Multi-Modal Approaches to Development Impact Mitigation

The Washington State legislature in 1990 authorized local jurisdictions to impose impact fees on new developments; fees that would be used to mitigate traffic impacts to roads caused by the development. Since then, many jurisdictions have adopted impact fee ordinances to supplement the costs of road improvements. However, the City of Seattle had not been interested in imposing impact fees until recently because it did not enable local jurisdictions to improve facilities for other transportation modes such as pedestrian, bicycle and transit improvements with impact fees. Seattle decided to take a unique approach to mitigate the transportation impacts of new development and fund transportation improvements for all modes with development impact mitigation payments. To develop a multi-modal development mitigation payment program, Seattle had to address several difficult technical problems. This paper summarizes the technical issues that were addressed in the Seattle program. Seattle’s mitigation payment program focuses on the pedestrian, bicycle and transit facility needs. Some of the technical problems encountered in developing the multi-modal impact payment program could have been reduced, if the ITE collected trip generation data that was based on person trips rather than vehicle trips. As options to build new roadways in urban areas rapidly diminish, it will be necessary to change the current vehicle-focused development impact mitigation to multimodal mitigation approach.

• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Transportation Engineers

  Traffic Engineering Committee, 1099 14th Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20005-3438

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Noguchi, Tom
• Conference:
  • Managing Congestion--Can We Do Better? ITE 2007 Technical Conference and Exhibit
  • Location: San Diego CA, United States
  • Date: 2007-3-25 to 2007-3-28
• Publication Date: 2007

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: 9p
• Monograph Title: Managing Congestion—Can We Do Better? ITE 2007 Technical Conference and Exhibit

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bicycle facilities; Bicycle lanes; Bicycle travel; Developers; Development; Impact fees; Improvements; Public transit; Transit operating agencies
• Uncontrolled Terms: Developer charges
• Geographic Terms: Seattle (Washington)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Terminals and Facilities; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01076763
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Sep 21 2007 1:55PM