Long-Term Planning

The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of the transportation planning process and highlights the considerations inherent in effective long-term planning. Long-term transportation planning assesses existing conditions, identifies the future demand for travel, generates alternative strategies to support the projected demand, evaluates those alternatives and recommends to decision-makers a practical portfolio of policies, programs, and investments that would maintain and improve the mobility of people and the movement of goods, while supporting the area’s goals and objectives. In order to be effective, a long-term transportation plan must be grounded in the community’s vision, must reflect early and frequent public involvement, must have a comprehensive systems perspective, must be developed with strong technical methods and the cooperation of the host of transportation agencies, and must rest on realistic financial projections.