INTEGRATED TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

Integrated Transportation Planning is a concept which suggests that a detailed package of environmental, social, economic and political tools is necessary to ensure the safe accessibility and mobility of people who wish to travel from one place to another. The notion of integrated transportation has steadily progressed over the years. It began with traditional transport planning, oriented toward automobile traffic engineering, then progressed to multi-modal planning to include public transit modes. It later broadened to include pedestrians, cycling, small vehicles and variable land use, and now extends furthermore to considerations of full environmental and cost impacts. Integrated transportation applies to rapidly urbanizing areas in growing economies and implies also that any environmental impacts should be minimized through comprehensive and implementation. Integrated transportation includes a number of elements with the principal ones being: Enhanced Accessibility and Mobility for all, Environmental Sustainability, Participatory Planning, Transportation Demand Management, Transportation Systems Management, Comprehensive Land Use Planning, and Least Cost Optimization. In a climate where traffic congestion, often unbearable air pollution, and ever dwindling energy supplies are becoming a major problem the world over, this paper considers blending specific elements to better achieve environmental and energy sustainability and to better serve the needs of people who wish to travel without impediment.