyclists and Sierra Club, 2013)
This report features data on demographic ridership, the effect of safe cycling infrastructure on ridership, new immigrant perceptions of bicycling, as well as the economic impact of transportation and health inequity.
Proceedings from SSTI Community of Practice Meeting – Making the most of the Transportation Alternatives Program (SSTI, 2013)
The findings and key points of the discussions from the May 7-9, 2013 “SSTI Community of Practice Meeting – Making the most of the Transportation Alternatives Program” are being made available for the public.