DOT Innovation

A new unified home for state smart transportation

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For the past several years Smart Growth America has been helping state departments of transportation improve safety and reliability, preserve their assets, and accelerate project delivery to expand economic opportunity and create healthier, more livable communities.

Our Innovative DOT program has worked with state DOTs in Florida, Vermont, Hawaii, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, and Tennessee. And over those years, we’ve released three editions of The Innovative DOT: A handbook of policy and practice, one of the most comprehensive guides available for DOTs committed to innovative excellence, in partnership with the State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI).

DOT Innovation

Complete Streets lessons in Central Florida can apply to any community

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Ever since the first edition of Dangerous by Design came out in 2009, Florida has had the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of people being struck and killed by cars while walking of any state in the nation.

In light of that problem, municipalities and public agencies across Florida have been working to make streets safer. Now, communities in Central Florida specifically are coming together to make progress on those goals.

Over the past nine months, Smart Growth America, in partnership with the Winter Park Health Foundation, has worked with municipalities and agencies in Central Florida on a series of workshops to implement Complete Streets—streets that are safe and comfortable for everyone, no matter their age, ability, race, income, or how they chose to travel. Changing the way streets are designed, particularly in places with chronic collisions like Florida, is one of the most important steps public agencies can take to prevent people from being struck and killed while walking.

Complete Streets DOT Innovation

Complete Streets in Central Florida

The Winter Park Health Foundation engaged Smart Growth America to help the Central Florida region identify and address specific barriers hindering local decision-makers’ ability to build Complete Streets: roadways that are safe and comfortable for all users – people walking, bicycling, and taking transit, people driving and truck drivers making deliveries. This project includes representation … Continued

Complete Streets DOT Innovation

The Why and How of Measuring Access to Opportunity: A Guide to Performance Management

Access to jobs, education, healthcare, and other essential services may be regarded as the primary purpose of transportation. Not surprisingly, transportation agencies across the country are increasingly interested in considering this as a key part of measuring system performance. Unfortunately, many transportation practitioners are not sure how to measure how well their system links people … Continued

DOT Innovation Transportation

Strengthening Vermont’s Economy by Integrating Transportation and Smart Growth Policy

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and Smart Growth America partnered to demonstrate that policies and programs at VTrans that connect smart growth and transportation will strengthen the state’s economy and support the Agency’s vision for a safe, efficient, and multimodal transportation system. A Project Stakeholder Group, consisting of a broad spectrum of representatives from … Continued

DOT Innovation Technical assistance

Oregon Non-Roadway Transportation Funding Options

The State of Oregon faces major challenges to providing adequate and stable funding for non-roadway transportation modes. These systems include transit, freight and passenger rail, ports, aviation, bicycle paths and facilities, and pedestrian ways. Funding these non-roadway transportation modes has always been difficult in Oregon given that constitutional restrictions limit motor vehicle fees and taxes … Continued

DOT Innovation Technical assistance