Jim Thorne FHWA - Resource Center

1. Livability and SustainabilityMichigan Transportation Planning Association 35th Annual ConferenceJuly 14, 2011 Jim Thorne FHWA - Resource Center

2. Agenda • The Sustainable Communities Partnership and Livability Principles • Livability and the Planning Process • Livability Examples and Resources • Sustainability • Livability/Sustainability: where and how

3. Sustainable Communities Partnership • DOT, EPA, HUD • Improve access to affordable housing, provide more transportation options and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment • Encourages livability principles to be incorporated into federal programs and funding. • Achieve our economic, social, and environmental goals most effectively when we work on them together.

4. DOT/HUD/EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities

5. Partnership Livability Principles

6. Partnership Goals: • Targeting resources through grants and other programs to help states and communities create jobs and stronger economies by developing more sustainably. • Removing regulatory and policy barriers at the federal level to make it easier for state and local governments to access federal services and resources. • Aligning agency priorities and embedding the Livability Principles in each agency’s actions so that transportation, housing, and environmental protection efforts are coordinated.

7. TARGETING RESOURCES TO COMMUNITIES • Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grants • Joint DOT TIGER II-HUD Community Challenge Grants • HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants • Funds for Urban Circulator and Bus & Bus Livability Projects • State Revolving Funds for Water Infrastructure • Smart Growth Implementation Assistance • Greening America’s Capitals • HUD Adoption of Sustainability Criteria in Scoring Grant Applications

9. REMOVING FEDERAL BARRIERS • Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance • Brownfields Policy Change • Brownfields Pilot Communities • Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot Initiative • Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation Regulations and Recommendations • Reducing Contracting Conflicts • Change to Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts Program

10. ALIGNING POLICIES AND BUDGETS • Coordinating Policies and Funding Programs • HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities • EPA Office of Sustainable Communities • Regional Partnerships

11. Next? • Broaden Partnership • Continue examining and, if necessary, modifying federal policies and actions on transportation, housing, and environmental protection to complement each other and to better reflect the Livability Principles.

12. Livability in Transportation Using the quality, location and type of transportation facilities and services to help achieve broader community goals such as access to good jobs, affordable housing, quality schools, and safe streets Livability, sustainability, smart growth, walkable communities, new urbanism, healthy neighborhoods, active living, transit oriented development, complete streets, Sustainawalkabilitism . . .

13. Another Definition, sort of www.wordle.net/

14. Transportation Planning Factors • Support economic vitality • Increase safety • Increase security • Increase accessibility and mobility • Protect and enhance the environment • Enhance connectivity across and between modes • Promote efficient system management and operation • Preserve the existing transportation system.

15. Transportation Planning Factors (E) protect and enhance the environment, promote energy conservation, improve the quality of life, • and promote consistency between transportation improvements and State and local planned growth and economic development patterns;

16. Livable Communities More efficient use of resources Increase accessibility Improve connections and options Reduce energy use Environmental benefits Health and Social benefits Livable Communities are where people have access to many different forms of transportation and affordable housing…..” U.S. DOT Secretary, Ray LaHood

17. Livability in the Planning Process • Goals, performance measures, policies related to livability, quality of life, . . . • Help region develop vision related to community growth and development. • Reach beyond usual groups to housing, public health, water resources, . . . • Land use and transportation integration. • Multi-modal planning. • Interdisciplinary efforts. • CSS in regional, corridor, project planning. • Options and approaches vary.

18. Issues that may come into play when talking about livability in transportation planning: • Connected streets • Complete streets • Pedestrian facilities • Bicycle planning • Scenario planning • Land Use/Transportation integration • Safe Routes to School • Transit supportive land use • Multi-modal planning • Context Sensitive Solutions • Management and Operations

19. More issues that may come into play when talking about livability in transportation planning: • Safety • Accessibility • Integrated planning • Public Engagement • Freight • Corridor planning • GHG emission reduction • Public health • ?

20. Opportunities to Address Livability Planning for: Grid street patterns, short blocks, streetscapes Transit and transit supportive land use Planning for bike and pedestrian travel Land use (as it supports transportation and vice versa) System efficiencies Travel Demand Management Opportunities to Address Climate Change

21. Livability aligns with good planning practices • Goal Driven • Community engagement and outreach • Place Based • Context Sensitive • Recognizes existing values and assets • Interdisciplinary • Comprehensive • Explores inter-relationships of key elements • Collaborative

22. Steps Toward Livability • Public and decision maker understanding that land use and transportation are intertwined. • Livability Goals and Performance Measures. • Safe, connected, multimodal roadway networks. • Plans, programs and projects support broader community goals. • Interdisciplinary approach: partners and efforts that support range of community goals.

23. Atlanta, GA—Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) • LCI program initiated in 1999 to better link transportation and land use planning with long-term goals of VMT and congestion reduction and improved air quality. • Awards grants to prepare plans to enhance existing centers and corridors. • More than 100 studies had been completed, representing nearly $9 million in planning assistance funding.

24. Chattanooga, TN Riverfront Parkway Transportation and Urban Design Plan • Converted the Riverfront Parkway from a four-lane, limited-access expressway to an urban surface street. • Three primary objectives guided the design: • Better vehicular and pedestrian connections to downtown, • Improving riverfront area • Capacity that better matched expected traffic volumes. • The project has improved access, commuting patterns, and renewed economic viability for the eastern portion of downtown.

25. Chattanooga, TN Riverfront Parkway Transportation and Urban Design Plan

26. AASHTO and Livability • Every transportation project is an opportunity to improve the quality of life in a community.

27. Rural Communities 1) Support the rural landscape 2) Help existing places thrive 3) Create great new places icma.org

28. NCHRP 582Best Practices to Enhance the Transportation - Land Use Connection in the Rural United States • Set Regional Framework • Improve Local Accessibility • Enhance Community Design www.trb.org

29. PennDOT’s Smart Transportation Guidebook “Smart Transportation is a collaborative approach to supporting great communities for future generations of Pennsylvanians.” www.smart-transportation.com

30. Land Use Contexts Traditionally – it’s been either urban or rural Land use context – land area comprising unique combination of land uses, density, building form Common place types found in every PennDOT district RURAL SUBURBAN CORRIDOR SUBURBAN CENTER SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD TOWN / VILLAGE CENTER TOWN / VILLAGE NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN CORE

31. The “Linkage” Program Capital District Transportation Committee – Albany, NY MPO www.cdtcmpo.org/linkage.htm

32. CDTC Linkages

33. Context Sensitive Solutions • Collaborative • Interdisciplinary • Involves all stakeholders Results in facility that complements; Physical setting, and Preserves scenic, aesthetic, and historic and environmental resources, while Maintaining safety and mobility www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/csd.htm

34. Pedestrian and Bicycle Enhancements • Bike Lanes • Recreational multi-use trails • Pedestrian refuge islands, sidewalks, countdown signals

35. Executive SummaryIntroductionProject HighlightsVisioningPlanning and ProcessPolicyPartnershipDesignImplementation and FundingConclusion

36. Livability Guidebook Series of urban and rural case studies and strategies that facilitate: • Revitalizing rural small towns • Better connecting downtowns with neighborhoods • Completing street networks • Supporting compact, mixed use development • Maximize efficiency of existing transportation infrastructure • Mitigate impacts of climate change • Preserve natural and cultural resources

37. FHWA Land Use Tool Kit www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/landuse/

38. Current FHWA’s Efforts to Advance Livability • Livability Guidebook • Livability Implementation Research Paper • 5 Regional workshops with key stakeholders to identify opportunities and obstacles. • Locations—Sacramento, CA; Denver, CO; Kansas City, MO; Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA • National Association of Development Organizations Peer Exchanges that focused on Rural Livability. • GA, NC and CA • Livability Performance Measures

39. Livability Web Site www.fhwa.dot.gov/livability • planning.dot.gov

40. Federal Grant Programs • TIGER 3 • NOFA • Open until October • FTA • Bus Livability Grants • HUD • Capacity Building NOFA • Second Round of Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants • NOFA • EPA • Greening America’s Capitals • Smart Growth Technical Assistance

41. www.sustainablecommunities.gov

42. Planning.dot.gov

43. The Peers • Atlanta Regional Commission – Atlanta, GA • Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC) – Albany, NY • Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) – Philadelphia, PA • Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) – Denver, CO • Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) – Oakland, CA • North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) – Dallas-Fort Worth, TX • Portland Metro (Metro) – Portland, OR

44. Core discussion topics • Transportation and Land Use Integration • Transportation Planning Process • Programming and Project Prioritization • Funding • Project Implementation • Program Evaluation and Performance Measures • Partnerships and Outreach

45. Actions that multiple MPOs took to integrate transportation and land use • Use scenario planning to engage the public in conversations about transportation and land use and inform updates to the long-range transportation plan – ARC, CDTC, DRCOG, MTC, NCTCOG • Prepare a regional comprehensive plan in conjunction with a long-range transportation plan – ARC, DRCOG, DVRPC, Metro

46. Actions that multiple MPOs took to integrate transportation and land use • Integrate land use criteria into the TIP Process, such as considering minimum zoning requirements in the project evaluation and selection criteria for TIP programming – CDTC, DRCOG, MTC, NCTCOG • Update the regional transportation demand model to better address land use development and associated travel behavior – ARC, DRCOG, MTC, NCTCOG

47. Actions that multiple MPOs took to integrate transportation and land use • Pay staff or consultants to track and monitor development or land values in the region to identify opportunities for strategic transportation investments – Metro, NCTCOG • Provide design guidelines and information, training or technical assistance on complete streets – ARC, DVRPC, DRCOG, MTC, NCTCOG

48. Livability and the Planning Process

49. Sustainability Sustainability - A set of environmental, economic and social conditions in which all of society has the capacity and opportunity to maintain and improve its quality of life indefinitely without degrading the quantity, quality or the availability of natural, economic and social resources (from American Society of Civil Engineers) Source: Transportation Planning and Sustainability Guidebook FHWA, 2011

50. Livability and Sustainability • Livability and sustainability promote environmentally sustainable travel options, consideration of human health issues, social equity, and economic development. • Sustainability includes long term, multi-generational focus. • Livability initiatives as a subset of sustainability; focused more on near term planning, funding and implementation at the community level. • Sustainability addresses larger environmental goals such as improving air and water quality, reducing climate impacts, increasing energy efficiency, and decreasing dependence on foreign oil. • Livability may be less specific about larger environmental goals. • Transportation solutions that support both are likely similar.