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The development of U.S. urban transportation policy over the past 50 years illustrates the changing relationships among federal, state, and local governments. This comprehensive text examines the evolution of urban transportation planning from early developments in highway planning in the 1930s to today's concerns over sustainable development, security, and pollution control. Focusing on major national events, the book discusses the influence of legislation, regulations, conferences, federal programs, and advances in planning procedures and technology. The book focuses in-depth at the most significant event in transportation planning--the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962; creating a federal mandate for a comprehensive urban transportation planning process carried out cooperatively by states and local governments with federal funding, this act was crucial in the spread of urban transportation. Claiming that urban transportation planning is more sophisticated, costly, and complex than its highway and transit planning predecessors, the book demonstrates how urban transportation planning evolved in response to changes in such factors as environment, energy, development patterns, intergovernmental coordination, and federal transit programs. It further illustrates how broader concerns for global climate change and sustainable development have braided the purview of transportation planning. This fully updated, revised, and expanded edition highlights the dynamics of transportation planning post-9/11, covers the impact of recent legislation, emphasizes such timely issues as security, oil dependence, performance measurement, and public-private sector collaboration.
List of contents
Early Highway Planning.- Launching Urban Transportation Planning and the Interstate Highway System.- Urban Transportation Planning Comes of Age.- Improving Intergovernmental Coordination.- Rising Concern for the Environment and Citizen Involvement.- Beginnings of Multimodal Urban Transportation Planning.- Transition to Short-Term Planning.- Emphasizing Urban Economic Revitalization.- Decentralization of Decision-making.- Promoting Private Sector Participation.- The Need for Strategic Planning.- The Growth of Sustainable Development.- Expanding Participatory Democracy.- Moving Toward Performance-Based Planning.- Concluding Remarks.
Summary
This comprehensive text examines the evolution of urban transportation planning in the United States, from early developments in highway planning in the 1930s to today's concerns over sustainable development, security, and pollution control.
