Author: State Smart Transportation Initiative

How parking influences travel behavior

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The vast amount of underused parking spread across our communities has not only led to wasted space, stifled development, and higher costs—a topic discussed in a previous post in this series—but it has also encouraged more driving, even in otherwise walkable places with plenty of options for getting around. Cities, towns, and even individual business owners can seize this as an opportunity to encourage a much more balanced and efficient transportation landscape.

Climate Change Land Use and Development Transportation

Completing Rural Highways: Managing and maintaining assets

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Whenever an agency plans to develop new community assets—whether it is a road, utility, or sidewalk—they must have systems such as funding and coordination for regular maintenance in place to preserve them in the long term. Having those systems in place and a concrete plan to coordinate with local agencies can preemptively address unique challenges related to Complete Streets projects.

Complete Streets Transportation

Completing Rural Highways: Funding Complete Streets

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Even with a strong commitment to Complete Streets principles, many state agencies and their local partners lack dedicated and consistent funding streams to add the necessary elements to existing road projects. Rural infrastructure can be particularly difficult to fund, costing more per capita, so adding new elements is often seen by state and local agencies as a burden. Smart Growth America and the State Smart Transportation Initiative worked with practitioners to illustrate how their peers have found ways to overcome these obstacles.

Complete Streets Transportation

Completing Rural Highways: Making the case

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Gaining widespread support for Complete Streets projects can be a challenge. Agencies sometimes face resistance from within or they face opposition from local businesses and community members. Smart Growth America and the State Smart Transportation Initiative worked with practitioners to identify obstacles to making the case for Complete Streets and illustrate how their peers have found ways to overcome them.

Complete Streets Transportation

Watch the recording – Fitting the road to the context: Florida’s Context Classification and Complete Streets implementation

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Florida’s approach could serve as a model for other states looking to incorporate land-use context in decision-making. The latest webinar from our State Smart Transportation Initiative explained how this approach is being implemented in Florida and how other states can emulate it.

DOT Innovation

SSTI News: Two new studies improve “walkability” measurement

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Differences in perceived travel time based on visual preference surveys. Source: Erath et al., 2015. Where people walk: Two new studies improve “walkability” measurement In planning and designing for pedestrians, sidewalks are often a good start but rarely make a place walkable on their own. Measuring pedestrian accessibility (the topic of a recent SSTI webinar) depends … Continued

DOT Innovation

Florida DOT hits milestone in context-based street design

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The Florida Department of Transportation is making major strides toward improving pedestrian and bicycle safety through its Complete Streets Implementation initiative. One of FDOT’s most innovative achievements has been the recent adoption of eight context classifications to guide road design decisions. While the concept of context classification is not new, FDOT is one of the first states to operationalize it within formal decision-making processes.

DOT Innovation