Partnerships for Multimodal Transportation Planning

Abstract

AASHTO, in cooperation with NCHRP, has initiated a series of research studies dealing with the issue of multimodal transportation planning. This paper comments on some of the findings from the one project in this series that focuses on the dynamics of partnerships formed to carry out the planning, design, and implementation of multimodal and intermodal projects. An intensive industry scan has been completed, resulting in an interactive data base of approximately 60 multimodal projects throughout the country. From these 60 candidate projects, 12 were selected for more intensive study through a case study approach. The results of the case studies revealed a number of common, underlying themes. Included among those themes is the finding that local governments and private sector partners must be included in earlier stages of multimodal transportation planning than is currently being practiced. One of the key hypotheses tested with the data available on these partnerships was the impact of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) as a catalyst to stimulate multimodal projects and to improve the multimodal planning process. In this regard, one finding of this study is that before the 1990s, it appears that a major emphasis of partnership formation was simply to secure funding from a variety of sources for such projects. Since ISTEA was passed, however, objectives more frequently cited by partners relate to meeting societal values and traveler needs.