IMPACT OF THE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PROCESS

Helping to achieve the good life for its citizens and strengthening the ability of local governments in metropolitan areas to control their destinies are some of the major potentialities of the urban transportation planning process. Transportation planning can also be viewed as an end in itself. The process can ignore the spillover effects of highway development on other values, needs, and aspirations of those most vulnerable to government development actions. Highway officials can interpret responsibility too narrowly, regarding it as someone else's problem or strengthening of our general local governments. If that happens, the nation's great highway programs will come under greater scrutiny and criticism at the federal, state, and especially the local levels of government. The continuing transportation planning process is well underway. Comprehensive metropolitan and local planning is receiving support at all levels of government. This paper describes how a number of transportation planning efforts are strengthening the comprehensive planning process and how methodological tools are being developed that make it easier to prepare alternative transportation plans and to insure full consideration of a proper balance of attention between highways and other public transportation systems.