Transportation Research Board

1
Who Shifted My Transportation Planning Paradigm?
Given by Ronald T. Milam, AICP

• Transportation Research Board
• Planning Applications Conference, May 2007

2
THE FORCE BEHIND THE SHIFT
3
THE PROBLEM WITH TODAYS PARADIGM
Traditional Transportation Planning Process
LAND USE PLANNING

• RECOMMENDED TRANSPORTATION PLAN
• Sized to Thresholds

• THRESHOLDS
• BASED
• TRANSPORTATIONPLANNING
• LOS
• Functional Class
• Design Standards

Process results in a plan that has unknown costs
and is unlikely to be fully implemented resulting
in traffic operations that will be worse than
projected
4
CASE STUDY EXAMPLE
Placer Parkway
Originally Identified Based on LOS Thresholds -
1992 Cost Estimate (2006) 660
Million Projected Available Funding by 2030 55
Million Projected Construction Date Unknown
5
HOW CAN WE RESPOND TO THE SHIFT?
The New Transportation Planning Process
LAND USE PLANNING

• RECOMMENDED TRANSPORTATION PLAN
• Sized to Constraints
• for design year
• ROW based on
• thresholds

• CONSTRAINTS
• BASED
• TRANSPORTATIONPLANNING
• Funding
• Environmental
• Political

Feedback Available and Now Justified (if plan is
politically unacceptable)
Process results in a plan that is consistent with
constraints (especially available funding) and
provides a realistic assessment of future traffic
operations. ROW is still preserved based on
thresholds.