A new bipartisan bill in Congress would provide funding for DOTs and MPOs to apply innovative accessibility metrics to decision-making. It would require U.S. DOT to provide data and support for five state DOTs and 10 MPOs to measure access to destinations by various modes. Whether the bill passes or not, the field is likely to continue looking at accessibility as an important metric, and SSTI has been at the forefront of the effort to apply accessibility to transportation and land use decisions.
SSTI report
To meet clean energy goals, everyone will need better transportation options
The proposed Green New Deal, like many local green energy and climate action plans across the country, aspires to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. SSTI has crunched the numbers in several cases, including for Hawaii’s Transcending Oil report, and found that ignoring the amount that people drive means even the most ambitious energy plans could fall well below their targets. But that also means focusing on those who drive the most—typically in far-flung suburbs with limited transportation options—and finding creative ways for them to reduce their impacts.
Accessibility in practice: A new guide from SSTI
The Virginia Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment recently released its new report, Accessibility in practice: A guide for transportation and land use decision making, developed by SSTI with several partners. The guide describes ways of measuring accessibility and, more importantly, how to use those metrics in planning, project evaluation, and other transportation and land use decisions. The information is useful for any state or local agency interested or already involved in making these kinds of decisions.
California launches major transportation-reform effort
California’s State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) and Department of Transportation (Caltrans) have launched a thorough-going reform to modernize practice at Caltrans. The move follows the release of a CalSTA-sponsored report by SSTI. The report calls for an update of the department’s mission, vision, and goals; realignment of departmental resources to address those new goals; and a stronger performance-based approach to manage change and ongoing work.
SSTI and SGA update “The Innovative DOT”
SSTI and Smart Growth America continue working with state DOTs and tracking innovative strategies for meeting 21st century transportation needs. These strategies are outlined in a newly updated edition of The Innovative DOT: A Handbook of Policy and Practice, released this week. The 2014 edition builds upon its predecessor with additional content, case studies, and fresh new ideas from a growing number of states.
New report from SSTI discusses freight transportation demand management strategies
A new report, funded by SSTI with a matching grant from the Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education, identifies and evaluates freight transportation demand management strategies to improve transportation efficiency by reducing the social costs associated with goods movement in urban areas.
Getting the Goods Without the Bads: Freight Transportation Demand Management Strategies to Reduce Urban Impacts (SSTI, 2013)
This project, funded by SSTI with a matching grant from the Center for Freight Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE), identifies and evaluates strategies to reduce the social costs associated with goods movement in urban areas by managing freight transportation demand.
Factors affecting the decline in VMT: A new SSTI report
SSTI has released a paper outlining factors contributing to the recent decline in American driving and the implications for transportation planning.
Factors affecting the decline in VMT: A new SSTI report
SSTI has released a paper outlining factors contributing to the recent decline in American driving and the implications for transportation planning.
VMT Inflection Point: Factors Affecting 21st Century Travel (SSTI, 2013)
For many decades, transportation planning has assumed continued increases in automobile use. Now, in a major reversal, the average American is driving considerably less. No one can predict the future with certainty, but there are many reasons to think that VMT trends will not revert to the 20th century trend. This paper lists some of those reasons, with references to supporting literature.