Concepts of the Transportation Planning Process and Planning Studies

1. The Transportation Planning Process Transportation planning is a continuous process and is considered as an administrative tool in regulating the growth of regions of a country. The products of transportation planning are plans and policies, which establish the rules of regional/urban growth in conjunction with the responsibilities of government and the private sector in terms of cost sharing and cost recovery. Transportation planning as an administrative tool can be broken down into three unique areas of study: Strategic Planning

Functional and Community Planning

Operational Planning There are two fundamental concepts, which are important to understanding transportation planning. They are: (i) Transportation planning is in concert with land use planning with the goal being a balance between the forces of demand and supply. (ii) Transportation planning involves a systems approach and the transport field consists of systems within a system. 2. Strategic Planning Strategic planning of urban growth involves looking at the big picture. The first tier of strategic planning is the development of plans and policies at the provincial or regional level. On the transportation side, the movement of people and goods are the combined services of several modes: rail, road, air, pipeline and water facilities. The land use side is pressured by the growth of population but is contained by the availability of natural resources and commerce weighted against the depletion of good agricultural land and environmental impacts. The next tier down in strategic planning is the study of urban cities and towns and their local environments. The final product of an urban strategic planning study is a Master Plan or an Area Structure Plan. An Area Structure Plan sets the stage for urban growth by establishing the framework for settlement patterns based on the availability of existing or planned infrastructure for basic services which usually include roads, water, sewerage, storm drainage, hydro-electricity and certain amenities (i.e. schools, hospitals, police, fire, etc). The bottom line is one of economic costs moulded through social and environmental impacts. The infrastructure which is usually borne by the government (i.e., major roads, water, hydro and sewage trunk lines) are extremely high in cost and governments traditionally have limited funds available. The Area Structure Plan has both plans and policies to regulate growth according to land use and transportation goals. The study area is usually broken down into unique and compatible areas (i.e., CBD, residential districts, industrial districts, etc). The land use plan typically identifies the general uses (i.e., residential or

commercial), densities, and services (i.e., schools, hospitals, retail areas, etc) while the transportation plan identifies the roadway classification including right-of-way, cross-section, transit amenities, etc. The growth scenario usually involves medium to long range planning horizons (i.e., 10 to 20 years). Current plans are made more flexible to changing conditions than in the past. Most plans are up-dated every 7 to 10 years. The transportation plan focuses mainly on the expressway and arterial road systems. These are the main corridors for the efficient movement of people and goods. A high priority of any plan is the role of public transport. In many cases, roadway improvements are deferred in favour of public transport improvements. The policy section will have long-range goals for the urban community such as: a) A greater emphasis will be placed on transit and high occupancy vehicles; b) Try to minimize trip length and encourage linked trips; c) Strive for greater efficiency and safety; d) Strive for equity and fairness and meet the needs of the young, old and handicapped; e) Plan residential communities for people not cars; and f) Give a parking policy and parking requirements for different land uses An approved applied Master Plan is a form of cost recovery to government. The transportation plan details road reservation, which can be legally acquired at no cost through the development process from landowners and developers. The land use plan protects land for open space and requires development to dedicate land to government at no cost for future use such as school or hospitals. 3. Functional and Community Planning The Master Plan of Roads contained in an Area Structure Plan will contain existing major road corridors that need to be up-graded (i.e., widen a two-lane road to a four-lane road) and future major corridors that do not yet exist. In these circumstances, Roadway Functional Planning Studies will have to be carried out. Roadway functional planning is the study of corridors with the systems approach. Community Planning will be required when local municipal officials desire to solve a traffic problem such as vehicle shortcutting in an existing single family residential area. These studies are also called Neighbourhood Studies. Another form of Community Planning is the roadway planning that goes into the planning of a new sub-division. 4. Operational Planning A particular street, intersection or community may have some traffic operational problems. In an operational planning study, the goal is to get the most out of the existing system at minimum cost. The approach taken is typically called Transportation Systems Management (TSM), Some actions of TSM strategies are listed below: Rehabilitation of existing traffic signals

Conversion of two way streets to one way and forming one way couplets Improving intersection turning radii and sight lines Installing bus bays on important transit routes Regulating and restricting on-street parking

Installing adequate signs and pavement markings

Improving intersection capacity with the provision of turning lanes or turn sections Provision of sidewalks or other means for pedestrian control and safety