Title:
Developing a Consistent, Flexible, and Defensible Methodology for State and Regional Transportation Planning
Abstract:
A decade ago, long-range transportation planning in Arizona was an unstructured process that was often inconsistent and dependent on parochial interests and political influence. That era ended in 2000 when the State Legislature enacted legislation requiring that long-range planning be guided by specific performance measures. The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) was assigned responsibility for applying these measures to the planning process. In 2001, the effort began on Move Arizona – known as MoveAZ – the Arizona long-range transportation plan that succeeded in creating tools with which ADOT could evaluate and prioritize transportation improvements over a 20-year timeframe. While the MoveAZ plan was notable for advancing transportation planning in Arizona into an era of performance-based planning, the opportunity to improve upon its methodology became apparent as ADOT embarked on the plan’s update. ADOT is presently launching the update to MoveAZ through a series of twelve Regional Transportation Profiles that will, unlike the earlier plan, address every segment of the state highway system. To ensure consistency in the identification and evaluation of potential highway improvements across a wide variety of conditions throughout the state, the Profiles will each adhere to performance-based planning techniques outlined in detail by the "Regional Transportation Profile Guidelines." The Guidelines, which employ a version of the Highway Economic Requirements System – State (HERS-ST) that has been uniquely adapted to reflect data specific to Arizona, form the foundation of the analysis of needs and deficiencies, as well as the identification of project improvements.
