Jim Thorne FHWA - Resource Center • The Sustainable Communities Partnership and Livability Principles • Livability and the Planning Process • Livability Examples and Resources • Sustainability • Livability/Sustainability: where and how DOT, EPA, HUD Improve access to affordable housing, provide more transportation options and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment Encourages livability principles to be incorporated into federal programs and funding. Achieve our economic, social, and environmental goals most effectively when we work on them together. Partnership Livability Principles Transportation Choices Housing Choices Economic Competitiveness Support Existing Communities Align Federal Policies Value Communities Targeting resources through grants and other programs to help states and communities create jobs and stronger economies by developing more sustainably. Removing regulatory and policy barriers at the federal level to make it easier for state and local governments to access federal services and resources. Aligning agency priorities and embedding the Livability Principles in each agency’s actions so that transportation, housing, and environmental protection efforts are coordinated. Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grants Joint DOT TIGER II-HUD Community Challenge Grants HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants Funds for Urban Circulator and Bus & Bus Livability Projects State Revolving Funds for Water Infrastructure Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Greening America’s Capitals HUD Adoption of Sustainability Criteria in Scoring Grant Applications Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance Brownfields Policy Change Brownfields Pilot Communities Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot Initiative Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation Regulations and Recommendations Reducing Contracting Conflicts Change to Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts Program Coordinating Policies and Funding Programs HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities EPA Office of Sustainable Communities Regional Partnerships Broaden Partnership Continue examining and, if necessary, modifying federal policies and actions on transportation, housing, and environmental protection to complement each other and to better reflect the Livability Principles. Using the quality, location and type of transportation facilities and services to help achieve broader community goals such as access to good jobs, affordable housing, quality schools, and safe streets Livability, sustainability, smart growth, walkable communities, new urbanism, healthy neighborhoods, active living, transit oriented development, complete streets, Sustainawalkabilitism . . . www.wordle.net/ Support economic vitality Increase safety Increase security Increase accessibility and mobility Protect and enhance the environment Enhance connectivity across and between modes Promote efficient system management and operation Preserve the existing transportation system. (E) protect and enhance the environment, promote energy conservation, improve the quality of life, and promote consistency between transportation improvements and State and local planned growth and economic development patterns; More efficient use of resources Increase accessibility Improve connections and options Reduce energy use Environmental benefits Health and Social benefits Livable Communities are where people have access to many different forms of transportation and affordable housing…..” U.S. DOT Secretary, Ray LaHood Goals, performance measures, policies related to livability, quality of life, . . . Help region develop vision related to community growth and development. Reach beyond usual groups to housing, public health, water resources, . . . Land use and transportation integration. Multi-modal planning. Interdisciplinary efforts. CSS in regional, corridor, project planning. Options and approaches vary. Connected streets Complete streets Pedestrian facilities Bicycle planning Scenario planning Land Use/Transportation integration Safe Routes to School Transit supportive land use Multi-modal planning Context Sensitive Solutions Management and Operations Safety Accessibility Integrated planning Public Engagement Freight Corridor planning GHG emission reduction Public health ? Opportunities to Address Climate Change Planning for: ◦ Grid street patterns, short blocks, streetscapes ◦ Transit and transit supportive land use ◦ Planning for bike and pedestrian travel ◦ Land use (as it supports transportation and vice versa) ◦ System efficiencies ◦ Travel Demand Management Goal Driven Community engagement and outreach Place Based Context Sensitive Recognizes existing values and assets Interdisciplinary Comprehensive Explores inter-relationships of key elements Collaborative Public and decision maker understanding that land use and transportation are intertwined. Livability Goals and Performance Measures. Safe, connected, multimodal roadway networks. Plans, programs and projects support broader community goals. Interdisciplinary approach: partners and efforts that support range of community goals. Atlanta, GA—Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) ◦ LCI program initiated in 1999 to better link transportation and land use planning with long-term goals of VMT and congestion reduction and improved air quality. ◦ Awards grants to prepare plans to enhance existing centers and corridors. ◦ More than 100 studies had been completed, representing nearly $9 million in planning assistance funding. Chattanooga, TN Riverfront Parkway Transportation and Urban Design Plan Converted the Riverfront Parkway from a four-lane, limited-access expressway to an urban surface street. Three primary objectives guided the design: ◦ Better vehicular and pedestrian connections to downtown, ◦ Improving riverfront area ◦ Capacity that better matched expected traffic volumes. The project has improved access, commuting patterns, and renewed economic viability for the eastern portion of downtown. Chattanooga, TN Riverfront Parkway Transportation and Urban Design Plan Every transportation project is an opportunity to improve the quality of life in a community. Rural Communities 1) Support the rural landscape 2) Help existing places thrive 3) Create great new places icma.org • Set Regional Framework • Improve Local Accessibility • Enhance Community Design www.trb.org PennDOT’s Smart Transportation Guidebook “Smart Transportation is a collaborative approach to supporting great communities for future generations of Pennsylvanians.” www.smart-transportation.com Traditionally – it’s been either urban or rural Land use context – land area comprising unique combination of land uses, density, building form Common place types found in every PennDOT district RURAL SUBURBAN CORRIDOR SUBURBAN CENTER SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD TOWN / VILLAGE CENTER TOWN / VILLAGE NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN CORE Capital District Transportation Committee – Albany, NY MPO www.cdtcmpo.org/linkage.htm Collaborative Interdisciplinary Involves all stakeholders Results in facility that complements; Physical setting, and Preserves scenic, aesthetic, and historic and environmental resources, while Maintaining safety and mobility www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/csd.htm Pedestrian and Bicycle Enhancements • Bike Lanes • Recreational multi-use trails • Pedestrian refuge islands, sidewalks, countdown signals Series of urban and rural case studies and strategies that facilitate: •Revitalizing rural small towns •Better connecting downtowns with neighborhoods •Completing street networks •Supporting compact, mixed use development •Maximize efficiency of existing transportation infrastructure •Mitigate impacts of climate change •Preserve natural and cultural resources Livability Guidebook Livability Implementation Research Paper 5 Regional workshops with key stakeholders to identify opportunities and obstacles. ◦ Locations—Sacramento, CA; Denver, CO; Kansas City, MO; Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA National Association of Development Organizations Peer Exchanges that focused on Rural Livability. ◦ GA, NC and CA Livability Performance Measures TIGER 3 ◦ NOFA ◦ Open until October FTA ◦ Bus Livability Grants HUD ◦ Capacity Building NOFA ◦ Second Round of Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants ◦ NOFA EPA ◦ Greening America’s Capitals ◦ Smart Growth Technical Assistance www.sustainablecommunities.gov Atlanta Regional Commission – Atlanta, GA Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC) – Albany, NY Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) – Philadelphia, PA Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) – Denver, CO Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) – Oakland, CA North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) – Dallas-Fort Worth, TX Portland Metro (Metro) – Portland, OR Transportation and Land Use Integration Transportation Planning Process Programming and Project Prioritization Funding Project Implementation Program Evaluation and Performance Measures Partnerships and Outreach Use scenario planning to engage the public in conversations about transportation and land use and inform updates to the long-range transportation plan – ARC, CDTC, DRCOG, MTC, NCTCOG Prepare a regional comprehensive plan in conjunction with a long-range transportation plan – ARC, DRCOG, DVRPC, Metro Integrate land use criteria into the TIP Process, such as considering minimum zoning requirements in the project evaluation and selection criteria for TIP programming – CDTC, DRCOG, MTC, NCTCOG Update the regional transportation demand model to better address land use development and associated travel behavior – ARC, DRCOG, MTC, NCTCOG Pay staff or consultants to track and monitor development or land values in the region to identify opportunities for strategic transportation investments – Metro, NCTCOG Provide design guidelines and information, training or technical assistance on complete streets – ARC, DVRPC, DRCOG, MTC, NCTCOG Sustainability - A set of environmental, economic and social conditions in which all of society has the capacity and opportunity to maintain and improve its quality of life indefinitely without degrading the quantity, quality or the availability of natural, economic and social resources (from American Society of Civil Engineers) Source: Transportation Planning and Sustainability Guidebook FHWA, 2011 •Livability and sustainability promote environmentally sustainable travel options, consideration of human health issues, social equity, and economic development. •Sustainability includes long term, multi-generational focus. •Livability initiatives as a subset of sustainability; focused more on near term planning, funding and implementation at the community level. •Sustainability addresses larger environmental goals such as improving air and water quality, reducing climate impacts, increasing energy efficiency, and decreasing dependence on foreign oil. •Livability may be less specific about larger environmental goals. •Transportation solutions that support both are likely similar. Examines how sustainability considerations could be better incorporated into transportation planning through case studies identified from a review of sustainability planning practices at State DOTs and from a literature review of U.S. and international practices. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep/climate/sustainability/index.cfm FHWA encourages sustainable highway practices throughout the project lifecycle: ◦ Planning ◦ Project Development ◦ Operations and Management FHWA is developing a Sustainable Highways Tool in order to: ◦ Help agencies measure sustainability and quantify tradeoffs ◦ Provide a framework for communicating with stakeholders about sustainability ◦ Establish a method for evaluating sustainable highways For sustainability to be fully integrated into highway and transit programs, it must be considered throughout the project lifecycle Must address sustainability from planning through operations System Planning & Processes Project Development Transportation Systems Management, Operations & Maintenance System Planning ◦ Integrated Planning ◦ Mitigation banking ◦ Fiscal planning Project Development ◦ Cost Benefit Analysis ◦ Construction Equipment Emission Reduction ◦ Recycling and Reuse of materials Operations and Maintenance • Strong asset management • Roadside vegetation management ◦ Self-evaluation tool to measure sustainability over the life cycle of a transportation project ◦ Collection of best practices ◦ Web-based ◦ Based on triple bottom line Environmental Economic Social ◦ Pilot Test Version www.sustainablehighways.org Voluntary Web-based Tool Lists “sustainable criteria” based on best practices for three project phases: ◦ Systems Planning ◦ Project Development ◦ Operations and Maintenance Each criterion assigned a point value based on expected sustainability impact In coordination with ASCE effort Other sustainable highways tools used as references(GreenLITES, I-LAST, Greenroads) www.sustainablehighways.org Encourage sustainable highway practices ◦ Internal improvement ◦ External recognition Help agencies measure sustainability and quantify tradeoffs Provide a framework for communicating with stakeholders about sustainability Establish a method for evaluating sustainable highways PD-1 Cost Benefit Analysis PD-2 Highway and Traffic Safety PD-3 Context Sensitive Project Development (or equivalent) PD-4 Lifecycle Cost Analysis PD-5 Freight Mobility PD-6 Educational Outreach PD-7 Tracking Environmental Commitments PD-8 Habitat Restoration PD-9 Stormwater PD-10 Ecological Connectivity PD-11 Recycle & Reuse Materials PD-12 Create Renewable Energy PD-13 Site Vegetation PD-14 Pedestrian Access PD-15 Bicycle Access PD-16 Transit & HOV Access PD-17 Historical, Archaeological, and Cultural Preservation PD-18 Scenic, Natural, or Recreational Qualities PD-19 Low-Emitting Materials PD-20 Energy Efficient Lighting PD-21 ITS for System Operations PD-22 Long-Life Pavement Design PD-23 Reduced Energy and Emissions in Pavement Materials PD-24 Contractor Warranty PD-25 Earthwork Balance PD-26 Construction Environmental Training PD-27 Construction Equipment Emission Reduction PD-28 Construction Noise Mitigation PD-29 Construction Quality Plan PD-30 Construction Waste Management Testing will be done on the Project Development (PD), System Planning (SP) and Operations & Maintenance (OM) criteria Objectives for Conducting the Pilot Testing ◦ Provide input on how to make tool easier to use ◦ Obtain input on further refinement to criteria ◦ For calibration of scoring and achievement levels Schedule for Pilot Testing ◦ July thru October 2011 For Sustainable Highways Program Continue strong coordination within FHWA and with partners and stakeholders Create program structure, partner on key program/research gaps For INVEST • Revise additional criteria – Revise O&M criteria – July – Revise System Planning criteria – August • Pilot Testing – Call for Pilot Projects (PD criteria)– June – Call for Pilot Programs (SP & OM) – July • Weighting & Scoring Review - ongoing • Updates to Website ongoing • Version 1.0 Release – December 31, 2011 • • How do we incorporate livability and sustainability into our planning? What do you need to move forward with livability and sustainability initiatives? “Trend Is Not Destiny” Lewis Mumford • • • • • • • • • • • • Broaden Community Engagement Livability Goals and Performance Measures Integrate Land Use and Transportation Planning Pursue Connected Street Networks Improve Access Management Programs Support Projects that Reconnect Communities Develop Multimodal Projects Advance Travel Demand Management and Operational Strategies Consider Freight Movement and Needs Use CSS Approach: Planning, Project Development Address Transportation Safety Conduct Multimodal Corridor Planning