00725610

Component

https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198196151800104

https://scholar.google.co...akes&publication_year=1996

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) requires the integration of environmental considerations into transportation planning. Although previous legislation has required the consideration of environmental elements during project planning, ISTEA necessitates a different approach. During project-specific planning, each environmental element is researched to determine baseline conditions, and project plans are superimposed to determine potential impacts and the need for mitigative measures. This approach is appropriate for project-specific planning, but it presents only a snapshot of existing conditions because environmental data are changing constantly. The integration of environmental considerations into long-range plans requires a much broader focus. It must allow dynamic systems to change without affecting the plan's validity. A case study is presented of the Oklahoma statewide intermodal transportation plan, which uses recent geographic theory to integrate planning and human activity at varying scales. This theoretical framework is based on ecological and societal units of interaction called "bioregions" or "place-systems". The environmental baseline and analysis for Oklahoma begin with the identification of place-systems in the state: areas of biophysical and cultural similarity and context. The delimitation of such regional place-systems is sufficiently generalized and flexible to accommodate many data types and sources, yet rigid enough to be useful for planning. Both quantitative data and descriptive information are included in an analytical framework suitable to relational data bases and geographic information systems applications. These are used to create a series of map and data overlays to project potential environmental impacts and constraints, as well as opportunities for developing future transportation projects. The methods used to delineate regional place-systems in Oklahoma and their subsequent use in environmental analyses and planning are described.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1518, Transportation Planning Applications.

01398721

English

p. 19-21

1996

Transportation Research Record

309062144

References (2)

Case studies; Environmental impacts; Environmental policy; Geographic information systems; Intermodal transportation; Long range planning; Traffic mitigation; Transportation planning

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991

Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

TRIS, TRB

Sep 19 1996 12:00AM

• APPLYING URBAN TRANSPORTATION MODELING TECHNIQUES TO MODEL REGIONAL FREIGHT AND VEHICLE MOVEMENT
• DEVELOPING LONG-RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLANS FOR SMALL URBANIZED AREAS IN THE ISTEA ERA: TALLAHASSEE 2020 PLAN UPDATE
• ESTIMATING IMPACTS OF TRANSPORTATION CONTROL MEASURES ON WORK-RELATED TRIPS
• FINANCIALLY CONSTRAINING WASHINGTON'S TRANSPORTATION PLAN
• FORECASTING TRAVEL TIME
• LAND USE IMPACTS ON TRIP GENERATION RATES
• ROLE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLANNING