A new report produced by Smart Growth America and the State Smart Transportation Initiative offers recommendations for how state DOTs can innovate to support economic growth and better link land use and transportation decision-making.
Renata Silberblatt outlines some of the progressive transportation ideas and innovative policies contained in "The Innovative DOT: A Handbook of Policy and Practice" [PDF]. While the report looks at transportation-focused themes such as ways to find new revenue sources, increase efficiencies, and improve mobility; one area of concentration is better integrating transportation and land use decision-making. As Silberblatt notes, the report outlines the win-win scenario from mutually supportive policies and practices:
"If DOTs can foster land use decisions that create less Single Occupancy Vehicle (SOV) travel demand
and allow for more compact development, both through their own actions and by partnering with land
use authorities, they can reduce infrastructure costs, reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and improve
transportation choices. At the same time, local governments can grow their tax base without creating
the new infrastructure construction and maintenance costs that greenfield development requires."
The report offers case studies and resources outlining the advantages of pursuing opportunities to better integrate land use and transportation oriented around themes such as cross-agency coordination, transit-oriented development, and scenario planning.
FULL STORY: New Report: Departments of Transportation Can Innovate Through Transit-Oriented Development
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