Implementing Integrated Transportation Planning in Metropolitan Planning Organization: Procedural and Analytical Issues

Integrated transportation planning is an emerging transportation planning concept that is intended to help seek those policies, programs, and projects that meet a given set of transportation goals and objectives for the minimum total social cost. Its elements include analysis of a full range of alternatives, the use of benefit-cost analysis to compare alternatives, public involvement in the development and evaluation of alternatives, analysis of uncertainties in forecasts of future conditions, and continuous monitoring of transportation system performance. The theory and methods of integrated transportation planning for implementation by a metropolitan planning organization developed for the Puget Sound Regional Council are discussed. The discussion includes how integrated transportation planning fits into the strategic planning process, the similarities and differences between integrated transportation planning and the current transportation planning process, and the analytic issues raised by implementing integrated transportation planning.