Business Logistics 420
Public Transportation
Lecture 17
Transportation Planning
Overview
Lecture Objectives
• Understand the scope of planning activities
applicable to public transportation
• Understand the legal background and
institutional framework within which
planning is practiced
• Identify specific planning activities that are
commonly related to public transit
Transportation Planning
• Theoretical definitions vs. institutionalized
practice
• Definition – planning is the orderly process of
preparing a detailed scheme or program for
accomplishment of an objective or goal worked
out in advance.
– Example – what is the best way to relieve congestion
between State College and 7 Mountains that is safe,
efficient, and environmentally sound?
– Example – what is the best way to reduce the need for
parking spaces on PSU’s central campus?
– Example – what is the best way to provide mobility for
Transportation Planning
• Explicit within the previous definition are that
planning:
– Is an orderly process
– Specific goals and objectives are known
– The end product is defined
• Implicit within the definition are:
– The acceptance of change
– Ability to deal with uncertainty and risk
– The ability to accept errors
The Theoretical Planning Process
• Rarely practiced because
– Hard to set goals
• Goals conflict
• Different groups and individuals have different goals
– Assumes a change to the status quo
– Typical approach does not include feedback mechanism
to determine if plan accomplishes goal
– Failure to include and account for uncertainty
The Institutions of Planning
• Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
– Locally controlled
– Elected and appointed officials from region,
also representatives of transit system and other
organizations
– Must approve long-range and short-range plans
and specific projects in order to obtain federal
funds
– Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
US Transportation Planning
Process
• State and federal government funds most
planning costs
• Each metropolitan area has a planning staff
devoted specifically to transportation
planning
• State DOTs have major input into planning
decisions
Transportation Planning in
Practice
• Long range plans
– Typically 10-20 year projection
– Multimodal, at least highways and transit, now
also bike and pedestrian, also freight
– Designed to evaluate major projects such as
major new highway links, rail transit
– Fairly general, not detailed design or location
plans
Transportation Planning in
Practice
• Typical Approach to Long Range Planning
– Federal Government requires that each urban
area have a long range plan as condition of
receiving federal funds
– “3C” Planning Process followed
• Continuing, Comprehensive, Cooperative
• Involves modeling of land use, demographic
projections and transportation demand
• Involves significant local government and citizen
participation
Transportation Planning in
Practice
• Short Range Plans
– 3-5 year planning horizon
– Usually for a single mode, e.g., highway, transit
– Look at specific facilities (highway link, transit
station), service design (routes and schedules)
– Includes a plan plus capital and operating
expense forecasts
Transportation Planning in
Practice
• Operations Planning
– Immediate needs
– Service evaluations, new routes, new policies
• Example, how CATA should modify its routes to
serve the new Target store
• Example, how to relieve overcrowding on Campus
Loop
Typical Short Range Transit Plan
• Inventory of existing services
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Operations trends
Fare structure
Physical property
Management structure
Routes and service evaluation
Ridership characteristics (usually an on-board
survey
Typical Short Range Transit Plan
(Continued)
• Analysis and Recommendations
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Data analysis
Recommendations on transit operations
Specification of equipment and facility requirements
Fare structure recommendation
Marketing plan
Financial feasibility analysis including capital and
operating expense estimates (3-5 years)
– Management and organization recommendations
– A five-year summary/business plan
Four Major Planning Activities to be
Covered in Subsequent Lectures
• System design
– System concepts
– Route planning
• Demand Forecasting
• Cost Estimation
• Performance Evaluation
Study Questions
• What is transportation planning?
• Why is it so difficult to plan transportation
facilities and services?
• What are the three different planning horizons
typically used in transportation planning and what
kinds of activities fall into each category?
• What are the typical elements of a short-range
transit plan?