This report describes the transportation planning process and discusses where and how environmental factors can be addressed effectively at the state and metropolitan levels. This report should be especially useful to federal, state department of transportation (DOT), metropolitan planning organization (MPO), and local transportation planners, as well as other practitioners concerned with addressing environmental factors within transportation systems planning, priority programming, and project development planning leading to implementation. The research focused on environmental issues within the long-range transportation planning processes of state DOTs and MPOs and included the following: (1) a comprehensive review of recent literature; (2) a survey of approaches employed by state DOTs, MPOs, and environmental regulatory agencies; (3) a review of federal regulations and guidance on environmental factors; and (4) case studies to synthesize current practice in environmental planning.

Transportation, Land Use, and Environmental Planning examines the practices and policies linking transportation, land use and environmental planning needed to achieve a healthy environment, thriving economy, and more equitable and inclusive society. It assesses best practices for improving the performance of city and regional transportation systems, looking at such issues as public transit and non-motorized travel investments, mixed use and higher density urban development, radically transformed vehicles, and transportation systems. The book lays out the growing need for greater integration of transportation, land use, and environmental planning, looking closely at changing demographic needs, public health concerns, housing affordability, equity, and livability. In addition, strategies for achieving these desired outcomes are presented, including urban design and land use planning, regional and corridor-level transit plans, bike and pedestrian improvements, demand management strategies, and emerging technologies and services. The final part of the book examines implementation challenges, considering lessons from the US and around the globe at both local and regional levels.

Transportation, Energy Use and Environmental Impacts shows researchers, students and professionals the important connection between transportation planning, energy use and emissions. The book examines the major transportation activities, components, systems and subsystems by mode. It closely explores the resulting environmental impacts from transport planning, construction and the decommissioning of transportation systems. It discusses transportation planning procedures from an energy use standpoint, offering guidelines to make transportation more energy consumption efficient. Other sections cover propulsion and energy use systems, focusing on road transportation, railway, waterway, pipeline, air, air pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions, and more.

Mobility is fundamental to economic and social activities such as commuting, manufacturing, or supplying energy. Each movement has an origin, a potential set of intermediate locations, a destination, and a nature which is linked with geographical attributes. Transport systems composed of infrastructures, modes and terminals are so embedded in the socio-economic life of individuals, institutions and corporations that they are often invisible to the consumer. This is paradoxical as the perceived invisibility of transportation is derived from its efficiency. Understanding how mobility is linked with geography is main the purpose of this book. The third edition of The Geography of Transport Systems has been revised and updated to provide an overview of the spatial aspects of transportation. This text provides greater discussion of security, energy, green logistics, as well as new and updated case studies, a revised content structure, and new figures. Each chapter covers a specific conceptual dimension including networks, modes, terminals, freight transportation, urban transportation and environmental impacts. A final chapter contains core methodologies linked with transport geography such as accessibility, spatial interactions, graph theory and Geographic Information Systems for transportation (GIS-T). This book provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the field, with a broad overview of its concepts, methods, and areas of application. The accompanying website for this text contains a useful additional material, including digital maps, PowerPoint slides, databases, and links to further reading and websites. The website can be accessed at: http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans This text is an essential resource for undergraduates studying transport geography, as well as those interest in economic and urban geography, transport planning and engineering.

The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.

A multi-disciplinary approach to transportation planning fundamentals The Transportation Planning Handbook is a comprehensive, practice-oriented reference that presents the fundamental concepts of transportation planning alongside proven techniques. This new fourth edition is more strongly focused on serving the needs of all users, the role of safety in the planning process, and transportation planning in the context of societal concerns, including the development of more sustainable transportation solutions. The content structure has been redesigned with a new format that promotes a more functionally driven multimodal approach to planning, design, and implementation, including guidance toward the latest tools and technology. The material has been updated to reflect the latest changes to major transportation resources such as the HCM, MUTCD, HSM, and more, including the most current ADA accessibility regulations. Transportation planning has historically followed the rational planning model of defining objectives, identifying problems, generating and evaluating alternatives, and developing plans. Planners are increasingly expected to adopt a more multi-disciplinary approach, especially in light of the rising importance of sustainability and environmental concerns. This book presents the fundamentals of transportation planning in a multidisciplinary context, giving readers a practical reference for day-to-day answers. Serve the needs of all users Incorporate safety into the planning process Examine the latest transportation planning software packages Get up to date on the latest standards, recommendations, and codes Developed by The Institute of Transportation Engineers, this book is the culmination of over seventy years of transportation planning solutions, fully updated to reflect the needs of a changing society. For a comprehensive guide with practical answers, The Transportation Planning Handbook is an essential reference.