Towards Sustainable Transport Planning in the United States

This paper provides an analysis of how sustainability concepts are currently addressed within the broad framework of surface transportation planning in the United States (US). We first discuss the overall transportation planning process in the US, and the role of key agencies and actors. This is fol...

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Main Authors: Tara Ramani, Josias Zietsman, Marie Ridley Pryn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: TU Delft Open 2018-06-01
Series:European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research
Online Access:https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/ejtir/article/view/3238
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spelling doaj-e9276118a53e40b6a7261b56c10615322021-07-26T08:30:56ZengTU Delft OpenEuropean Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research1567-71412018-06-0118310.18757/ejtir.2018.18.3.32382849Towards Sustainable Transport Planning in the United StatesTara Ramani0Josias Zietsman1Marie Ridley Pryn2Texas A&M University SystemTexas A&M University SystemCenter for Regional Development, Capital Region of DenmarkThis paper provides an analysis of how sustainability concepts are currently addressed within the broad framework of surface transportation planning in the United States (US). We first discuss the overall transportation planning process in the US, and the role of key agencies and actors. This is followed by a brief assessment of how sustainability is addressed as part of national policies and programs. We then present a case study of the US Federal Highway Administration’s INVEST (Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation Sustainability Tool), and its application by four agencies. In general, the findings indicate that there is acknowledgement of triple bottom line sustainability considerations in transportation planning – though a cohesive and unified approach is lacking. We also note the presence of planning initiatives and discourse that implicitly address sustainability issues, by targeting related considerations such as liveability, health, climate adaptation, quality of life, and economic opportunity.https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/ejtir/article/view/3238
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Tara Ramani
Josias Zietsman
Marie Ridley Pryn
spellingShingle Tara Ramani
Josias Zietsman
Marie Ridley Pryn
Towards Sustainable Transport Planning in the United States
European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research
author_facet Tara Ramani
Josias Zietsman
Marie Ridley Pryn
author_sort Tara Ramani
title Towards Sustainable Transport Planning in the United States
title_short Towards Sustainable Transport Planning in the United States
title_full Towards Sustainable Transport Planning in the United States
title_fullStr Towards Sustainable Transport Planning in the United States
title_full_unstemmed Towards Sustainable Transport Planning in the United States
title_sort towards sustainable transport planning in the united states
publisher TU Delft Open
series European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research
issn 1567-7141
publishDate 2018-06-01
description This paper provides an analysis of how sustainability concepts are currently addressed within the broad framework of surface transportation planning in the United States (US). We first discuss the overall transportation planning process in the US, and the role of key agencies and actors. This is followed by a brief assessment of how sustainability is addressed as part of national policies and programs. We then present a case study of the US Federal Highway Administration’s INVEST (Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation Sustainability Tool), and its application by four agencies. In general, the findings indicate that there is acknowledgement of triple bottom line sustainability considerations in transportation planning – though a cohesive and unified approach is lacking. We also note the presence of planning initiatives and discourse that implicitly address sustainability issues, by targeting related considerations such as liveability, health, climate adaptation, quality of life, and economic opportunity.
url https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/ejtir/article/view/3238
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AT josiaszietsman towardssustainabletransportplanningintheunitedstates
AT marieridleypryn towardssustainabletransportplanningintheunitedstates
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