Decision Making In Transport Planning

This pioneering text provides a holistic approach to decisionmaking in transportation project development and programming, whichcan help transportation professionals to optimize their investmentchoices. The authors present a proven set of methodologies forevaluating transportation projects that ensures that all costs andimpacts are taken into consideration. The text's logical organization gets readers started with asolid foundation in basic principles and then progressively buildson that foundation. Topics covered include: Developing performance measures for evaluation, estimatingtravel demand, and costing transportation projects Performing an economic efficiency evaluation that accounts forsuch factors as travel time, safety, and vehicle operatingcosts Evaluating a project's impact on economic development and landuse as well as its impact on society and culture Assessing a project's environmental impact, including airquality, noise, ecology, water resources, and aesthetics Evaluating alternative projects on the basis of multipleperformance criteria Programming transportation investments so that resources can beoptimally allocated to meet facility-specific and system-widegoals Each chapter begins with basic definitions and concepts followedby a methodology for impact assessment. Relevant legislation isdiscussed and available software for performing evaluations ispresented. At the end of each chapter, readers are providedresources for detailed investigation of particular topics. Theseinclude Internet sites and publications of international anddomestic agencies and research institutions. The authors alsoprovide a companion Web site that offers updates, data foranalysis, and case histories of project evaluation and decisionmaking. Given that billions of dollars are spent each year ontransportation systems in the United States alone, and that thereis a need for thorough and rational evaluation and decision makingfor cost-effective system preservation and improvement, this textshould be on the desks of all transportation planners, engineers,and educators. With exercises in every chapter, this text is anideal coursebook for the subject of transportation systems analysisand evaluation.

Every three years, researchers with interest and expertise in transport survey methods meet to improve and influence the conduct of surveys that support transportation planning, policy making, modelling, and monitoring related issues for urban, regional, intercity, and international person, vehicle, and commodity movements. This book compiles the critical thinking on priority topics in contemporary transport policy and planning contexts. The contributed papers cover two key themes related to types of decision-making of importance to the development of data collection on both passenger travel and freight movements: The first theme, Selecting the Right Survey Method, acknowledges the fact that transport survey methods are evolving to meet both changing uses of transport survey data and the challenges of conducting surveys within contemporary society. The second theme, Supporting Transport Planning and Policy, recognizes that the demands on transportation data programs to support decision-making for transport planning and policy making clearly have evolved. The chapters have been selected with particular emphasis on the challenges of the near and medium term future to the design of transport surveys. Rapidly evolving problems and policy contexts are compelling transport researchers to advance the state-of-the-art of methods, tools, strategies and protocols, while assuring the stability and coherence of the very data from which trends can be tracked and understood and on which important decisions can be made.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) wrote this guide to help citizens understand how decisions are made at the local, State, and national levels, in the transportation planning process.

The book can serve as an ideal textbook for both undergraduate and graduate courses in Urban Transportation Planning. It fills an appropriate and important niche by giving proper emphasis to what "actors" and activities can influence the quality of the planning process and its eventual impact on a community. The incorporation of major legislation (ISTEA, CAAA, etc.) and other developments (GIS, traffic impact analysis, 1000 Friends of Oregon, etc.)that affect transportation planning distinguishes the text among others in the area.

The integration of technology into the transport planning sector has allowed for more stable, yet increasingly complex models that enable better analysis techniques and new approaches to decision making. These modern advances ensure higher productivity in addressing various planning problems. Using Decision Support Systems for Transportation Planning Efficiency is a valuable reference source of the latest scholarly research on the vast improvements that computational innovations have made for transportation planners. Featuring extensive coverage on a range of topics relating to spatial planning, environmental risks of transport, and traffic information systems, this publication is a pivotal reference source for transportation planners, professionals, and academicians seeking expert information on a multitude of transportation issues. This publication features timely chapters relevant to the area of transport planning, including artificial neural network models, logistics hubs, urban growth and expansion, accessibility modeling, sustainable mobility, hazardous materials transport, and urban intersections.

Compiles the critical thinking on priority topics in contemporary transport policy and planning contexts. In this title, the contributed papers cover two key themes related to types of decision-making of importance to the development of data collection on both passenger travel and freight movements.

This report makes recommendations for good practice bringing the results of economic appraisals and environmental assessments before decision makers in the transport sector on the basis of reviews of recent experience in infrastructure planning and policy development in seven countries.

An integrated approach is presented for systematically incorporating social, economic, and environmental factors into transportation planning and decision making. The timely identification is stressed of the nature, magnitude, and incidence of these potential factors so that in all phases of transportation planning, alternatives may be developed that avoid or minimize adverse effects and that take full advantage of opportunities to increase benefits. The early, effective, knowledgeable involvement of the public to clarify issues and to aid in the development and evaluation of proposals in emphasized, and the effective use is stressed of expertise and resources both of the transportation agency and of other agencies with maximum flexibility and openess. Objectives for all phases of a transportation planning and design process are listed, a 4-phase study strategy is proposed, and the roles of the transportation professional are reviewed.