01697940

Component

Municipalities and states across the US frequently use TIA (traffic impact assessment) in order to estimate how much additional automobile traffic will be generated by new developments, and determine what roadway capacity improvements developers are required to provide to ensure concomitant traffic congestion does not surpass accepted levels. The conventional approach to TIA has come under fire in recent years, as its emphasis on improving traffic flow and reducing congestion conflicts with the growing movement for more compact, livable, and walkable urban spaces and increasing reliance on non-car travel modes. Researchers and professional organizations have been working to develop new approaches to TIA that better account for contemporary urban travel patterns and that better align with local efforts to support more sustainable development patterns. In this paper, the authors present findings from an exploratory study of the state-of-the-practice of traffic impact assessment and the adoption of innovative TIA practices in the US state of North Carolina. Using semi-structured interviews of staff involved in the development approval process in 16 medium and large NC municipalities, the authors captured and content-analyzed qualitative data on how each municipality handles the traffic impacts of new developments, any innovative approaches the municipality has adopted that represent a departure from the conventional TIA methods, and enablers or and/or barriers to adoption of innovation. Overall, the authors find that NC municipalities largely follow the conventional approach to TIA, although some locations have modified this approach with the intent of improving alignment between development patterns and livability goals.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADD40 Standing Committee on Transportation and Sustainability.

19-02927

English

5p

2019

Transportation Research Board 98th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

References

Case studies; Impacts; State of the practice; Sustainable development; Traffic flow; Travel patterns

North Carolina

Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General)

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2019 Paper #19-02927

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 7 2018 9:42AM