National Academies Press: OpenBook

A Guidebook for Corridor-Based Statewide Transportation Planning (2010)

Chapter: Section 3 - Technical Guidance for SWCP

« Previous: Section 2 - Statewide Corridor Planning
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Suggested Citation:"Section 3 - Technical Guidance for SWCP." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. A Guidebook for Corridor-Based Statewide Transportation Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14395.
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Suggested Citation:"Section 3 - Technical Guidance for SWCP." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. A Guidebook for Corridor-Based Statewide Transportation Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14395.
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Suggested Citation:"Section 3 - Technical Guidance for SWCP." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. A Guidebook for Corridor-Based Statewide Transportation Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14395.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Section 3 - Technical Guidance for SWCP." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. A Guidebook for Corridor-Based Statewide Transportation Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14395.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Section 3 - Technical Guidance for SWCP." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. A Guidebook for Corridor-Based Statewide Transportation Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14395.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Section 3 - Technical Guidance for SWCP." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. A Guidebook for Corridor-Based Statewide Transportation Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14395.
×
Page 20

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This section provides guidance to those interested in adopting an SWCP approach to trans- portation planning. The guidance is organized by the major steps as discussed in Section 2 and as shown in Figure 1. As indicated previously, the emphasis is on the beginning and end of the process. A more detailed description of the steps for corridor planning is found in other references, including those listed in Section 5. Establish Organizing Principles and Institutional Structure 15 S E C T I O N 3 Technical Guidance for SWCP Step Reason 1. Establish process guidelines on how SWCP will be conducted in the state. This step is necessary to provide consistent guidelines to SWCP participants on expected approaches and products from SWCP. These guidelines will also recommend public involvement actions and strategies appropriate for different steps in the process. It is expected that the type and level of public involvement efforts will be different in the early and latter steps of statewide planning as compared with what will occur during the individual corridor studies. 2. Utilize or adopt existing statewide transportation goals that will guide SWCP efforts. This step will provide some level of consistency and compatibility among the different corridor studies that will be conducted as part of the SWCP effort. 3. Identify common data sources and analysis methods that can be used in the corridor studies. For those that are readily available, incorporate them into the process guidelines. Many states have developed statewide databases (for crashes, pavement condition, transit operations, bicycle/pedestrian facilities, environmental and cultural resources, economic development, etc.) that can be used consistently in all of the corridor studies. 4. Identify common policy or problem areas that are of statewide significance that should This effort targets policy or problem areas of state significance that might not be ordinarily considered in corridor studies. be considered in corridor studies. Incorporate them into the process guidelines. For example, the state might want each corridor study to consider needs associated with freight movement to promote economic development, identify areas where ITS technologies could be readily used to maximize system preservation, or consider the use or expansion of public transit in corridors where sufficient demand might exist.

16 A Guidebook for Corridor-Based Statewide Transportation Planning 5. Create internal procedures and/or organizational means of prioritizing projects resulting from corridor studies. An organizational center of responsibility for the SWCP process should be clearly identified. In states that have progressed to the point that corridor planning results have been used to identify statewide priorities, a task force or advisory committee has often been created to assess the tradeoffs associated with different corridor recommendations. Such an institutional capacity is also important for guiding the initial implementation of the SWCP process in the state— for example, by helping to establish goals and related evaluation criteria for later use in decisionmaking. Step Reason Establish a Corridor Network Step Reason 6. Develop criteria for establishing a statewide multimodal network of candidate corridors. As seen in most cases investigated for this project, the state corridor network identifies that set of corridors that meets some predetermined set of policy criteria. For example, those criteria could relate to the accessibility to economic activities, freight flows, freight and passenger volumes, evacuation routes, and national defense purposes. In some cases, it might be appropriate to establish a tiered system of candidate corridors. If so, the criteria for each tiered network should be clearly delineated. In addition, the identification of the statewide multimodal network could have important political consequences and, thus, should be undertaken in an open and transparent way, with opportunities provided for public involvement. Finally, corridors of statewide significance should be viewed from a multimodal perspective—that is, they should not be identified strictly as a highway corridor, rail corridor, transit corridor, and so forth. Even if funding strategies are constrained along modal lines, corridor needs should be identified for all the modes present in the corridor (e.g., the Florida example in Appendix A). 7. Utilize an appropriate analysis approach to delineate potential corridors or corridor segments. This step is important to identify the corridors that meet the definition of “state significance” and, thus, are subject to increased state interest in investment. In many of the SWCP examples, a geographic information system (GIS) approach is used to identify those corridors that meet the combined identification criteria. In other cases where the identification criteria are not too complex (e.g., minimum length of highway segment and threshold values of average annual daily traffic [AADT] and congestion levels), the candidate corridor network can be identified through very simple application of threshold analysis. 8. Develop a statewide corridor database. To identify priority corridors (the next step in the process), a database should be developed that organizes the corridor performance and condition data in a consistent manner. For example, one should access or create a database that includes all of the data available for all modes in the corridor network identification selection criteria. The data in this database should be monitored and updated periodically as needed to provide the most current data for future SWCP efforts.

Identify Study Corridors Technical Guidance for SWCP 17 Step Reason 9. Applying the criteria used to identify the corridor network, prioritize the corridors in order of greatest urgency of need for a comprehensive corridor study or analysis. This step uses the criteria established to identify state-significant corridors and applies them either directly or with a weighting scheme to establish a prioritized list of corridors for study or analysis. This prioritization can be organized in absolute ranking (e.g., 1 to 10) or possibly by tiers (e.g., 1 to 5 in Tier 1, 6 to 14 in Tier 2, etc.). A tiered approach provides some flexibility in proceeding with corridor studies or analyses to best meet state needs (e.g., any corridor study in Tier 1 should be undertaken as soon as possible). In some cases, numerical scoring does not reflect all of the factors that might influence the need for a particular corridor study; therefore, the state DOT should provide opportunities in the prioritization criteria to address other qualitative factors. 10. Establish a corridor study strategy and schedule to conduct corridor studies over a pre-determined cycle. In some cases, the corridor analysis might be very general, simply using readily available data (such as functional classification or traffic volumes) to identify problem areas and potential solutions without project-level detail. Thus, the state should be able to complete the corridor studies quickly. In other situations, a corridor study that produces very specific project recommendations (and perhaps addresses environmental concerns, modal alternatives, or other issues) will take a longer time and most likely a larger budget. It is not likely that a state DOT has the resources to conduct numerous comprehensive corridor studies at the same time. The SWCP process is a continuous one that cycles through different corridors over many years. This step may require a multi-year strategy for undertaking major studies of all corridors listed as part of the study prioritization process. 11. Coordinate with the state DOT’s planning partners in establishing study roles and responsibilities. If necessary, establish a memorandum of understanding to define the respective roles. This step identifies the study management responsibility and the roles of each agency, as well as the budget contribution of the participating partners. Often, the state DOT itself would manage a corridor study. However, the lead agency might also be an MPO, an RPO, or a modal agency. For example, in urban areas having multimodal needs, it is likely that MPOs and transit agencies would be partners in corridor studies. Conduct Corridor Studies (Elements Related to the SWCP Approach) Establish Organizing Principles and Institutional Structure Step Reason 12. Define level of corridor analysis to be used in the corridor study process. Statewide plan development may rely heavily on corridor studies that have been done previously. Such studies for other corridors can be costly and time consuming, so conducting timely studies for all corridors may not be feasible for plan development. Other methods may allow a state DOT to address all corridors in a shorter timeframe and at a lower cost (see Appendix B), so the level of effort should be defined at the outset. However, major corridor studies may eventually be desired for all corridors in the SWCP process, so much of this guidance has been developed to address that expectation.

Identification of Vision, Goals, and Performance Measures 18 A Guidebook for Corridor-Based Statewide Transportation Planning Step Reason 13. Establish a common corridor study management or advisory structure to be used for corridor studies. Given the importance of corridor study results to the statewide transportation planning process, it is important that similar management structures be used in all of the studies. For example, a standard procedure might include both a DOT district and central planning staff member for each corridor study to promote consistency with state guidelines. The project decision team or advisory groups could also include representatives from transit agencies; other modal agencies (e.g., a port or airport authority); regional planning organizations; industry stakeholders; local governments; and so forth. If the study includes a preliminary environmental assessment for larger scale projects, it could be worthwhile to include representatives from environmental resource agencies or interests as a member of the advisory structure. This step does not require that every corridor management structure will be the same. Indeed, they will most likely be different, given the different contexts and constituencies found in each corridor. 14. Incorporate issues of state significance into public involvement materials and outreach efforts. Every corridor study has some form of public involvement, local consultation, and resource agency coordination aimed at soliciting input into the study. Major state issues need to be addressed in these efforts. Many studies develop the public involvement strategy as part of the initial steps in planning. Materials are produced for public dissemination and presentations are prepared for public meetings. It is important that the materials used in this program reflect the issues of state significance that have been identified a priori. Step Reason 15. Prepare and use templates that can be incorporated into the vision, goals, and performance measures This step is very important for establishing the crucial state issues to be addressed in the corridor study. It is not likely that the vision and goals statement would be significantly different from those produced by the corridor study, anyway. identified for each corridor study that reflect state interests. However, a set of common performance measures for all corridor studies is crucial for establishing statewide consistency. The state template would be included in the process guidelines adopted at the beginning of the SWCP effort. Problem Identification Step Reason 16. Prepare and use templates that can be incorporated into the problem identification phase of the corridor planning process relating to policy or problem areas of state significance. State DOTs often have some policy or problem areas that merit more detailed attention. One way of accomplishing this is to require one or more performance measures unique to the specific problem area. However, another way is to require specific types of performance issues or even strategies. For example, a state DOT could require identification of problem areas that affect freight movement, place first priority on pavement and bridge condition, or provide a standard method for consideration of transit options.

Technical Guidance for SWCP 19 Step Reason 17. Identify environmentally sensitive areas in which extra effort must be made to consider potential impacts that could result in environmental harm. This step provides an early warning system for projects that might need extra attention due to potential environmental harm. Many DOTs have adopted procedures and processes aimed at avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating environmental impacts. This step could be implemented through state guidelines on what to look for in corridor studies to identify environmental “hotspots.” This guidance could also provide information on NEPA and state environmental law provisions that should be considered as the corridor study proceeds. Alternatives Identification and Analysis Step Reason 18. Identify the types of alternatives that are of interest to the state DOT and include them in the SWCP process guidelines. As a follow-up to the identification of common problem areas, this step identifies the types of alternatives or strategies that should be considered in the corridor study. For example, the state DOT could require the consideration of operations strategies before more capital-intensive actions are undertaken; the DOT might require the identification of opportunities for using ITS technologies or consideration of transit strategies in highly urbanized corridors. 19. Establish common standards or This step promotes consistency among the corridor studies by providing common standards or tools approaches for analyzing specific types of alternatives, especially those identified as being of state interest. that can be used in the corridor analysis. For example, if a statewide travel demand model exists, use of the statewide model estimates in the travel corridor could be recommended. Similarly, economic analysis tools (such as REMI or HERS) could also be required as standard procedures in the study process to determine relative economic benefits. Project and Corridor Evaluation Step Reason 20. Establish a set of common evaluation criteria on state issues of greatest concern. Given the importance of the evaluation results to prioritizing projects from different corridor studies, this step will ensure that a subset of the corridor study evaluation criteria will be common for all studies. However, some “types” of corridors may have very specific criteria related to the context of a particular study (e.g., tourism, freight, environmental sensitivity, etc.). 21. Identify common methods to be used in evaluation. This step will specify the use of common evaluation methods for comparative assessment of the alternatives under consideration. For example, the use of benefit/cost analysis might be required for all major projects, which could give a consistent basis for comparing projects from different corridor studies (such as for safety projects), or the same scoring scheme could be applied for assigning assessment values to categories of projects or potential environmental or community impacts. 22. Provide guidance or a template on the assumptions and approaches to be used in estimating project costs. One of the most important steps (but one that is most often done inconsistently) is the estimation of project costs. To compare project viability among corridors and projects, it is important to provide a common approach for estimating project costs.

Identify Statewide Investment Program and System Management Strategy 20 A Guidebook for Corridor-Based Statewide Transportation Planning Project and Corridor Investment Program Step Reason 23. Establish common approaches or methods for assigning project priorities. Given the limited amount of funding to meet all of the state transportation needs, some form of project prioritization must occur. Project priorities can be established in many ways. This step will establish consistency in the ways that priorities are assigned and used in the process of defining a corridor investment program. 24. Develop templates that provide information on the feasibility of different financial strategies for corridor investment. Given that a range of corridor strategies will be considered and possibly recommended as part of the corridor study, the state DOT should provide information on the feasibility of different financing strategies for transportation investments. For example, the characteristics of successful public- private partnerships (PPPs) and the types of projects for which they are applicable should be part of the information available to corridor decisionmakers. 25. Establish a common reporting format to the state DOT on the results of the corridor study or analysis. This step will define the format and content of the information that is reported to the state DOT for projects that are state funded. This format could be structured by project category (e.g., capacity expansion, safety, public transit, etc.) or by overall priority (No. 1 project, No. 2 project, etc.). Step Reason 26. Establish a process for using information from corridor analysis for the statewide plan update and for STIP development. This step establishes the process for using different corridor study input to define the fiscally constrained statewide investment program or the statewide transportation plan. This could entail process guidance on internal DOT organizational responsibilities as well as technical guidance on how corridor study information will be used. It is likely that the results of the corridor studies will be only part of the information that will be used to develop a statewide investment program. 27. Establish a process for considering non- investment strategies within the context of a statewide transportation plan or adopted state DOT policies. Corridor studies could recommend actions other than implementing projects. For example, a study might recommend the use of access management policies to preserve highway capacity or the adoption by local governments of smart-growth principles to control development. These strategies should be considered as part of statewide transportation policy development, and this step provides a path for this to occur. 28. Monitor the ongoing SWCP process and modify it as needed. To be effective, the SWCP process needs to be flexible in responding to the changing needs of the state; thus, the state DOT should regularly assess the effectiveness of the SWCP process and modify it when and where appropriate. It seems likely that state DOT officials will identify areas in the SWCP process where continuing improvements can be made.

Next: Section 4 - Hypothetical Example: Application of SWCP Guidance to the State of South Orange »
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TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 661: A Guidebook for Corridor-Based Statewide Transportation Planning explores a template for corridor planning designed to help states to better understand the implications of transportation decisions on mobility, communities, economic development, and environmental stewardship.

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