Assignment 01 - What Data, Tools, and Methods Do We Need?

The following are notes for assignment from last week's class: what kinds of information do we need in order to assess the ring road concept?  What kinds of questions does your discipline require you to ask about concept?  What kinds of technical processes should we use?
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Fundamental Questions Raised by Participants
1. What is sustainable transportation?
2. What is the ring road concept, as best we know it today?
3. What do we know about ring roads, based on experiences from other areas?
4. What is the objective of the ring road?
5. How do we organize ourselves to address the variety of issues that we have identified as important?

Dante Perez-Bravo
Questions that our discipline will require to ask:
- As a transportation engineer I would be interested in how this new facility will affect the traffic operations in the city of Moscow.
- Which environmental impacts will be produce by this new facility? (Even when this area involves professionals or different areas.
- Which would be the best route for this project? Are the surrounded communities receiving benefits with the development of this new project?
- Is it necessary to create a new facility rather than using the existing infrastructure on the perimeter of Moscow City (Cost - benefit study).

What kind of information do we need?
- Traffic Moscow network with traffic volumes. (Including signal timing plans for each individual intersection)
- Surveying map of the whole area surrounding the city of Moscow.
- Aerial photographs of the city of Moscow.
- Land use, census data per areas, household occupancy, household vehicle ownership, between other information.
- Hierarchical classification of roads.

Steve Hollenhorst
Questions related to a Moscow Ring Road or Greenbelt Parkway:
-What are the environmental impacts, both positive and negative? Specific areas include: streams and rivers habitat and wildlife biodiversity air quality land use conversion open space aquifer levels and quality
-How could the negative environmental impacts be minimized?
-What are the social impacts, both positive and negative? Specific areas include: impact on downtown businesses sprawl travel times and distances active, healthy communities access to parks and open space taxes safety noise infill development agriculture housing affordability community character bikers and pedestrians
-How could the negative social impacts be minimized?
-How would the benefits and costs of the project be distributed? That is, who'd win, who'd lose?
-What planning and zoning regulations need to be in place?
-What policy tools should be employed?

Data and information needed: land ownership patterns environmental/ecological (habitat, soils, water systems, etc.) current transportation patterns comprehensive plan and sector plans community attitudes and preferences Models from other communities.

Barb Andersen
What kinds of questions does your discipline require you to ask? Landscape architecture examines a holistic blend of physical, biological and cultural information to answer questions such as:
▪ What does the site tell us about what is appropriate? What are the site constraints and opportunities?
▪ What are the cultural issues? What is the site’s history? What does the community need and what are the community’s visions for itself – now and into the future?
▪ How can the site be designed in a way that minimizes environmental impacts, restores native plant and animal communities, fosters human ideals?
▪ Where are the stream corridors and how can they be protected?

What kinds of info/data do we need to learn more about these questions?
▪ Archival information on site history, community demographics
▪ Community input
▪ GIS data
▪ Policy information
▪ Biological data: existing vegetation, original (pre-European) vegetation, wildlife (vertebrates and invertebrates)
▪ Physical data: topography, waterways, drainage, soils, climate

Nick Sanyal
Questions posed by a CSS planner/generalist:
1. What (in the greater Moscow area) are people attracted to and/or trying to get away from?
2. What are the important values/characteristics that the Palouse landscape has that afford benefits to people traveling through it?
3. Where do people what to get to, and how?
4. Where will we be living and how will we be traveling (local and regional scale) 10, 20, 30 40 and 50 years from now? How mobile do they want/need to be? How independent?
5. What values are/will be important to attracting and retaining people and business here, and what make people leave?
6. What will be the nature of the work environment in 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years?
7. What is the importance of certain travel/transportation characteristics?

Data needs (keyed to questions, above).
1. Identification, quantification/qualification of special places, valued places, urban conditions.
2. Location and values associated with special areas, critical habitats, cultural and historical sites, ag/forested lands, homesteads etc.
3. Places of work, living and play, and preferred or default modes of travel between them.
4. Where will people live, what kinds of homes (single family---complex), how will we travel (pvt. vehicle, mass transit, motorized/non-motorized, etc.).
5. Identity of the “things” that we can/should produce to maintain/create the quality/style of life that is “right” for Moscow.
6. (More of a question): how will agriculture, education and the other Moscow industries be configured? How residential will the UI be? What will be the nature of distance ed? Of the internet and of shopping?
7. The importance people place on speed, ease of travel, scenery, safety, convenience, quality, mode diversity, route, choice, tolls, taxes etc? Trade-offs and preferences.

Mike Dixon
In my profession, what kind of information do I need to address the ring road problem? The required information is typically defined by EPA specifications for Environmental Impact Statements (EIS). Information includes the following:
• Botanical and zoological survey
• Proximity to existing land uses (i.e., residential, commercial, industrial)
• Property ownership and costs
• Demographic data of populations that will be adversely affected
• Travel demand characteristics (volume of traffic, types of vehicles, peaking characteristics, directional split)
• Design speeds
• Access to adjacent land
• Location of existing roadways
• Terrain
• Natural and manmade water bodies
• Existing traffic conditions in areas that will be expected to benefit from the roadway

In my profession, what kind of questions do I need to ask?
• What is the least costly route for the roadway? o Function of property value, terrain roughness, environmental mitigation, and soil properties
• Who is affected by the roadway?
• Will the design vehicles be able to safely and efficiently traverse the roadway at the design speed?
• Will the facility serve the public safely and efficiently?
• Does the water run-off need to be contained and/or treated?
• How strong does the infrastructure need to be in order to accommodate heavy vehicles for the design life?
• What type of traffic control is needed?

Walter Steed
1. Specifically look at differences in TC's ring road x-section and that of Steve's parkway
2. Impact/differences between an out beyond the current developed area ring road and a parkway corridor along existing, closer-in roadways (Higher speeds vs. low speed, circling vs. 90 degree turns)
3. Discuss idea of adjacent lands being zoned as Ag/Forrestry (Steve's plan)

Hua Wang
Transportation and urban planners are working on the future scenarios of the roadway improvement/ expansion to meet the long-term needs. Two typical concepts are presented in this class. The scenarios also consider the solutions to reduce short-term congestions in the near future.

For this type of major roadway system planning, from a transportation planner’s perspective, many questions should be answered and a lot of information should be collected. More importantly, the communication between planners and engineers, stakeholders, the decision makers and interested groups should be well established. Useful information regarding the long-term projects and their impacts should be presented to any interested persons and groups. Here are some thoughts that from transportation planning discipline:
Questions to ask
1. What is the vision of the future development of City of Moscow?
2. How the land use patterns and its future development and future roadway development interact with each other?
3. How the growth of population and employment that may impacted by roadway developments?
4. What is the relationship of between future ring road or MGP and existing street/road system and their development?
5. What criteria are/will be used to select the best scenario?
6. Environmental impacts of roadway development?
7. Priority?
8. Funding?

Data needed
1. Social -economical data, population, employment, land use
2. GIS data, mapping
3. roadway standards (local and regional adopted)
4. others

Tools to use:
1. Transportation forecast model
2. Microscopic simulation model
3. Environmental impact model
4. Signal analysis model
5. Benefit-cost analysis model
6. others

Philip Cook
What questions does my discipline require me to ask? I consider my “discipline” to be policy analysis;1 therefore, almost any question we could ask about the ring road/greenbelt concept is relevant. Policy analysis often begins by defining the problem or issue a policy is meant to address. In this case, “What problems or issues is the ring road meant to address?”
[Q1]. The two concepts for a ring road that have been brought to us seem to have related, but somewhat different, answers to this question. Perhaps even before asking questions about the ring road, we should begin by asking, “What do we mean by sustainable transportation?”
[Q2]. If we want the focus of this seminar to be sustainable transportation, and use the ring road concept as an example of a transportation element that contributes (or not) to sustainable transportation, it seems imperative that we discuss what we mean by sustainable transportation and how we measure it. Sustainability in the natural resources professions tends to be defined in three dimensions: e.g., ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially desirable. These dimensions of sustainability may be different from those defined by other disciplines and may need adjustment to be applicable to transportation projects. Many of the questions I personally have about the ring road concept are also professionally policy-relevant. They tend to be about the social and economic effects of such a road. For example, “What are likely impacts of a ring road on future development near the corridor?”
[Q3] and “How will a ring road affect the central business district?”
[Q4]. For example, I have heard some people say a ring road will “cause sprawl” and/or “negatively affect downtown businesses.” Much of what I’ve heard are arguments based on anecdotes and speculation. I would like for us to explore these assertions using more factual and research-based information.

What data are needed to answer these questions?
[Q1] What are the problems or issues the ring road is meant to address? Perhaps a similar way to state the question is, “What goals do we hope to achieve by building a ring road?” The “data” we need to address these questions are peoples’ opinions about the problems or issues they believe a ring road will address (e.g., traffic congestion downtown, preservation of rural landscapes, economic development, recreation). This will provide us a set of potential public policy goals. Then, and more importantly, we must ask the question, “Will a ring road help us achieve or make progress towards these goals?” Data will be important for helping us predict whether or not a ring road will actually move us towards the goals. The types of data we will need vary depending on the goals we identify.
[Q2] What do we mean by sustainable transportation? The “data” we need to answer this question are expressions of peoples’ concepts of sustainable transportation. More traditional data (i.e., numbers, statistics, etc.) are important for assessing sustainability once we have identified what it is and how we will measure it. Much of the literature on sustainability uses criteria and indicator frameworks (a.k.a. linkage-based frameworks) to assess it. Once we have agreed on what indicators help us to measure sustainability, then traditional data are important for measuring indicators and assessing the contributions of a ring road to sustainability.
[Q3] What are the likely impacts of a ring road on future development near the corridor?
[Q4] How will a ring road affect the central business district? I believe these questions are related; therefore, I’ll address them together. Although every geographic location is physically, economically, and culturally unique, I think we can learn from the experiences of other places. There are studies (data) from other places that have examined how new roads have affected development. We should use experiences from elsewhere to our benefit. In addition to identifying the effects, we also need to understand, as best we can, the causes of the effects. To return to my “roads cause sprawl” example, I think we need a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. To me it does not appear there is a causal relationship (i.e., chemical, physical, biological) between road building and “sprawl.” The correlation exists for political and economic reasons, and thus is not inevitable. Public policies, and policy makers, have an over-riding influence on whether the correlation exists. I would like for us to examine existing policy instruments that have been successful elsewhere, or think about new policies, for accentuating the positive (wanted) effects and minimizing the negative (unwanted) effects of a ring road.

Footnote: The core responsibility of those who deal in public policy--elected officials, administrators, policy analysts--is not simply to discover as objectively as possible what people want for themselves and then to determine and implement the best means of satisfying those wants. It is also to provide the public with alternative visions of what is desirable and possible, to stimulate deliberation about them, provoke a reexamination of premises and values, and thus to broaden the range of potential responses and deepen society's understanding of itself" (p. 3-4, Robert B. Reich, ed., 1988, The Power of Public Ideas, Ballinger Publishing Company, Cambridge, MA.)

Lei Wu
The Interactions Between Urban Growth and Transportation.  It seems that urban growth and transportation, mainly in the form of roadways in service of motorized vehicles, are always trying to catch up with each other in many parts of this country. New development comes in, which leads to the construction of new road. Then, more development comes in. Once this loop escalates to a certain level, it may cause urban sprawl. Urban sprawl causes social inequality, excessive energy consumption, and inefficient city layout. One of the main reasons for the existence for urban sprawl is the lack of long term urban and transportation planning. In order to do a good job in long term transportation planning, transportation planners must understand a basic question: What kind of transportation infrastructures is needed to support a particular kind of urban growth? The development of cities does not follow the planning exactly. So another question needs to be answered: How can a particular transportation project affect the urban growth?

Tools that can be used to study these two questions are:
1. Study historical trends about the urban growth of cities and the development of their transportation infrastructures and the interactions between these two.
2. Model the relationships between urban growth and transportation infrastructures. Potential variables can be population, employment, city layout, area, roadway length, public transit usage, and the number of automobile ownership.
3. Impact study of different modes of transportation infrastructure upon cities.

Michael Kyte
What kinds of information do we need in order to assess the ring road concept?  What kinds of questions does your discipline require you to ask about concept? 
(1) what are existing traffic volumes in the city and what are the relative growth rates for the major city transport corridors,
(2) where are the proposed intersections or interchanges and what kinds of accessibility will they provide to adjacent new developments,
(3) what are the relative travel times with and without a ring road between key origins and destinations and are these differences significant,
(4) what does the traffic network on the edge of the city look like,
(5) how can we preserve the alignments required by a ring road and other needed highway investments,
(6) how do the proposed new residential and commercial developments affect the proposed ring road alignment,
(7) does a ring road have other affects that are not intended; what can we learn about the experiences of ring roads from other cities,
(8) what kinds of measures should we use to evaluate the performance of various aspects of the city's transportation network and of the proposed ring road/arterial network.

Bill McLaughlin
Information Needs. I feel that the information needs are determined by our answers to the questions below. All too often people start assembling information before they have framed the problem/issue. So at this point I cannot really create much of a list. As a planner the initial starting point for me would be to identify other community experiences that are focused on realigning their road network to address traffic flow issues.

Kinds of Questions Regional Planners Would Ask
• What region/area is appropriate to think about given the problem and or issue complex we want to address?
• What other systems (man-built, bio-physical) interact with road network that is the system of focus? What is the nature of these interactions and how might our approach to addressing moving cars/trucks affect the functioning of these other systems?
• Who are the stakeholders in this problem/issue complex? How are they likely to be impacted? What kind of power do they have to affect the outcome? Whose voices might not be heard because they are marginalized?
• What are the kinds of impacts that will need to be considered – environmental, social, economic, etc.?
• Can we model (conceptual modeling) the existing system in a way to identify causes, constraints, interactions, and opportunities that we may not otherwise think of?
• What spatial data already exists that is pertinent to our problem/issue complex?
• How do we think about this issue in the short, medium, and long term in order to not make decisions or generate alternatives for one point in time that is out of context of the others?
• What other communities our size and in a somewhat similar context have addressed a similar issue and how can we learn form their experience?
• What government programs could be involved in helping us address this issue?
• What existing groups (governmental, private sector, and non-profit) are already working on this issue and how do we learn what they have already discussed?
• What planning theory might useful in understanding the problem/issue complex?
• How will we measure our success in addressing this problem/issue complex?
• What kinds of disciplines and skills do we need to address this problem/issue complex?
• What kinds of planning processes could we employ? How does ours (Seminar) need to interface with those of the governing bodies, which ultimately will be the decision-makers?
• As we compile information how will be store it so it is accessible both in original format as well as modified formats that can be used for analysis (e.g., GIS, GPS, tabular, SPSS, SAS)?
• What kind of a data analysis system or systems are we going to use in order to link across kinds of data (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, spatial and non-spatial)?
• How are we going to organize or engage in an existing organization of interested individuals and organizations to work effectively to address the issue/problem complex?
• What are the alternative ways that we can frame this issue/problem complex (e.g., an inter-modal transportation perspective, a land use planning and management perspective, a quality of life perspective, a community development perspective, an economic development perspective)? This is essential to agree upon and will determine the kinds of approach we take, who needs to be involved, and the data we need versus all of the kinds that we could collect.

Isaak Strout
Looking at the proposed ring road from a social science perspective, I feel the following questions should be addressed:
• How can the development of transportation infrastructure help develop a sense of place, strengthen local identity and maintain aesthetic continuity with the existing landscape?
• What opportunities do citizens need and want—both in terms of transportation and recreation?
• How will future population/demographic changes effect these needs?
• How can citizens/publics/stakeholders be adequately involved or empowered in determining transportation and recreation needs?
• How will land use changes resulting from infrastructure development be managed? (i.e. what regulatory or design structures will guide resulting development)
• How will transportation funding structures effect and shape the outcomes of planning?
• Should success of a ring road be measured in terms of vehicles per hour or integration into community scale/values? Or both?
• How would the development of a ring road affect community interaction, quality of life or just community in general—both short and long term? (Yes, a vague question)
• How can the design and planning process become a holistic vision as opposed to transportation planners designating a route, and later involving the citizen, environmental, social, etc. input?

Many of these questions would be difficult to answer definitively. We would need to look closely at demographic, population and transportation trend data for Moscow, the county and regional. It would even be important to frame the issue of transportation in the broadest scale possible—will the future of transportation still rely on nearly exclusive private automobile use? Do developing trends suggest otherwise? Information regarding community opinions, desires, needs, etc. would also be necessary. Survey information, scoping data, community visioning. For the process questions, it may be useful to gather case studies of other communities who have faced similar opportunities and details of their successes and failures. It would be essential to study closely how, and what other communities have done in similar situations.

JD Wulfhorst
Key questions someone from my discipline may ask re: the Moscow Ring Road concept:
1) How would we measure & evaluate the 'social acceptability' of given alternatives proposed?
2) Does options tend to favor one group, locale, or sector of the community more than others (and inversely, do options disadvantage one/some more than others?)
3) What evidence do we have that behaviors (i.e., actual use of the road, as proposed) would match attitudes/perceptions collected as data in a planning process?
4) Is the community primed to cooperate and form a coalition to support such an effort, or are there signs of a potential fracture this could cause politically or socially?
5) In what ways could the project disrupt or foster 'sense of place' for local residents?

Data needed......
1) a recent GIS report by UI for the School District would allow for analysis of some socio/economic/demographic distribution comparisons that could provide an important baseline of information; this would obviously need updating w/ more current estimates, and perhaps the next decennial census depending on the project timeline
2) This issue lends itself well to a visual participatory methodology we could create in which local residents could comment on pictures/graphics of scenarios (simulations) produced for comparison. This would allow us a way to connect measurement of social acceptability if we devised a mixed-methods model.