TRANSPORTATION PLANNING CRITERIA FOR NEW TOWNS

EFFECTIVE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING IS NEEDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE MANY NEW TOWNS SPRINGING UP IN THE FAST GROWING AREAS OF THE UNITED STATES. NEW DEVELOPMENT SPONSORS NEED THIS WORK TO ATTRACT HIGH-TYPE TENANTS AND DEVELOPERS, AND TO OBTAIN APPROVALS FROM VARIOUS GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES AS TO ROAD PLANS, PARTICULARLY THE CONNECTIONS WITH ADJACENT ROAD NETWORKS. THE TRANSPORTATION PLAN SPRINGS FROM BOTH THE LAND-USE PLAN AND ECONOMIC BASE STUDY. THESE CRITERIA DETERMINE THE VOLUME AND PATTERN OF TRAFFIC, AND THE INTERCHANGE BETWEEN THE NEW TOWN AND ADJACENT COMMUNITIES. THERE MUST BE FEEDBACK BETWEEN THE PRELIMINARY FINDINGS OF THE TRANSPORTATION PLANNERS AND THE ECONOMIC-BASE LAND-USE PLANNING TEAM, WHEREBY THE LATTERS PROJECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS MAY BE MODIFIED TO PRODUCE MORE ACCEPTABLE TRANSPORTATION CONDITIONS. EXAMPLES ARE THE PROPOSED UNIVERSAL CITY AND IRVINE RANCH DEVELOPMENTS IN CALIFORNIA, WHERE IMPOSSIBLE TRAFFIC DENSITIES WERE PREDICTED ON THE BASIS OF PRELIMINARY PLANS, REQUIRING CHANGES IN PROPOSED LAND-USE DENSITIES AND DISPOSITIONS. STEPS IN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING MAY BE SUMMARIZED UNDER THE FOLLOWING HEADINGS' /A/ FORMULATION OF TRIAL ROAD NETWORKS, BASED ON PRELIMINARY LAND USE PLAN, /B/ TRIP GENERATION ESTIMATION, /C/ ESTIMATE OF INTERCHANGE BETWEEN NEW TOWN AND OUTSIDE COMMUNITIES AND THROUGH TRAFFIC, /D/ TRIP DISTRIBUTION /O AND D/, /E/ TRIP ASSIGNMENT TO ALTERNATE ROUTES, EVALUATION AND FEEDBACK AS NECESSARY, AND /F/ SELECTION AND STAGING OF TRANSPORTATION PLAN. /AUTHOR/