CP6321 - Transportation Planning Methods and Investment Decisions

Course Description

This course is the second in a two-part sequence geared towards providing an overview of transportation planning practice. The focus in this class will be the methods used by transportation planners to advise and affect the decision-making process leading to specific investment decisions. To provide the necessary context, this course will include a review of the political forces that guide the outcomes of major transportation investment decisions in the United States. The course will teach tools/methods fundamental for students to develop a working framework for understanding:

• how investments are made in various modes of transportation;

• how trade-offs between alternative transportation investments are or are not addressed;

• intergovernmental issues in reaching regional consensus over transportation investments;

• perspectives on transportation decisions at local, regional, state, and federal levels of government;

• implications of transportation investments on economic development and urban form;

• significant changes in transportation policy from supply to demand side solutions; and

• why transportation policy decisions require a strategic planning framework.

The context provided here is intended to frame the shifting trends in transportation investments and overarching policy decisions from primarily supply side to demand side strategies. This shift is in response to limited fiscal, environmental, and land based resources. This shift is characterized by an increasing proportion of total transportation dollars being devoted to improvements beyond the expansion in general purpose highway capacity. Therefore, a significant portion of the class lectures will be targeted at the identification of available solutions to affect investments across a variety of modes beyond general purpose highway expansion in addition to the arrangement of activities within the urban landscape.

While we will focus primarily on transportation policy as related to moving people, we will also address the movement of goods. This is critical given that economic development, job creation, and fiscal vitality are a function of access to commodities. The location and function of multi-modal transportation facilities are significantly affected by the utilization of rights of way for goods movement. This very issue is a fundamental consideration in the implementation of rail transport throughout the nation.
 

Course Structure
 

Students are expected to work independently in completing course readings and assignments and to participate enthusiastically in class discussions. In general each class session will consist of a presentation and be followed by a discussion based on the given topic. Guest lecturers will be invited to several of the classes to present an area of transportation planning and methods they use in their work. This will not only provide greater depth of practical applications but will also acquaint students with professionals in a variety of areas of transportation planning and policy development.

Class participation will be based on contributions made during class discussions in addition to the submittal of 2 questions for discussion at the beginning of each class period. Term project assignments will be distributed in class and are to be conducted on an individual basis.
 

The Goal and Conceptual Framework
 

To gain a working knowledge of the situations that transportation planners frequently encounter and an understanding of the tools used to guide and advise transportation investment decisions. Furthermore, to understand the nature of the decision making process as guided by adopted policy and political forces and the role of the planner within this context.

To achieve this goal the course will first focus on the development of an understanding of the situations that transportation planners are most often faced with and the tools used within a variety of planning contexts. The class will also address the interface between planners and decision-makers. This will include several guest lectures from transportation planners addressing current problems within the urban environment from a representative cross section of public and private agencies. Students are exposed to federal policies in the first course in this sequence. These policies include the "Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act" (ISTEA) and the "Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990" (CAAA) which have specific requirements affecting transportation investment decisions. ISTEA and the CAAA represent the legal and regulatory framework for transportation planning today and are likely to continue to affect the profession for some time to come. The development of an in-depth understanding of these policies and their requirements will provide students with a competitive edge in the job market.

Lab Schedule

• Simplified Project Forecasting
• Simplified Project Forecasting
• Simplified Project Forecasting
• Highway Capacity Manual
• Highway Capacity Manual
• Highway Capacity Manual
• Transit Optimization Model
• Transit Optimization Model
• Gravity Models
• Introduction to Dram/Empal
• Dram/Empal
• Dram/Empal
• 1. Thematic Mapping
• 2. Thematic Mapping