# Presentation: 767779

## FLH Transportation Planning 101

## For this whirlwind tour of FLH transportation planning, I’ll answer:

**1)What is transportation planning?**
**2)What do those planners upstairs actually DO?? (Big picture and project-level planning)**
**3)How does what planners do effect YOU???**

## What is transportation planning??? 

- A continuing, comprehensive, and collaborative process to encourage and promote the development of multimodal transportation systems to ensure safe and efficient movement of visitors, employees, and goods while balancing resource protection, visitor experience, and community needs.

## What is transportation planning??? 

- A continuing, comprehensive, and collaborative process to encourage and promote the development of multimodal transportation systems to ensure safe and efficient movement of visitors, employees, and goods while balancing resource protection, visitor experience, and community needs.

## What is transportation planning??? 

- A continuing, comprehensive, and collaborative process to encourage and promote the development of multimodal transportation systems to ensure safe and efficient movement of visitors, employees, and goods while balancing resource protection, visitor experience, and community needs.

## What is transportation planning??? 

- A continuing, comprehensive, and collaborative process to encourage and promote the development of multimodal transportation systems to ensure safe and efficient movement of visitors, employees, and goods while balancing resource protection, visitor experience, and community needs.

## Different flavors of planning...

**Stewardship & Oversight/Programmatic/** **Statutory Requirements **– Are FLMAs consistent with USC Title 23 planning requirements? Does the current programming process result in the best selection of projects & the most efficient use of the Highway Trust Fund?
**Project-level planning- **Providing technical assistance at the unit or project level.** **

## Statutory Requirements

- 	Under Title 23, SAFETEA-LU requires the Federal Lands Highway Program to develop, by rule, “transportation planning procedures that are *consistent with* the metropolitan and statewide planning processes...”

## Slide 9

## What does it mean for FLMAs to be consistent with Metropolitan and Statewide planning processes?

## Slide 11

## Slide 12

## Pilot Project: NPS Intermountain Region (IMR) Long-Range Transportation Plan

## Example: Denver Metro Areas

## The Big Picture

**This pilot project will assist the Park Service to understand the:**
- Need to manage transportation systems in a comprehensive multimodal manner
- Need to develop long-range transportation plans (unconstrained vision documents) consistent with General Management Plans (GMPs)
- Need to develop short range –financially constrained multimodal program of projects (TIPs)
**	****Intent that this project provides a planning case study/model for other NPS regions as well as other FLMAs**

## What does improved transportation planning mean for YOU?

**-EARLIER involvement in project scoping, BEFORE they are programmed will help ensure programmed amounts are realistic. (ie, for NPS, pre-scoping for PMIS submittals)**
**More logical project selection process, resulting in projects that reflect national and regional priorities, goals, & objectives of the FLMAs.**
**More ordered project development process that includes a holistic analysis of needs. (includes operations, ITS, and alternative transportation early on)**
**Ultimately, ****BETTER PROCESS=BETTER PROJECTS**

## Project-Level Planning

**NAME **
**THAT **
**PARK!!**

## ...the queue to get into this park 

**...****the queue to get into this park **
**can be up to 1.7 miles long! (more**
**than an hour wait)...**

## ...the park gets masses of visitors

**...****the park gets masses of visitors**
**(~5 million/year)...**

## ...due to lack of parking close to attractions, visitors park on the narrow shoulders, negatively impacting resources and creating unsafe conditions for pedestrians...

**...****due to lack of parking close to attractions, visitors park on the narrow shoulders, negatively impacting resources and creating unsafe conditions for pedestrians...**

## Have you figured it out yet?Need another hint?

- Visitors flock to the park to see this:

## ANY GUESSES????

- But instead they see a lot of
- this...

- Long waits at the entrance station
- Difficulty finding parking
- Overcrowded buses
- Confusing road network & wayfinding
***Overall, a poor ***
***visitor experience!***

***ANY GUESSES????***

## You guessed it! The GRAND CANYON!!

- What are we doing about these issues?

## South Rim Visitor Transportation Plan/EA...the light at the end of the Canyon

- South Rim Visitor Transportation Plan/EA...the light at the end of the Canyon

- Purpose and Need for Action:
*...**to provide a transportation system that addresses the park’s most pressing *
*transportation issues through the year 2020.*

## South Rim Transportation Plan/EA

- Alternatives include the following elements:
**New Parking**: At the Canyon View Information Plaza and/or in the gateway community of Tusayan
**Entrance Station Improvements**: Additional capacity and Demand Management through a combination of bypass lane, ITS, and operational improvements.
**Shuttle Bus Service Improvements**: More frequent service to address current loads, new service to Tusayan, new maintenance facility
**Traffic Management Strategies**: Enhanced visitor information, improved wayfinding, ITS

## Project Objectives from Purpose and Need:

**Reduce overall vehicle traffic in the Grand Canyon Village by 15-25% during peak periods.**
**Improve entrance station experience by reducing long waits for visitors, as well as employees, residents, and commercial traffic.**
**Increase opportunities for visitors to use the park’s transit system and other alternative modes.**
**Minimize existing accident risks at key locations such as the parking lot and roadway at Mather Point.**
**Encourage best management practices to reduce or avoid resource damage, and incorporate sustainable design principles into design elements.**

**FHWA’s Vital Few**

**Congestion **
**Mitigation**

**Safety**

**Environmental **
**Stewardship**

## Other CFL Transportation Planning Efforts

- -Kilauea Point NWR Transportation Study – Finalized in September
- -Transportation Advisory Groups (TAGs) for new program in SAFETEA-LU – Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands (ATPPL)
- -*Promoting the Use of Bicycles on Federal Lands*
- -Development of ITS training for FLMAs
*-*Technical Assistance with ATS to: Bryce Canyon NP, Zion NP, Santa Monica NRA, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Glacier NP