Abstract:
Throughout the United States, metropolitan regions face increasingly
complex issues related to transportation and land use. The diffuse nature of decision
making creates a need to better coordinate land use and transportation to address
issues such as: congestion, infrastructure costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. Key
players in this decision making are regional metropolitan planning organizations
(MPOs) with transportation planning authority, regional planning responsibilities,
and in some cases regional land use planning authority. The goal of this study was to describe and assess efforts by regional
agencies to coordinate land use and transportation. We examined policies and
processes in four key topic areas:
1) Governance: formal and informal decision making approaches,
2) Coordination: strategies used to coordinate land use and transportation,
3) Growth Centers: policies to encourage development in higher density centers, and
4) Transportation Improvement Program (TIP): policies to incorporate smart growth
criteria in TIP funding decisions.