For agencies that want to address the land use-transportation connection, Walk Score now provides a new form of accessibility measure, as well as data to help measure trends over time. The firm is offering a way to measure the depth of choices of destinations such as groceries or parks, in a platform called ChoiceMaps.
sustainability
Aligning Strategies to Maximize Impact: Case Studies on Transportation and Economic Development (National Association of Development Organizations, 2012)
Ten case studies from 11 states document how the fields of transportation and economic development can complement each other and create an environment for increased collaboration and aligning of resources.
Infrastructure Financing Options for Transit-Oriented Development (EPA Office of Sustainable Communities Smart Growth Program, 2013)
A new report from the EPA Office of Sustainable Communities Smart Growth Program provides information about funding mechanisms and strategies that communities can use to provide innovative financing options for transit oriented development.
Washington business community ups support for operations, preservation
The Washington Roundtable, a group comprising many of the state’s largest businesses, is urging passage of a nine-cent increase in the fuel tax. What’s most interesting about the proposal, however, is not the revenue ask, but where the group wants the money to go: for major increases in operations and in system preservation.
An environmentalist’s call to curb the federal role in transportation
In the post-Interstate-building era, questions about the role of the federal government in funding surface transportation have become more common. Most of these arguments have come from conservatives. A new call for eliminating the federal role comes from a different perspective, though—a green one.
MassDOT seeks to triple transit, bike and walk share
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation last week announced a goal of tripling the share of trips in the state taken by transit, bike, and walking by 2030. Strategies to achieve the growth in non-single-occupant-vehicle modes are still being considered. If MassDOT can show progress toward its ambitious goals, it could provide best practices for peer agencies pursuing related policy ends.
Federal Resources for Sustainable Rural Communities (Partnership for Sustainable Communities and USDA, 2012)
This guide to HUD, DOT, EPA, and USDA programs highlights federal resources rural communities can use to promote economic competitiveness, protect healthy environments, and enhance quality of life. It provides key information on funding and technical assistance opportunities available from the four agencies, as well as examples of how rural communities across the country have put these programs into action.
The Innovative DOT: A Handbook of Policy and Practice (SSTI & SGA, 2012)
State officials across the country are facing the same challenges. Revenues are falling and budgets are shrinking while transportation demands grow. Most state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have ambitious goals: improve safety, reduce congestion, enhance economic opportunity, improve reliability, preserve system assets, accelerate project delivery, and help to create healthier, more livable neighborhoods, just to name a few.
The handbook provides 31 recommendations transportation officials can use as they position their agencies for success in the new economy. The handbook documents many of the innovative approaches state leaders are using to make systems more efficient, government more effective and constituents better satisfied.
Land Use and Transportation Scenario Analysis and Microsimulation (LUTSAM) Tool (SSTI and DelDOT, 2012)
With SSTI assistance, Delaware DOT has developed its four-step demand model for scenario planning, using off-the-shelf GIS and simulation software. The tool, called Land Use and Transportation Scenario Analysis and Microsimulation (LUTSAM), enables DelDOT to quickly model and display development scenarios, providing communities and developers with analysis on traffic, congestion, emissions and other outcomes. LUTSAM will dramatically demonstrate, in real-world cases, the cost and environmental advantages of well-connected, compact and mixed use development. It is currently being used in a variety of settings around the state. Because it is built around standard software, it is adaptable for other states, MPOs and cities seeking to improve their land use and transportation planning.
Walk this Way: The Economic Promise of Walkable Places in Metropolitan Washington, D.C. (Brookings, 2012)
An economic analysis of a sample of neighborhoods in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area using walkability measures, this study offer useful insights for a diverse set of interests, including lenders, developers, economic planning professionals, as well as those interested in the economic healthy of cities.