CENSUS DATA USE FOR STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION PLANNING IN SMALLER METROPOLITAN AREAS

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of census data in statewide transportation planning and in transportation planning that occurs in small metropolitan areas. The focus is on the future use of census data given that, in the absence of a requirement for statewide transportation planning, few state departments of transportation (SDOTs) have aggressively used census data in their planning activities. Passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) has dramatically increased the importance of statewide transportation planning. The first section of this paper briefly describes the characteristics of this new planning environment. The next section presents the results of a telephone survey of selected SDOTs that was conducted to assess past and future use of census data in statewide planning and in small urban areas. The third section provides an overview of the data needs of the future and the important role that census data can play in satisfying some of these data needs. The final section contains conclusions of this study.