Goal

Integrate statewide and metropolitan Long Range Transportation Plans (LRTP) with statewide, regional, and/or local land use plans and economic development forecasts and goals. Proactively encourage and facilitate sustainability through the coordination of transportation, land use, and economic development planning.

Sustainability Linkage

Integrating transportation planning with economic development and land use supports the economic principle by creating opportunities to improve access and mobility, and increase the social, environmental, and economic returns on both public and private investments in transportation projects and programs.

Background & Scoring Requirements

Background

This criterion recognizes that each state has different regulatory, policy, and institutional frameworks, plans, and goals related to economic development, land use, or the interaction of transportation with economic development or land use. The criterion allows for flexibility in the activities and types of plans agencies use to forward economic development and land use goals. The intent of this criterion is to encourage agencies to integrate sustainability into transportation, land use, and economic development planning.

For the purposes of this criterion, the key terms are defined as follows:

• “Above and beyond” means incorporating language in the goals and objectives that is stronger than federal requirements to “consider” the likely effect of transportation policy decisions on land use and development.
• “Applicable economic development and land use plans” include any local, metropolitan or statewide plans that address land use and/or economic development within the agency’s jurisdiction.
• “Consistent” refers to the relationship between the types and intensities of permitted development and the types and intensities of planned transportation investments.
• “Institutional mechanisms” refers to an agreed-upon, two-way communication process for sharing information and collecting feedback.
• “Integration” means developing transportation, land use, and economic development plans consistently and collaboratively.
• “Land use and economic development plans” include policies, plans, maps, regulations, or programs that focus on the use, design, location, density, or related features of land. These include growth strategies, comprehensive plans, zoning plans, downtown revitalization plans, visioning plans, urban renewal plans, and economic overlay zones, among others. 
• “Regularly engages” means going above and beyond consulting once; it means  successfully involving and interacting with land use and economic development agencies early, often, and on an on-going basis throughout the planning process.
• “Sustainable Actions” maintain or enhance our capacity to endure. The goal of sustainability is the satisfaction of basic social and economic needs, both present and future, and the responsible use of natural resources, all while maintaining or improving the well-being of the environment on which life depends.
• “Sustainability Principles” refers to the economic, environmental, and social principles of the triple bottom line.

Agencies are encouraged to work with their stakeholders and the broader community to define what sustainability means for their jurisdiction in the context of land use and economic development. Examples of actions that typically promote sustainability principles include those that result in the efficient use of land near existing transportation infrastructure and/or those that enhance accessibility within and to existing communities. Other examples include policies that enhance the efficiency of goods movement (e.g., dedicated freight corridors or lanes), and policies that facilitate economic development goals near planned transportation improvements, such as job creation or business retention.

Scoring Requirements

Requirement SPS-01.1

1-2 points. Develop and Adopt Goals and Objectives

Scoring for this requirement is based on the following, cumulative requirements. The first requirement must be accomplished to earn the second.

• Requirement SPS-01.1a

1 point. Develop Goals and Objectives

The agency has developed goals and objectives for the integration of metropolitan and/or statewide transportation planning with economic development and land use planning above and beyond current federal, state, regional and/or local requirements. The goals and objectives should further the integration of land use and economic development considerations into regional or local decision-making. 

• Requirement SPS-01.1b

1 additional point. Goals and Objectives Consistent with Economic Development and Land Use Plans

The goals and objectives are consistent with applicable economic development and land use plans above and beyond current requirements. If existing local, metropolitan, and/or statewide economic development and land use plans cannot be said to further sustainability principles, the agency may earn the point by working with its partner jurisdictions to establish a joint vision for land use and economic development within the planning area that supports sustainability principles.

Requirement SPS-01.2

2-3 points. Engage Partner Agencies

Scoring for this requirement is based on the following cumulative requirements. The first requirement must be accomplished to earn the second.

• Requirement SPS-01.2a

2 points. Engage Land Use and Economic Development Agencies

The agency regularly engages land use and economic development agencies, such as MPOs, in its jurisdiction throughout the transportation planning process, to reduce barriers and further the prospects for implementation of its goals and objectives as identified above.

• Requirement SPS-01.2b

1 additional point. Utilize Institutional Mechanisms

The agency utilizes institutional mechanisms (such as ad hoc or standing technical advisory committees) to facilitate the engagement.  

Requirement SPS-01.3

2 points. Use Best Practice Quantitative Methods

The agency uses best practice quantitative methods (e.g. integrated land use and transportation models, Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) economic analysis tools, and other proprietary economic assessment tools) to analyze and evaluate the performance of alternative land use/transportation scenarios. The agency incorporates the results into the LRTP. Technical assistance and resources are available through FHWA’s Travel Model Improvement Program website¹, FHWA’s Toolkit for Integrating Land Use and Transportation Decision-Making website², and FHWA’s Toolbox for Regional Policy Analysis website³, and FHWA’s Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) Economic Analysis Tools⁴.

Requirement SPS-01.4

2 points. Provide Leadership

The agency provides institutional leadership in encouraging transportation planning that is consistent with land use and economic development plans and that supports sustainability principles. Examples include the provision of incentives for partner jurisdictions (such as leveraging funds to provide planning grants, capital grants, model/tool development and/or technical assistance).

Requirement SPS-01.5

1-6 points. Demonstrate Sustainable Outcomes

Scoring for this requirement is based on the following, cumulative requirements. The first two requirements must be accomplished to earn the third.

• Requirement SPS-01.5a

1 point. LRTP Integrated with Land Use and Economic Development Plans

The LRTP is integrated with land use and economic development plans, and the agency is implementing transportation investments that support sustainability principles.

• Requirement SPS-01.5b

2 points. LRTP Includes Sustainability Performance Measures

The LRTP includes sustainability-related performance measures for the integration of transportation planning with economic development and land use planning. Examples of sustainability-related performance measures can be found in NCHRP Report 708: A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies⁵.

• Requirement SPS-01.5c

3 additional points. Monitor Progress and Demonstrate Sustainable Outcomes

Monitor progress towards goals for at least one year after goal establishment using the performance measures established in SPS-01.5b and show measurable advancement towards stated goals.

Resources

Above-Referenced Resources

The following resources are referenced in this criterion and consolidated here:

1. FHWA, Travel Model Improvement Program website, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/tmip/
2. FHWA, Toolkit for Integrating Land Use and Transportation Decision-Making website, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/processes/land_use/toolkit.cfm
3. FHWA’s Toolbox for Regional Policy Analysis website, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/processes/tools/toolbox/bibliography.cfm
4. FHWA, SHRP2 Economic Analysis Tools, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/goshrp2/Solutions/Capacity/C03_C11/Economic_Analysis_Tools
5. NCHRP, Report 708: A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencie⁴s at http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_708.pdf.

Additional Resources

In addition to many other widely used references and information sources, the following may be useful:

6. FHWA's Planning Tools and Practices for Land Use Integration at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/processes/land_use/land_use_tools/index.cfm
7. The Transportation Planning Process: A Briefing Book for Transportation Decision-makers, Officials, and Staff,  FHWA, Sept 2007 at http://www.planning.dot.gov/documents/BriefingBook/BBook.htm
8. Transportation Impacts of Smart Growth and Comprehensive Planning Initiatives, NCHRP Report 25-25 Task 02, May 2004 at http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/archive/NotesDocs/25-25(2)_FR.pdf
9. Interim Guidance on the Application of Travel and Land Use Forecasting in NEPA at https://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/nepa/Travel_LandUse/travel_landUse_rpt.aspx
10. AASHTO Center for Environmental Excellence: Land Use at https://environment.transportation.org/teri_database/view_ideas.aspx?focus_filter=8
11. NCHRP Report 582: Best Practices to Enhance the Transportation- Land Use Connection in the Rural United States at http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_582.pdf

Scoring Sources

The program is considered to have met this criterion if the requirements above can be reasonably substantiated through the existence of one or more of the following documentation sources (or equal where not available):

1. Adopted state or metropolitan transportation plans and supporting documentation that demonstrate how economic development and land use goals and objectives, stakeholder input, quantitative methods, and/or sustainability-related performance measures were integrated into the LRTP.
2. Documentation of regular land use and economic development agency engagement, and the incorporation of their feedback into transportation plans and programs. Documentation may include technical advisory committee membership rosters, meeting agendas and minutes, and interview summaries, among others.
3. Documentation of the use of best practice quantitative tools and analysis methods that enable the evaluation of integrated transportation, land use, and economic development scenarios.
4. The presence of statewide or metropolitan leadership and incentive programs for integrated transportation, land use, and economic development planning (e.g., state legislation, grant programs, and/or technical assistance, etc.)
5. Documentation of the agency’s monitoring process and progress to date at meeting the agency’s goals and objectives for integrating transportation planning with economic development and land use planning and for implementing transportation investments that support sustainability principles.