TRANSPORTATION PLANNING IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED COMMUNITIES: GREATER FLEXIBILITY, IMPROVED COMMUNICATION, AND SIMPLIFIED REQUIREMENTS

The urban transportation planning process formalized in the early 1960s has become increasingly diversified in the 1970s. Recently, special attention has been focused on the planning needs, requirements, and processes for small and medium-sized communities. Because of the need to develop processes and techniques that will provide adequate guidance to transportation decision makers, the Federal Highway Administration has sponsored the development of series of manuals that address state and local concerns while being mutually supportive. The emphasis of transportation planning for small and medium-sized urban areas is focused on three precepts: (a) greater flexibility in organizational and administrative arrangements; (b) improved communication between the decision maker, the planner, and the general public; and (c) simplification of the administrative planning requirements as well as of the procedures. The role at the federal level will be to improve the planning of transportation systems by facilitating activities that respond to local goals and concerns. (Author)