01485116

Component

One of the challenges facing transportation planners in small communities is effectively engaging local leaders and residents in issue analysis leading to effective goals statements for transportation system expansion and enhancement. Local knowledge about how transportation is used by residents, barriers to use, and desires for change/preservation is unavailable to planners without involvement of residents and local system managers. Technical expertise about transportation system development is rarely accessible to community leaders, who are often lay persons, who must work with residents to formulate plans that hinge on transportation infrastructure. Through the Iowa’s Living Roadway Community Visioning Program, a participatory research method has been developed that involves local residents in not only providing data but also in applying findings to meaningful community transportation goals. In this process, initial goals established by a volunteer community steering committee are studied and expanded through two simultaneous participatory research projects—one quantitative and one qualitative. A random sample survey, which uses both traditional survey form and interactive geographic information system (GIS) elements, quantitatively describes community transportation system use and priorities for development. Focus groups conducted with transportation users discover why and how the community transportation system is used, including uses related to work and play. Results are communicated through the news media in addition to internal communication with steering committee members. Based on this feedback, community leaders can refine goal statements and specific transportation development strategies responsive to local needs and values. Immutable qualities and values associated with place are often revealed through this two-part process, in part due to the integration of map- and narrative-based data in the research design. Traditional survey methods reveal frequencies and types of uses, but the juxtaposition of these data with the spatial data—place qualities implied in landscape and community elements such as hills, woodlands, downtown hangouts, etc.—demonstrate how transportation and place are related. Seeing these relationships helps residents articulate how transportation system development relates to and extends their values for place. This, in turn, fuels sustained action on transportation, enriched with knowledge about system elements, as well as articulated and represented place values embodied in community transportation maps.

01483192

English

12p

2010

12th National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities

Digital/other

CD-ROM; Figures; Maps; Photos; References

Assessments; City planning; Cooperation; Decision making; Geographic information systems; Transportation planning

Iowa

Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General); I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jun 25 2013 1:36PM

• A Literature Review of Current Events and Trends in Ciclovía Programs across America
• A New Traffic Assignment Method for Small and Medium Communities
• A Standardized Tool for Calculating Road User Benefits
• A Transportation Safety Planning Tool for the City of Ames
• An Economical Methodology for Development of Land Use and Socio-economic Forecasts for Long-range Transportation Plans (LRTPS)
• An Investigation of the Transferability of Trip Generation Models
• Application of a Combined Travel Demand and Microsimulation Model for a Small City
• Application of Dynamic Traffic Assignment in a Small-Urban Area
• Applying a Multi-Resolution Modeling Approach for Master Planning of State Route 285 Corridor at Wenatchee Valley, WA
• Applying the Housing + Transportation Affordability Index in Your Metro Area
• Circulator Guidebook: Dupage Local Area Circulator Study
• Comparison of Five Metropolitan Washington Travel Demand Models
• Data Alternatives in Support of Regional Travel Demand Modeling
• Developing Travel Demand Modeling Tools for Medium-Sized Communities in Virginia
• Dynamic Model Visualization and Investigation
• Estimating Arterial Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Communities
• GLOBEWARM – A Tool to Estimate Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Roadway Vehicles
• Integrating Planning and Operations for a Comprehensive Transportation Management System
• Lessons Learned: A Community Driven Approach to Infrastructure Improvement
• Moving the Guests at a 400th Anniversary: Jamestown 2007
• MPO Planning Resources – An Internet-Based Tool
• Northern Minnesota/Northern Wisconsin Freight Plan
• Prioritizing Projects for the Metropolitan Transportation Plan -- The Lexington Experience
• Public Involvement in Bicycle Safety
• Safe Routes to School: A Collaborative Approach
• The School Travel Plan as a Community Planning Tool
• Transit Node Analysis: Comparing Street-Level Physical and Socioeconomic Factors Using a Layered GIS Approach
• Transportation of Wind Energy Industry Components: Planning for Growth in the Heartland
• Using a Federal Database and Local Industry Sector Knowledge to Develop Future Freight Forecasts
• Using Decision Trees in Transportation Planning and Analysis
• Vacant Land Inventory and Development Assessment Tool