Consideration of Environmental Factors in Transportation Systems Planning (2005) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 33-71
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From page 33... ...
Although several states have developed models that forecast future travel flows on the state's transportation system, most state planning activities have not included this level of complexity in the process. Another important distinction between metropolitan and statewide transportation planning applications is that a state DOT has a responsibility not only for statewide transportation planning, but also for project development.
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From page 34... ...
Environmental quality Prosperity Social equity/ quality of life Vision Goals and objectives Performance measures Evaluation criteria Plan Develop project concepts TIP Alternative improvement strategies Data Analysis methods Other sources for project ideas System monitoring Project planning Project design Project Development Process Transportation Systems Planning Figure 7. Conceptual framework of transportation system planning and project development.
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From page 35... ...
First, and perhaps most significantly, system planning as shown encompasses a broad set of activities. Many books on transportation planning have focused almost exclusively on analysis and evaluation, with the visioning process, program and/or project implementation, and system monitoring (i.e., assessing how well the system is performing)
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From page 36... ...
In some cases, such as the Cape Cod Commission or the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, both the literature and survey respondents pointed to each area as one where environmental concerns have played a dominant role in planning. These case studies represent the activities and efforts of agencies at a particular point in time, in this case, primarily during the summer and fall of 2002.
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From page 37... ...
Developing this plan is accomplished in coordination with the California Transportation Commission (CTC) and 45 regional transportation planning agencies (RTPAs)
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From page 38... ...
In addition, it required all local plans to comply with the act's provisions, mandated that state and local capital projects be consistent with local plans, and established an Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Commission. The visions were aimed at placing all county and municipal plans within the broader context of state goals for fostering economic development and environmental quality.
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From page 39... ...
, reviews and approves local comprehensive plans, a procedure known as "acknowledgement." In 1992, Portland voters approved a home-rule charter that directed Portland Metro, the region's MPO, to make regional growth management its primary mission. This charter required Metro to adopt a future vision capturing a longrange statement of the region's outlook and values as well as a comprehensive set of regional policies on land use, transportation, water quality, natural areas and other regional planning mandates.
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From page 40... ...
Portland Metro's approach to defining a vision is very much tied to the community's desires for quality of life and future development. Oregon's strong growth management laws and a public ethic of supporting effective regional planning have resulted in an integrated approach to decision making that is unique in the United States.
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From page 41... ...
A section of the most recent Washington Transportation Plan (WTP) is entitled "Environmental Challenges and Opportunities." Dedicated to the identification of transportation-related environmental challenges and opportunities, it states that "Environmental concerns must now be incorporated early into planning and project development to ensure minimal effects to the environment and effective mitigation for unavoidable effects." (66)
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From page 42... ...
, recommends designating areas as "districts of critical planning concern," and prepares and oversees the implementation of a regional land-use policy plan. The regional policy plan, updated every five years, establishes broad goals that are to guide the development of more specific policies and plans, such as Cape Cod's transportation plan.
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From page 43... ...
, the region's MPO, is a voluntary association of 25 local governments and agencies. Because state law requires there to be a strong linkage between state goals, local comprehensive planning, and other jurisdictional plans, LaneCOG's transportation plan is closely allied with land-use and environmental goals expressed in the general plan for the metropolitan area (68)
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From page 44... ...
Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland has several laws that promote a strong consideration of environmental factors in transportation planning. • As noted previously, in 1992 Maryland enacted the Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Act, which established seven guiding visions for growth in Maryland, all geared toward ensuring that local plans were consistent with state goals.
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From page 45... ...
In addition, Maryland's very strong growth management law has provided a context within which environmental quality can be linked to community development goals and objectives. Minnesota Department of Transportation The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT)
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From page 46... ...
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) developed a long-range multimodal transportation plan for 2000 to 2025 based on an extensive public involvement program to identify the critical issues or major themes that reflect the state's transportation needs and desires.
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From page 47... ...
In addition, PennDOT reviewed the transportation plans of the state's metropolitan and rural transportation planning organizations. From this information, 10 statewide goals for transportation planning emerged.
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From page 48... ...
For example, the following goals were identified for the regional transportation plan. Note the prominence given to environmental capacity in the overall transportation strategy as follows: • It is the goal of the Regional Transportation Plan to fulfill the requirements of the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact; • It is the goal of the Regional Transportation Plan to attain and maintain the Environmental Threshold
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From page 49... ...
These indicators are shown in Table 8. The Tahoe Regional Planning Compact requires that SEZ on/SEZ PAO PAO PAO Unitle OHV ty rec CNEL d Park/US–50 vol Indicator Unit of Benefit Air Quality Carbon monoxide Ozone Particulates Visibility US–50 traffic volume Air quality/wood smoke Vehicle miles traveled Atmospheric nutrient loading Improved level of service Hydrocarbon, NOx emissions Stationary burning dust control Dust control; SO2 emissions ume reductions Wood heater emissions/burn time VMT reduced NO3 emission reductions Fisheries Lake habitat Other habitat Stream habitat Stream habitat Stream habitat In-stream flow Acres improved Acres improved Miles improved to excellent Miles improved to good Miles improved to marginal Base flow maintained Noise Single event (aircraft)
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From page 50... ...
z Scenic Resources Travel route ratings -- roadway units Travel route ratings -- Shore one units Scenic quality ratings Public recreation area ratings Community design Units > 15 in attainment + points Units > 7 in attainment + points Maintain/improve numerical ratings Maintain/improve numerical ratings Consistency with standards/guides Vegetation Relative abundance and pattern Prescribed burns Forests Revegetation Uncommon plant communities Sensitive Special species Area/location Acres treated Acres mechanically treated Acres revegetated Species cover/area Number of population sites Acres protected Wildlife Special-interest species Critical wildlife habitat Habitats of special significance Forest habitat Meadow habitat Riparian habitat Number of population sites Acres acquired/improved Acres improved/acquired Acres improved/acquired Acres improved/acquired Acres improved/acquired Water Quality Turbidity Pelagic Lake Tahoe winter clarity (Secchi depth) Pelagic Lake Tahoe wint Winter clarity -- (% of private properties BM Pelagic Lake Tahoe winter clarity (roa Pelagic Lake Tahoe wint s)
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From page 51... ...
As shown in this section, a wide range of strategies can be considered as part of project development and planning that are aimed at improving environmental quality in general. The third concept is the definition of an "environmental alternative" as one of the alternatives to be examined as part of the analysis of alternatives.
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From page 52... ...
The GIS capability was used with great results when the regional transportation plan was being developed. Given the policy of preserving environmentally sensitive areas, transportation officials began planning by identifying where such areas existed on Cape Cod.
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From page 53... ...
This effort, in essence, would result in a net increase in wetland and riparian functions in the affected watershed, as well as in the state. According to NCDOT officials, the benefits of this program are • Compensatory mitigation is removed from the critical path of transportation project development by having such replacement functions already constructed before project development; 53 • Project effects and proposed mitigation can be "bundled" to deal with cumulative effects in a comprehensive watershed perspective; • Given a watershed-level approach, the greatest ecological benefit will accrue with the comprehensive nature of the compensatory mitigation; • NCDOT will be able to provide a proactive approach toward environmental stewardship that is consistent with the goals of other state and federal agencies; and • Less staff time will be needed for project-level permit approval processes.
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From page 54... ...
Consideration of these strategies, which occurs very early in the project planning process, becomes a significant part of the community effort to enhance the surrounding environment, not just mitigate project effects. There are three types of NYSDOT environmental initiative actions (63)
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From page 55... ...
2. Examples of some of the practices and programs that should be considered to improve NYSDOT's current environmental performance • Continue to identify improved ways to use deicing materials and abrasives; • Improve efforts to sweep/collect/recycle the roadside abrasives in the spring; • Continue efforts to reduce herbicide use; • Clean up wastes previously generated at DOT projects and facilities; • Encourage and implement transportation demand management, transportation system management, and Intelligent Traffic System practices; • Encourage alternatives to single-occupant vehicle commuting; • Expand Ozone Alert Day initiatives; • Promote alternative fueled vehicles; • Increase support for mass transit; CETAP: Community and Environmental Acceptability Process CVAG: Coachella Valley Advisory Group MSHCP: Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan RCIP: Riverside County Integrated Project WRCOG: Western Riverside Council of Governments Figure 10.
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From page 56... ...
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) The types of strategies considered as part of TRPA's planning and enforcement program are likely the widest ranging in the United States (74)
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From page 57... ...
Common elements of each of the scenarios, including many elements from the environmental alternative, were 57 combined into three system alternatives that proceeded into more detailed analysis. Lake Tahoe Region One of the earliest examples of an environmental alternative occurred in 1989 with the development of the Truckee Meadows-Washoe County regional plan in the Lake Tahoe Region (75)
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From page 58... ...
58 The Evaluation Process One of the most important linkages between transportation planning and decision making is the use of evaluation criteria to define performance categories that are of interest to decision makers. For projects with possible effects on environmentally sensitive resources, the criteria of greatest interest to decision makers often relate to federal and state environmental assessment requirements.
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From page 59... ...
Caltrans was also one of the first DOTs to enter into memoranda of agreement with environmental resource agencies to expedite project delivery. In recognition of the need for project design to reflect community values as well as to respond to federal and state law, Caltrans has embarked on several innovative project planning efforts that have actively involved a range of stakeholders early in the project planning process.
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From page 60... ...
is responsible for long-range transportation planning in the San Francisco Bay Area, a nine-county region with a population of over seven million. "Environment" is one of six broad policy goals identified in the 2001 regional transportation plan (RTP)
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From page 61... ...
Transportation Air Quality Energy Geology/Seismicity Water Resources Biological Resources Noise Visual Resources Cultural Resources Population, Housing, and Social Environment Land Use 4 3 2 2 3 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 1 3 5 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 5 Total 25 27 40 43 Average 2.7 2.5 3.6 3.9 TABLE 10 Comparison of alternatives to 2001 regional transportation plan, San Francisco Bay Area Note: 1 = much more favorable; 2 = more favorable; 3 = comparable; 4 = less favorable; 5 = much less favorable. Source: Metropolitan Transportation Commission, 2001 (78)
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From page 62... ...
Wisconsin Department of Transportation Wisconsin's legal requirement for a systems-level environmental evaluation (SEE) of all statewide transportation plans created a significant challenge to WisDOT officials.
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From page 63... ...
The types of environmental criteria considered for each of the system alternatives included: air quality, energy consumption, sensitive land and water resources, indirect land-use effects, economic development consequences, and community and neighborhood effects. For each of the impact categories, the SEE analysis provided a description of the types of mitigation that would be likely to be implemented for the different projects and effects being considered.
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From page 64... ...
Minnesota Department of Transportation' two major efforts that illustrate Mn/DOT's commitment to incorporate environmental considerations into project development and design focus on streamlining project delivery and developing an organizational procedure for fostering contextsensitive solutions. 64 Project delivery streamlining: Not only was TEA 21 an impetus for looking seriously at streamlining the project development process, but Mn/DOT was also facing pressures from the construction industry, the legislature, and the public to deliver transportation projects and services in a more timely manner.
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From page 65... ...
• A project liaison unit with responsibility for expediting project delivery and becoming a program delivery advocate for preconstruction activities should be established. • The current initiative of funding environmental resource agency staff should be evaluated before expanded to other agencies.
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From page 66... ...
for Mn/DOT. Source: Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2000 (69)
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From page 67... ...
These six elements include • Environmental management system -- process for examining the life-cycle effects of ODOT's activities, • Habitat mitigation program -- purchasing or creating wildlife habitats in anticipation of future project effects, • Natural and cultural resource mapping program -- using GIS and a database from resource agencies to map sensitive natural and cultural resources, • Expanded programmatic approvals -- using programmatic agreements with resource agencies to provide expeditious approvals of agreed-upon impact categories, • Local government and contractor performance -- training staff and consultants on environmental management practices, and • Expanding CETAS partnerships -- entering into agreements with other federal, state, and local agencies to become part of the CETAS program. ODOT officials anticipate that the CETAS approach will result in improved cooperation and efficiency among agencies, greater protection of sensitive environmental resources, and projects completed within budget and on time.
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From page 68... ...
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Following passage of ISTEA, PennDOT implemented a coordinated environmental review for all major transportation projects that might be affected by this law. PennDOT developed a 10-step transportation process flow diagram, which involved concurrent reviews by agencies and public/agency concurrence points throughout the process and provided a systematic process to ensure that transportation projects are developed in an environmentally sensitive manner that reflects agency and public input.
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From page 69... ...
A 2001 law, the Transportation Permitting Efficiency and Accountability Act, streamlines the environmental permit process for transportation projects. This act links planning and project development so as to reduce the redundancies in the processing of environmental documentation.
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From page 70... ...
The rapid exchange of information and the visualization capabilities of identifying the extent of potential environmental impacts have provided an important enabler for the type of process that FDOT is spearheading. The Maryland case study is a good example of evolving transportation planning in the context of a smart growth framework where increasing emphasis is placed on transportation improvements that will support smart growth from the outset rather than focusing solely on project mitigation at the end of project development.
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From page 71... ...
ODOT's model for integrating NEPA with planning is one of the first in the country to formalize and advance environmental considerations in transportation planning. The Pennsylvania case study shows how a DOT can aggressively pursue coordination in project development based on many innovative partnerships with environmental resource agencies.
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