1st Edition

Best Practices in Metropolitan Transportation Planning

By Reid Ewing, Keith Bartholomew Copyright 2018
    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    Planning at a metropolitan scale is important for effective management of urban growth, transportation systems, air quality, and watershed and green-spaces. It is fundamental to efforts to promote social justice and equity. Best Practices in Metropolitan Transportation Planning shows how the most innovative metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in the United States are addressing these issues using their mandates to improve transportation networks while pursuing emerging sustainability goals at the same time.

    As both a policy analysis and a practical how-to guide, this book presents cutting-edge original research on the role accessibility plays - and should play - in transportation planning, tracks how existing plans have sought to balance competing priorities using scenario planning and other strategies, assesses the results of various efforts to reduce automobile dependence in cities, and explains how to make planning documents more powerful and effective.

    In highlighting the most innovative practices implemented by MPOs, regional planning councils, city and county planning departments and state departments of transportation, this book aims to influence other planning organizations, as well as influence federal and state policy discussions and legislation.

    Chapter 1: Introduction and Context Chapter 2: Accessibility and the Purpose of Cities Chapter 3: Quantitative Analysis of Regional Transportation Plans Chapter 4: Quantitative Analysis of Regional Scenario Plans Chapter 5: Quantitative Analysis of Historical VMT Growth Chapter 6: Qualitative Analysis of Regional Transportation Plans Chapter 7: End of Mobility

    Biography

    Reid Ewing is chair of the Department of City and Metropolitan Planning at the University of Utah, USA, associate editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association, and columnist for Planning magazine. Ewing’s nine books and over 100 peer-reviewed articles are aimed at planning practitioners.

    Keith Bartholomew is an Associate Dean and Associate Professor at the University of Utah College of Architecture + Planning, USA. Professor Bartholomew previously served as a staff attorney for 1000 Friends of Oregon and was the director of "Making the Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality Connection".

    "Ewing and Bartholomew expertly draw together a rich, well-researched, and sophisticated study of metropolitan transportation planning. Along with their discussion of federal policy and regional plans, the quantitative analyses and best practices form a strong, evidence-based foundation that is both scholarly and practical. This is an excellent resource for practitioners, academics, and students interested in these important planning issues." -Tom Sanchez, Chair & Professor, Urban Affairs & Planning, Virginia Tech, USA

    "Ewing and Bartholomew effectively document conventional and best practices in metropolitan transportation planning—highlighting the need for more expansive and sophisticated approaches. They say, ‘…transportation professionals have been in somewhat of an existential crisis for a couple of decades.’ So true, in large part because they did not have the tools nor the political support to advance more sustainable transportation. Now that the world is being turned topsy-turvy with the embrace of climate policies and the advent of a slew of innovative mobility services and technologies, we need a major overhaul of how we plan and manage transportation. This book is a good start." -Daniel Sperling, Professor of Transportation, University of California, Davis, USA, and Author of Three Revolutions: Steering Automated, Shared, and Electric Vehicles to a Better Future

    "Ewing and Bartholomew review the recent evolution of metropolitan transportation planning organizations though the quantitative and qualitative analysis of over 100 regional plans to understand both the analytical tools and substance of the planning process, highlighting the recent emphasis on regional-level scenario planning in federal legislation. This book is a great addition to libraries of planning researchers and good for practitioners who want to understand the role of regional transportation planning in creating a sustainable metropolis." -Ruth L. Steiner, Professor and Director of the Center for Health and the Built Environment, University of Florida, USA

    "This book provides an invaluable resource for transportation planners to learn about innovative approaches and best practices being utilized in other regions around the country. Metropolitan Planning Organizations should have this book within arm's reach." -Andrew Gruber, Executive Director, Wasatch Front Regional Council, Utah, USA