Saturday, October 18, 2008

NEW: PennDOT's Smart Transportation Guide

Directly from PennDOT's very own website. Thanks to Alan Piper from Reading Area Transportation Study for making this known.

What is Smart Transportation?

Smart Transportation is partnering to build great communities for future generations of Pennsylvanians by linking transportation investments and land use planning and decision-making.

The ultimate goal of Smart Transportation is to create transportation facilities that are safe and affordable, responsive to the needs of all users, and support community planning goals.


Accommodate all modes of travel: An efficient transportation system should consider the infrastructure necessary to support all modes of travel, including walking, bicycling, transit, and private automobiles. This is especially important in an era of $4 gasoline, when many of our families are spending 30% or more of their income on transportation. Download case studies here.
Will Smart Transportation cost more than what we do today?
When Smart Transportation strategies are done early and consistently throughout the planning, design, and implementation stages of a project, Smart Transportation will cost less than most conventional transportation solutions. The key is to identify opportunities for cost savings by making sure that existing infrastructure investments are taken care of, that project needs are clearly understood and defined, that we use flexible design, that high-value/low-cost projects are prioritized, and that opportunities for sharing resources (across jurisdictions and across agencies) are used.
In some select instances, the upfront costs of Smart Transportation projects might seem to be slightly more expensive than short-term quick fixes, but the longer term cost savings and quality of life returns of a comprehensively thought-out Smart Transportation solution will be far more substantial.

Where can I find more information?
The Smart Transportation Guidebook provides technical guidance for standards and approaches related to traffic engineering and design. This website touches on the various aspects of Smart Transportation, provides information on where to access technical planning and design information related to it, and includes project examples illustrating how Smart Transportation can be applied.
Each PennDOT office has a contact person for Smart Transportation issues and questions. In Central Office, the main point of contact is Brian Hare, Division Chief of the Design Services Division. He can be reached at 717.783.6418, bhare@state.pa.us. Within each of the district offices, the contact person is the ADE for Design. Click here for your District’s ADE for Design.

No comments:

Post a Comment