Public Transportation and Regional Transportation Planning

1. Public Transportation and Regional Transportation Planning Module 3, Lesson 6

2. Learning Objectives Describe why regional planning is relevant for public transportation Discuss the history of regional transportation planning Understand the regional transportation planning process and common issues that may arise.

3. Overall Context Describes the public and regional transportation planning process throughout the past century including the move to shorter-term time horizons and the corridor-level scale to a whole range of new techniques to increase the utilization and productivity of existing vehicles and facilities.

4. Why Regional Planning is Relevant for Public Transportation Agencies • Transit agency service areas go beyond municipal jurisdictions; • Many Potential Benefits of Regional Planning for Transit Agencies: • Influence identification of transportation issues; • Promote transit as a regional transportation priority; • Establish image of transit; • Win support for transit friendly land-use planning; Source: USDOT, 2004

5. Why Regional Planning is Relevant for Public Transportation Agencies (Cont.) • Many Potential Benefits of Regional Planning for Transit Agencies: • Win support for transit friendly land-use planning; • Promote multi-modal solutions; • Get transit on the agenda; • Strengthen funding projects and identify non-traditional sources; • Accelerate project delivery. Source: USDOT, 2004

6. Early History of Regional Transit/Transportation Planning • Early 20 the century: • Public transportation planning is in the domain of transit agencies; • No formal regional planning process: • ‘Private’ regional planning organizations, such as the Regional Plan Association in New York City, prepare plans for regions • 1934: Congress authorizes use of 1.5% of road construction funds for surveys, plans, engineering, and economic analyses • Housing Act of 1954 (Section 701) provides federal planning assistance to state planning agencies, cities, municipalities (<50,000), and (later) to regional planning agencies Source: Weiner 1992 & 2008

7. Pioneering Regional Transportation Studies • San Juan, PR transportation study (1948) • first to use a trip generation approach to forecast trips. • Detroit Metropolitan Area Traffic Study (DMATS) • combines all elements of an urban transportation study for the first time. • Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS) (1955) • uses trip generation, trip distribution, modal split, and traffic assignment models for travel forecasting. A simple land-use forecasting procedure is employed to forecast future land-use and activity patterns. • Overall, these plans are oriented towards regional highway networks based primarily on the criteria of economic costs and benefits. Transit was given secondary consideration. Source: Weiner 1992 & 2008

8. Federal Mandates/Incentives for Regional Planning • Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962: • first legislative mandate requiring planning as a condition to receiving federal capital assistance funds. • approval of any federal-aid highway project in an urbanized area of 50,000+ to be based on a continuing, comprehensive urban transportation planning process carried out cooperatively by states and local governments. (called “3C process”) • Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964: • federal capital grants can account for for up to two-thirds of the net project cost of construction, reconstruction, or acquisition of mass transportation facilities and equipment. • federal share was to be held to 50% in areas that had not completed their comprehensive planning process. Source: Weiner 1992 & 2008

9. Important Changes in Federal Legislation that Affected Regional Transit Planning in the 1970s • National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 • Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 and 1977 • Urban Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1970 (UMTA) • Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 • National Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1974 • Highway/Transit Planning Regulations 1975 • 1980s were quiet times in terms of regional transportation planning…. Source: Weiner 1992 & 2008

10. 1990s – Regional Transportation Planning Unleashed • Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 • Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 • Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) • First time that completion of the interstate highway system was not a focus of the legislation • Created an intermodal framework for transportation policy • Emphasized an increased state and local role in transportation planning • Provided significant increase in transferability of funds among programs • Placed heightened emphasis on new technology solutions to transportation problems Source: Weiner 1992 & 2008

11. Summary of Historic Trends • Planning activities in 1930s and 1940s focus on design and operation of individual transportation facilities; • Planning process through the decade of the 1960s focused on long-range time horizon and broad regional scale; • In 1970s planning processes turned their attention to shorter-term time horizons and the corridor-level scale; • During the 1980s, urban transportation planning had become primarily short-term oriented in most urbanized areas; • By the early 1990s, the era of major new highway construction was over in most urban areas, transportation planning shifted to addressing growing congestion, meeting air quality standards, reducing global warming, and supporting sustainable development. Source: Weiner 1992 & 2008

12. Today’s Regional Transportation Planning Process Source: USDOT, 2007

13. Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Basics • Setting for regional decision making; • Identify and evaluate alternative transportation improvement options; • Prepare and maintain a long-range Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP); • Develop a short-term Transportation Improvement Program (TIP); • Involve the public and other stakeholders; • There is no required structure for MPOs. Source: USDOT, 2007

14. State DOT Basics • Agency or department with transportation planning, programming, and project implementation responsibility • Responsible for the design, construction, operation, or maintenance of state facilities for multiple modes of transportation • Work cooperatively with tolling authorities, ports, local agencies, and special districts that own, operate, or maintain different portions of the transportation network • Prepare and maintain a long-range Statewide Transportation Plan • Develop a short-term Statewide Transportation Improvement Program Source: USDOT, 2007

15. List of Typical Regional and State Plans • Regional Plans • The Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) or Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) • Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) • The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) • State Plans • The Long-Range Statewide Transportation Plan • Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) Source: USDOT, 2007

16. Source: USDOT, 2007

17. Federal Funding • Federal funding—transferred to the state and later distributed to metropolitan areas—is typically the primary funding source for major plans and projects • Federal transportation funding is made available through the Federal Highway Trust Fund and is supplemented by general funds • Most FHWA sources of funding are administered by the state DOTs • The state DOT then allocates the money to urban and rural areas based on state and local priorities and needs • Most transit funds for urban areas are sent directly from the FTA to the transit operator • Transit funds for rural areas are administered by the state DOT Source: USDOT, 2007

18. Shares of State and Federal Funding for Transit, 2009 Source: AASHTO, 2011

19. Typical Regional Planning Issues • Air Pollution • Non-attainment areas • Conformity Requirements • Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) • Finances and Programming • Fiscally constrained plans • Land-use and Transportation Coordination • Context Sensitive Design • Transit Oriented Development • Performance Measures • Public Involvement Source: USDOT, 2007

20. Typical Regional 4 Step Model • Trip Generation • Trip Distribution • Mode Split • Network Assignment Source: USDOT, 2007

21. Sources • AASHTO (2011). Survey of State Funding for Public Transportation. Washington, DC, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. (additional reading) • USDOT (2007). The Transportation Planning Process: Key Issues. Washington, D.C., Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration. Retrieved 12/19/2011 from http://www.planning.dot.gov/documents/briefingbook/bbook_07.pdf (Read Introduction and Part 1; Instructor can choose from Major Policy Issues in Part 2) • USDOT (2004). Transit at the Table: A Guide to Participation in Metropolitan Decisionmaking. Washington, D.C., Federal Transit Administration. ) Retrieved 12/19/2011 from http://www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/TransitAtTable.pdf (Read Executive Summary; Instructor can choose additional sections) • Weiner, E. (1997). "Urban transportation planning in the US - A historical overview." Retrieved 12/19/2011 from http://tmip.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/clearinghouse/docs/utp/utp.pdf (Read Chapters 1, 12, 13). Possibly add chapters 3 and 4. • Updated version is available as a book: Weiner, E. (2008). Urban Transportation Planning in the United States: History, Policy, Practice. Westport, CT, Springer.

22. Sources for this Presentation