Volume 2 Issue 10 | March 18, 2021
Transportation Planning Newsletter
Chair: Kristina Swallow, Nevada DOT Vice Chair: Lynn Weiskopf, New York State DOT

The Committee on Planning addresses all aspects of the transportation planning process including federal regulations, current industry practices, and emerging approaches and concepts. The committee is dedicated to providing State DOTs the expertise, resources and tools they need to implement a robust planning process within their agencies that is multimodal, multidisciplinary, innovative and consensus-oriented.
Committee News
PIARC Webinar on Post COVID: Planning for Economic Recovery
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated trends that directly affect transportation and is presenting transportation and transportation planners with an unprecedented set of new challenges and possibilities.

This event is unique from past economic downturns because of its scope and scale, touching all sectors of the economy. It is also notable for how the response to Pandemic has led transportation planners to think about how we live, work, and travel.

Members of the PIARC Technical 1.2 Committee are working this cycle to identify, investigate, then document the emerging methods, practices, and guidelines for determining the economic and social contribution of road transport systems.

While the work is focused primarily on non-pandemic case study, it is recognized that changes associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic will require immediate planning, prioritization, and implementation to adapt in the Post-COVID Recovery associated transportation world.

As such presenters will offer case study examples that are intended to inform webinar participant’s understanding of- and immediately assist with planning for Post-COVID Recovery including tools, methods, and processes for evaluating a spectrum of possible future Post-COVID Recovery scenarios.
Speakers will include:
  • Patrick Mallejacq – PIARC Secretary General
  • Fabio Pasquali – PIARC Technical Committee 1.2 Chair
  • Tim Henkel – PIARC Technical Committee 1.2, Work Group B Chair
  • Lincoln Flor - The World Bank
  • Peter Plumeau - President & CEO at EBP US
  • Frank Bruns - Leader of our Transportation Economics and Financing Team EBP, Switzerland.
  • Dejan Dejan.Makovsek - C20OECD Public Governance Directorate

REGISTRATION

This webinar is free and open to all. The number of seats is limited, and sessions will be managed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Active discussions with the audience will be encouraged. Specifically, this webinar aims to present information and encourage discussion that:
  • Assists transportation planner ability to pivot swiftly and respond to expected and un-expected future change.
  • Assists transportation planners to confidently determine the best path to assess, address, and manage the economic and social needs & impacts of the post-pandemic world.
  • Identify key indicators and measures associated with the challenges and opportunities which may be relevant to economic and social recovery from the pandemic in the coming months and years; and 
  • Set out possible lessons which might be considered, to PIARC’s mission, programs, and operating practices, including within the current Strategic Planning Cycle 2020 – 2023.
AASHTO Salutes Women in Transportation
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently released a video highlighting how, throughout America’s history, women made substantial contributions to the transportation industry thru innovation and unwavering leadership.

The video – produced by AASHTO Transportation TV video – showcases the stories of female transportation trailblazers such as Martha Coston, Emily Warren Roebling, Bessie Coleman, Ellen Ochoa, and Elizabeth Dole: all of whose contributions helped to pave the way for future generations of women in the transportation sector.
Industry News
ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Environmentalists Seek Climate Action in U.S. Infrastructure Bill
EcoWatch

MnDOT adopts recommendations from the Sustainable Transportation Advisory Council
Minnesota DOT

AVs could worsen air quality, says report
ITS International

FREIGHT
 
Nevada says push for freight rail not an attack on trucking
FreightWaves

What freight carriers should know about Biden’s transportation review
FreightWaves

FUNDING
 
Transportation gets a big boost in recovery package but still faces an uncertain future
Washington Post

FHWA Awards $18.7 Million to Eight Projects to Explore New Highway Funding Methods
FHWA

Two states tax some drivers by the mile. Many more want to give it a try.
Washington Post

AASHTO Report Highlights The Benefits Of Transportation Investment
AASHTO Journal

Proceed With Caution Regarding Transportation Earmarks, Stakeholders Say
Transport Topics

Business leaders engage Biden administration on ways to pay for infrastructure
CNBC

I-80 tolling bill gains initial support from the Wyoming Senate
Wyoming Tribune Eagle

INFRASTRUCTURE

Congressional Earmarks Can Be Tool for Advancing Infrastructure Bill, Stakeholders Say
Transport Topics

House GOP OKs Spending Earmarks, Boosting Infrastructure Plan
Transport Topics

Biden wants bipartisan support for infrastructure, but GOP and Dems are already drawing battle lines
CNBC

Buttigieg says info on infrastructure plans will be released 'in short order'
The Hill

McConnell Rules Out Backing for Tax-Funded Infrastructure
Bloomberg

MOBILITY 

‘Transportation policy is health policy’: How Buttigieg says COVID relief plan can bridge health divides
WVLA-TV

Mobility data used to respond to COVID-19 can leave out older and non-white people
Carnegie Mellon University

MPOs
 
SANDAG board reveals proposed regional plan, $55.9 billion in transit projects
KUSI-TV

Fredericksburg Metropolitan Planning Organization looking to form a transportation focus group
Fredericksburg Today

San Diego Launches Online Public Forums To Fix Traffic Jams, Commuter Woes
San Diego Union-Tribune

Four-County North Florida planning board supports legislation to stop toll road project
The Capitolist

PLANNING
 
Maine DOT Expects To Continue With Virtual, On-Demand Meetings After COVID-19
Kennebec Journal 

Georgia DOT seeks rural community input on statewide transportation plan
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ROADWAYS
 
FHWA Asks Texas To Halt I-45 Expansion, As Harris County Sues TxDOT
Houston Public Media

Lakeland ‘road diet’ leads to fewer crashes, more congestion, city officials say
WFLA-TV

TECHNOLOGY

ITS America, AASHTO Ask Buttigieg To Preserve 5.9 GHz Spectrum For V2X
Traffic Technology Today

TRANSIT
 
WA: Pierce Transit considers eliminating hundreds of bus stops in hopes of faster service
News Tribune

New Debate Over Dallas D-2 Downtown Subway Transit Plan
KXAS-TV
 
TriMet, Bridge Housing partner to bring affordable housing to Hollywood Transit Center
Hollywood Star News

Overhaul of Norfolk’s bus system rejected over concerns about effects on poor and Black residents
Virginian-Pilot

First Of Six Miami-Dade Smart Plan Mass Transit Corridors Now Officially Underway
The Next Miami

West Coast states aim to improve online tools for rural transit riders
Gales Creek Journal

Rail vs Bus along the Midtown Greenway

TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD
 
TRB Webinar: Analyzing Corridors and Systems with the Highway Capacity Manual
TRB

© 2021 American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
News stories gathered by Bernie Wagenblast