SURVEILLANCE AND SOCIOECONOMIC FORECASTING

This paper contains discussion of issues in urban transportation planning identified in papers presented at the Workshop on Surveillance and Socioeconomic Forecasting. Also, it contains questions that resulted from the discussion; and it contains ideas that were presented in response to the questions. The discussion centered on three subjects: the need to identify the unique problems of smaller urbanized areas and to develop planning programs to evaluate those needs; the importance of timely information for decision makers on the potential consequences of official actions; and the middleman role that metropolitan planning organizations (MPO's) are experiencing in the long-established relationships between the state and local governments. Some of the questions that followed the discussion included: is the planning currently under way really a complex process?; what should the planning process accomplish?; what are the issues in the process?; and what are the important characteristics of an area that determine the level of effort needed? Those questions brought about the following ideas: the current planning process is not complex when subdivided into long-range and shortrange projections; the process should be sensitive to the needs of local elected officials, should focus on realistic solutions, should consider projects that stimulate economic growth, and should address long-range issues on a sketch basis; the issues in the process are both technical and administrative; and the key characteristic of a smaller urbanized area that controls the types of planning and the degree of detail needed is the quality of the existing street and highway system.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr187/sr187-017.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0360859X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appeared in TRB Special Report 187, Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities, Proceedings of a Workshop sponsored by UMTA and FHWA, conducted by TRB, Sarasota, Florida, 3-6 December 1978. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • McDonnell, James J
• Conference:
  • Workshop on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities
  • Location: Sarasota Florida, United States
  • Date: 1978-12-3 to 1978-12-6
• Publication Date: 1980

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: pp 51-52
• Monograph Title: TRANSPORTATION PLANNING FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED COMMUNITIES. PROCEEDINGS OF A WORKSHOP
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 187
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0360-859X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Decision making; Economics; Forecasting; Local government; Medium sized cities; Metropolitan areas; Small cities; Socioeconomic factors; State government; Surveillance; Time duration; Transportation planning; Urban transportation; Workshops
• Uncontrolled Terms: Long term; Short term
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00311219
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jul 22 1981 12:00AM