Sustainability And Infrastructure Resource Allocation

Sustainability implies using, developing and protecting resources in such a manner that enables society to meet current needs and provides that future generations will be able to meet their needs, from the joint perspective of economic, environmental and social objectives. Sustainable resource use implies a concern for intergenerational equity in the long-term decision making of society. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the concepts of sustainable development from the perspective of infrastructure resource allocation, and in particular for sustainable transportation. The concept and methods of assessing sustainable transportation are discussed. Most state transportation agencies use performance measures to define specific transportation strategies rather than having a comprehensive sustainable transportation policy. Planning for transportation sustainability requires a paradigm shift changing the way people think about and solve transportation problems.