TRANSPORTATION AND THE NEW PLANNING: TOWARD A SYNTHESIS

The transportation planning process is examined in an effort to identify the major points at which the new planning can be most helpful. The procedureal steps and relationships in transportation planning are summarized. Inventories are the cornerstone of the linear process in which plans are reiterated as a result of evaluation. These are followed by forecasts, plans, tests and evaluation. Recently, however, planners have been experiencing change in their frame of reference, and are seeking to reestablish the relationship between the individual and his environment. Recent literature identifies the effects that citizen's participation have had on planning methodology. This literature discusses the politicization of the process and the increasing demands for parity between local and regional concerns in planning transportation networks. Work is quoted which focuses on the evaluatory aspect of the process and demonstrates how new trends can be incorporated into the planning process. A basic need is for a mechanism to bring together processed knowledge of the planner and the personal knowledge of the citizen. The key concepts of the new planning relate to data, dialogue, the acceptance of values, and the tenuousness of the future. Comments are made on the planner's role supportive to that of the decision-maker.