01330663

Monograph

http://www.trb.org/main/blurbs/164771.aspx

The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) 2005 round is fundamentally different from previous rounds. It concentrates tens of thousands of additional personnel at a number of bases, some of which are located in metropolitan areas with already congested transportation infrastructure. The time period by which BRAC decisions must be fully implemented (September 2011) is far too short for some bases and surrounding communities to avoid significant added traffic congestion for military personnel and other commuters during peak travel periods. The resulting traffic delays will impose substantial costs on surrounding communities and may even be harmful to the military. The existing funding mechanisms, through the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Department of Defense (DoD), are incapable of addressing the problems in terms of both the speed with which they can be implemented and the resources they have available. Moreover, base commanders lack incentives, guidance, and resources to address the problems bases cause outside their gates. In cases documented in this report, base growth due to BRAC and other DoD policies outstrips communities’ abilities to respond. This problem is partly due to the controversy and difficulty of expanding capacity in built-up areas in response to growing populations and travel and partly due to severely constrained resources. These matters are examined in this report which is organized in five chapters. Chapter 1 provides an introduction. In Chapter 2, the study committee describes case studies of BRAC-related personnel increases in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, Texas, and Florida and the efforts of these communities to cope with traffic increases in the surrounding transportation system. In Chapter 3, the normal processes followed in military base planning and metropolitan area transportation planning are described, while noting the apparent disconnects between these two processes and opportunities to better integrate them. In Chapter 4, the committee reviews the available options for funding off-base transportation improvements and travel demand management efforts through both DoD and non-DoD sources and offers a rationale for assigning cost responsibility for the improvements. Chapter 5 presents the committee’s findings and recommendations. A background paper prepared for the committee on the subject of impact fees is contained in Appendix A. Appendix B contains an example of impact fee calculation for the expansion of a military base.

English

106p

2011

Transportation Research Board Special Report

9780309160810

Print

Appendices (2) ; Figures (1) ; Maps (8) ; References; Tables (4)

Case studies; Costs; Financing; Impact fees; Metropolitan areas; Peak periods; Traffic congestion; Traffic delays; Transportation planning; Travel demand management

Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission; U.S. Department of Defense

Military bases

Administration and Management; Finance; Policy; I10: Economics and Administration

TRIS, TRB

Feb 28 2011 1:29PM