Title:
MAKING LIFE EASIER FOR PLANNERS, ELECTED OFFICIALS, AND THEIR CONSTITUENTS: VISUALIZING THE INTERACTION OF TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE
Abstract:
Planning professionals have long recognized the connection between land uses and transportation, and there have been many studies to investigate the relationship between the two. In planning practices, land uses and transportation facilities are usually considered separately by different departments in a local or regional government. While a geographic information system (GIS) has been used to support many transportation or land use planning efforts, efforts in using GIS to bring the two together have been limited. This paper describes the design and implementation of a GIS-based tool to bring data relevant to land use and transportation planning together and to support transportation planning with the objective of encouraging sustainable development. In addition to an array of data that can be conveniently visualized, a number of measurements that reflect the land use mix, job-housing ratio, land availability, accessibility, etc., are provided, which may also be used to evaluate both transportation and land use project impacts. The tool allows the user to define development projects and, through a direct link to a travel demand model, allows the impacts of the development projects to be evaluated in terms of changes in traffic volumes, volume to capacity ratios, accessibilities, etc. The GIS environment allows a planner without GIS experience to examine detailed information concerning land uses, socioeconomic and demographic conditions, environment, and transportation systems, explore opportunities for land development projects that enhance a community socially and economically, and evaluate the impacts of land development projects on transportation and vice versa.
