TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 326: Strategic Planning and Decision Making in State Departments of Transportation examines state and provincial transportation departments' experience with strategic planning and synthesizes current approaches to linking strategic planning with other decision-making processes, including operational and tactical planning, resource allocation, performance management, and performance measurement.

This synthesis provides information for transit and transportation professionals who seek to address planning and management issues in the transit industry. This document is intended for internal management decision makers; general managers and agency board members. It might offer external stakeholders such as local governments and businesses, as well as the public, increased awareness in helping define a transit agencys role and responsibilities to the community, thus aiding the development of outside support for an agencys mission.

This guidebook is for transportation agency managers, engineers, and planners who want their agencies to use the planning process to implement a systematic and consistent approach to access management. For employees who are dealing with the consequences of poor access management at the project and operational levels, the guidance provides a resource that outlines the specific steps their agencies can take to establish a policy and planning basis for implementing access management best practices. This guidance focuses on how to use the planning process to establish the implementing mechanisms that will result in the application of access management principles.