The Urban Freight Transportation Planning Process

"TRB's National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) Report 23: Synthesis of Freight Research in Urban Transportation Planning explores policies and practices for managing freight activity in metropolitan areas. The primary focus of the report is on "last-mile/first-mile" strategies, but it also addresses strategies affecting environmental issues and trading hubs or nodes. The research used to develop the report looked beyond the United States--mostly, but not exclusively' in Europe and the European BESTUFS (Best Urban Freight Solutions) program--for potentially relevant policies and practices that could be used in the United States"--Publication info.

Urban and Regional Planning Series, Volume 13: Transportation Planning, Policy and Analysis is a review of selected policies affecting the administration, urban transportation, and proposals regarding transport improvements. The book discusses the inter-relationship of transport policy and analysis of transportation planning. The text outlines the development of transportation planning considering the constraints placed upon studies made in the transportation system. The author describes the planning process as evolving, with the nature of the problem changing along with the passing of time. The author reviews the administrative framework and the polices affecting urban traffic and public transports. He evaluates the policy-decision mechanisms influenced by ""maximization subject to constraint."" The author then presents some mathematical simulation models of transport, and then emphasizes that actual testing and experimentation of a model are needed to overcome any cardinal weaknesses. The book also cites the SELNEC and Tyneside studies where their major component is on road expenditure, which studies regarded as not very cost-effective. The author then cites legislations and development proposals that transportation plans should be integrated with land use planning and traffic systems. The author also discusses why developments in transport planning analysis is a political decision. City administrators, officials of traffic and engineering departments and bureaus, civil engineers, and urban developers will find this book of interest.

This synthesis describes the process by which state departments of transportation and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) integrate freight planning into the surface transportation planning process. It will be of interest to state and MPO planners, port planners; traffic engineers; and to the trucking, rail, and shipping interests in both the public and private sectors. This report of the Transportation Research Board discusses the requirements for freight planning resulting from the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) with particular emphasis on the development of an intermodal management system (IMS). In addition, that act narrowed the application of the congestion management system (CMS), which is also discussed in the synthesis. Since enactment of that legislation, another act, the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 was passed and makes the IMS optional rather than mandatory. This has not changed the philosophy or the intent of these planning applications, but it has changed the implementation aspects. Many agencies, however, are continuing with the IMS and CMS planning process. This report describes the methods used by selected agencies for forecasting freight flows, data collection practices, and the techniques for integrating freight planning into the established surface transportation planning processes at the state and regional levels.

A comprehensive update, the fourth edition of this leading text features numerous chapters by new authors addressing the latest trends and topics in the field. The book presents the foundational concepts and methodological tools that readers need in order to engage with today's pressing urban transportation policy issues. Coverage encompasses passenger and freight dynamics in the American metropolis; the local and regional transportation planning process; and questions related to public transit, land use, social equity and environmental justice, energy consumption, air pollution, transportation finance, sustainability, and more. Among the student-friendly features are special-topic boxes delving into key issues and 87 instructive figures, including eight color plates. ÿ New to This Edition *Extensively revised coverage of information and communication technologies, urban freight, travel behaviors, and regional transportation planning. *Engaging discussions of current topics: smartphone travel tracking, Uber, car and bike sharing, food deserts, biofuels, and more. *Heightened focus on climate change. *Reflects over a decade of policy changes, technological advances, and emergent ideas and findings in the field. *Most of the figures and special-topic boxes are new.

Freight transport is essential to modern urban civilization. No urban area could exist without a reliable freight transport system. Although the private sector is responsible for much of this system, the public sector has a vital role to play in the provision of infrastructure and the establishment of a social and legal framework within which transport can occur. For these reasons, goods movement deserves and is increasingly receiving, explicit consideration in urban transport policy and planning. Many cities around the world have conducted studies aimed at resolving urban goods movement problems and a considerable, if disparate, body of research results are available. This book brings together much of this knowledge and experience in a comprehensive source of information on urban freight, particularly from a public policy or planning viewpoint. It provides both a conceptual basis for urban goods movement analysis and detailed, practical guidelines which may be used directly by those responsible for urban freight policy and planning. The author has worked for over twenty years in this field and he draws upon his experience in Australia, the United States, Great Britain, Canada and The Philippines to produce a book which is international in scope and perspective. The book is written for practising professionals, such as engineers, economists and planners, working in local government, urban transport planning agencies, highway authorities, consultancies, or research institutes; it is also relevant to graduate courses in transport planning, traffic engineering or urban policy. It is of interest to all who have a concern for contemporary issues in urban development.