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Transportation Planning in Small and Medium and Small Sized Communities

The following Strategic Plan is also available in PDF format* for printing.

Introduction

Committee ADA 30, Transportation Planning for Small and Medium Sized Communities, was formed to fill a need to provide support for transportation planners in small and medium sized communities by identifying research needs, promoting its funding, supporting its completion, and helping to disseminate the results. This strategic plan was developed to provide committee members a blue print for implementing those charges.

Bryson (Bryson, John M., Robert C. Einsweiler, 1987) defines strategic planning as, “a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization (or other entity) is, what it does, and why it does it. TRB Committee ADA 30 is already defined as to what it is and why it does it, but the strategic plan can help to shape these functions as well as to shape and guide what it does. Figure 1, taken from Bryson and Einsweiler, describes the strategic planning process graphically. Figure 2 relates the relationship between the committee and its customers within the strategic planning process.

The scope, goals, and responsibilities that follow have previously been defined and accepted by the committee.

Scope: "The factors relating to the planning, developing, programming, and implementing of multi-modal transportation facilities for small and medium-sized communities."

Goals and Responsibilities

Goal 1
To facilitate wide dissemination of timely information on transportation planning and programming techniques, procedures, and policies to planning professionals working with small and medium-sized communities, and other interested parties.

Strategy 1: Sponsor at least one technical session at the January Annual Meeting.

Objective1: The Strategic Plan and Special Programs Sub-Committee will plan for sessions at the TRB Annual meeting each year.

Objective 2: At the Annual TRB Meeting, present the topics for the next two annual meetings.

Objective 3: At the summer meeting each year identify a paper review team for the following year’s session(s).

Objective 4: At each annual meeting sessions for the next year will be selected with a moderator.

Strategy 2: Prepare and list, on the committee Website, "briefs" of pertinent studies and activities.

Objective 1: The Sub-Committee for the Website will maintain the committee website. Tom Schwetz is the current Sub-Committee chair.

Objective 2: Committee members will submit briefs to be posted on the Committee website.

Objective 3: Evaluate the program of preparing and posting briefs at the January 2007 Annual Meeting.

Strategy 3: Expand the committee's mailing list.

Objective 1: The committee’s mailing list will be maintained by Tom Schwetz or his successor on an on-going basis.

Objective 2. Establish a regular routine for keeping the mailing list up-to-date and implement it.

Goal 2
To encourage and support publication of research and multimodal transportation planning applications addressing the needs and requirements of small and medium-sized communities through soliciting papers for conferences, review of proposed papers, and sponsoring sessions for paper presentations at TRB annual and mid-year meetings.

Strategy 1: Identify transportation conferences relevant to small and medium sized communities and encourage the presentation of research and multimodal transportation planning applications at those conferences.

Objective 1: Monitor the conference dates for the following conferences and identify those with the potential for session presentations by ADA 30.

Objective 2: Solicit papers for those conferences, especially among committee members.

Strategy 2: Review papers relevant to the ADA 30 mission for publication and presentation opportunities.

Objective 1: Committee members will review papers submitted by presenters and make appropriate recommendations for publication and improvement.

Strategy 3: Become active in developing and participating in the program for the summer TRB meeting.

Objective 1: Work with TRB to incorporate specific needs of small and medium sized communities into the summer meeting program.

Objective 2: The committee chair will promote the program’s inclusion in an upcoming summer meeting.

Strategy 4: Partner with related committees to co-sponsor sessions at the annual Meeting.

Objective 1: Work with other TRB committees to identify session topics of mutual interest and advertise for abstracts.

Objective 2: Identify opportunities for good papers not included in the ADA 30 Annual session(s) that could be included in other committee sessions or joint sessions.

Goal 3
To sponsor and organize a national conference every two years, held in different regions of the U.S., with quality presentations on timely multi-modal transportation planning and programming issues relevant to small and medium-sized communities.

Strategy 1: Continue to sponsor a national conference every two years, on even numbered years.

Objective 1: Plan conference locations as least four years ahead.

Objective 2: Develop and maintain a mailing list of customers for the conference.

Strategy 2: Sponsor a technical workshop in conjunction with each conference.

Objective 1: Develop and review a list of timely topics for the upcoming conference, selecting one that best meets the needs of the customer and the objectives of the committee.

Objective 2: Organize a workshop, or if one already exists, arrange for it to occur at the next conference.

Strategy 3: Provide a mechanism to solicit, present, and publish papers on pertinent topics.

Objective 1: Encourage topic subcommittee (i.e., air quality) to solicit papers/presenters from their partner committees.

Objective 2: Using committee member liaisons, solicit presenters, authors, and attendees from their partner committee.

Goal 4
To provide a forum for discussion of State/Federal/Local transportation policy, planning, and programming issues important to small and medium-sized communities including concerns of the private sector.

Strategy 1: Utilize the committee's Website to inform customers of relevant and current information.

Objective 1: Identify relevant topics, including those identified in the ADA 30 Millennium paper. Stacey will write news articles for the website.

Objective 2: Provide links to other sites of interest to ADA 30 customers. Stacey will organize links for the website.

Strategy 2: Provide a forum for discussion of transportation policy, planning, and programming issues at the committee conference.

Objective 1: Provide State, MPO, and transit caucuses at the biennial committee conference.

Goal 5
To identify research needs and participate in NCHRP, TCRP, synthesis, and other research projects which address transportation planning and programming problems, issues, applications, and techniques that are pertinent to small and medium-sized communities.

Strategy 1: Refine the research problem statements for the committee's top priorities from the list developed at the 1999 Re-focusing Planning for 21st Century workshops.

Objective 1: Establish the committee’s priorities.

Objective 2: Develop three research statements from the prioritized list by the 2006 annual TRB meeting.

Strategy 2: Follow the progress of pertinent NCHRP, TCRP, and other research projects.

Objective 1: Summaries of at least three pertinent NCHRP, TCRP, or other research projects will be presented to the committee by the research subcommittee at each annual meeting.

Objective 2: Liaisons to other TRB committees will report on research efforts being followed by those committees if they are related to the mission of ADA 30.

Goal 6
To facilitate communication and enhanced information sharing among transportation professionals working in small and medium-sized communities.

Strategy 1: Utilize the committee's website to share information.

Objective 1: Establish and maintain a website hosted by the Committee and linked to the TRB web-board.

Objective 2: By January, 2007, the information for the 2008 Committee conference will be posted on the website.

Strategy 2: Make the committee's conference proceedings available on the website.

Objective 1: Post the conference proceedings for past conferences on the website on an ongoing basis.

Strategy 3: Better define who our customers are.

Objective 1: Provide a place for visitors to the website to respond to a customer survey by when the new website is on-line.

Objective 2: Draft a customer survey at the 2006 annual meeting.

Goal 7
To maintain committee membership which provides diverse and broad geographic representation from local, regional, state, and federal governments, consultants, and academia.

Strategy 1: Actively search for members from under represented geographical areas, demographic sectors, and professional disciplines.

Objectives: Contact state transportation agencies in targeted geographical locations for the names of potential members from different disciplinary employment categories.

Objective 1: Seek support from FHWA for support to send representatives from agencies that cannot afford to send them, such as small cities, counties, and MPOs.

Strategy 2: Increase the number of names on the Committee's friends list.

Objectives: Provide incentives for increased friends membership by activities such as an electronic newsletter.

Objective 1: Announce the existence of the friends list at conferences.

Strategy 3: Increase interest in Committee membership by requiring active participation.

Objective 1: Establish subcommittees to be responsible for all parts of the strategic plan.

Objective 2: Require membership on two subcommittees by all committee members, except those having officer and committee conference lead responsibilities.

Goal 8
To maintain coordination and liaison with other TRB committees having areas of responsibility of concern to small and medium-sized communities to insure coordination and non-duplication of effort.

Strategy 1: Complete the review of the scope of committees in TRB Division A.

Objective 1: Select appropriate committees for liaison relationships.

Objective 2: Solicit committee member or friend liaisons.

Strategy 2: Establish an official liaison relationship with appropriate TRB committees.

Objective 1: Send a letter from the committee chair of ADA 30 to the chair of the committee chair of interest, introducing the liaison.

Objective 2: Develop a set of objectives for establishing the liaison with each committee chosen, such a holding joint sessions at the Annual Meeting.

Strategy 3: Develop a systematic process for receipt of and dissemination of information on the activities of the partner committee and dissemination of information on the activities of ADA 30 to the partner committees.

Objective 1: Define, based on the reason for the liaison partnership, what information and activities will be exchanged.

Objective 2: Develop a reporting form based on these factors.

Strategy 4: Re-establish a working relationship with T2 Centers.

Objective 1: Maintain a list of the LTAP and TTAP centers on the committee’s mailing list.

Objective 2: Maintain the liaison relationship with Committee ABG30.

Other Opportunities

The following is a list of other projects that committee members or the committee as a whole can take on to increase our service to our customers:

Millennium Paper
Our millennium paper identified a matrix of issues for small and medium sized
communities. The first layer of issues were that of:

  • Lack of resources to meet planning requirements
  • Education
  • Communications and information overload
  • Technology, both in-house and applications

The second layer discusses:

  • ITS
  • Air quality
  • Access to and preservation of right-of-way
  • Evaluating multi-modal and inter-modal alternatives
  • Development
  • Data collection
  • Safety
  • Growth
  • Environmental streamlining
  • Communities

Put together a Research Record of papers based on the issues identified in the millennium paper.

Invite others to put together sessions for our conference.

Important Issues
The following list of issues should be considered when developing conference session topics, website briefs, summer meeting topics, and annual meeting sessions.

The Jan/Feb, 2001 issue of TR NEWS had an article on TRB's Field Visit Program that included a survey of statewide planning issues. All but one seemed to have application to small and medium sized communities. These also cover the FHWA areas of emphasis for the FY 2001-02 UPWPs. Additional items, at the suggestion of members, have been added to the list.

  • Land-use considerations
  • Integrating environmental concerns into the planning process
  • Goods movement and inter-modal issues
  • Planning at different levels
  • Performance-based planning
  • Safety issues
  • Environmental justice and related issues
  • Measuring the impacts of changing demographics
  • Access management
  • Public information
  • Air quality

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