2010 Transportation Planning Excellence Awards

Federal Highway Administration
Federal Transit Administration
Co-sponsored by the American Planning Association

October 2010
FHWA-HEP-10-040

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Contents

• A Letter from FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez and FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff
• About the Awards
• Award Winners
• Honorable Mentions
• The Judges

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A Letter from FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez and FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff

Congratulations to the winners of the 2010 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)/Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Transportation Planning Excellence Awards (TPEA), which are co-sponsored by the American Planning Association (APA). Our partnership demonstrates the value of working together to recognize outstanding initiatives across the country to develop, plan, and implement innovative transportation planning practices.

We applaud all of the excellent projects that were nominated for the awards this year. Due to the tremendous response and the number of outstanding planning submittals, the job of our panel of judges to select the most outstanding projects was particularly challenging. The 2010 TPEA winners and honorable mention projects went beyond standard practice to incorporate truly innovative and effective efforts into their transportation planning processes. Award recipients were honored on July 11, 2010 at a ceremony held during the 2010 Transportation Research Board Summer Meeting held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The efforts of the award winners and their continued commitment ensure that transportation plans, processes, and products demonstrate excellence and reflect the needs of the communities that we serve. Each project exemplifies the excellence that is possible when we work together to plan for our Nation's transportation future.

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The projects and organizations recognized by the 2010 TPEA are models for the Nation. The following sections highlight their accomplishments in the hope of inspiring future transportation planning projects to meet the high standards set by these award winners.

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About the Awards

The Transportation Planning Excellence Awards (TPEA) Program recognizes outstanding initiatives across the country to develop, plan, and implement innovative transportation planning practices. This biennial awards program is sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and is co-sponsored by the American Planning Association.

The Criteria

Nominations were reviewed by an independent panel of judges who represent a cross section of the transportation industry. Each nomination was evaluated according to criteria that address multiple elements of transportation planning:

• Community and Public Involvement
• Equity
• Implementation/Implementation Strategy
• Innovation
• Intermodalism
• Livability/Sustainability
• Partnerships and Collaboration

The Categories

Nominations were solicited for innovative planning practices in the following categories:

• Education and Training: the process of advancing the state of the practice by improving the knowledge, skills, and abilities of transportation professionals through experience, training, or education.
• Emergency Management Planning: the discipline of managing and preventing risks, often in the form of an Emergency Evacuation Plan and as part of the long-range transportation planning process.
• Freight Planning: the practice of identifying and developing strategies to improve the movement and distribution of freight.
• Linking Planning and Operations: a joint effort between operations and planning that encompasses the important institutional underpinnings needed for effective Regional Transportation Systems Management and Operations.
• Livability/Sustainability: strategies for transportation plans that provide more transportation choices, promote equitable and affordable housing, enhance economics, and improve the quality of life for citizens while supporting existing communities.
• Modeling and Technology Applications: applications that graphically represent or simulate transportation systems, projects, or programs.
• Planning Leadership: individuals or organizations that champion and guide highly effective transportation planning activities.
• Public Involvement and Outreach: innovative means to providing transparency in the transportation decisionmaking process by involving the public and communities and informing the general public about transportation activities.
• Safety Planning: a proactive approach to the prevention of accidents and unsafe transportation conditions by establishing inherently safe transportation networks.
• Transportation and Land-Use Integration: the practice of integrating land-use planning, development, and investment with the goals and objectives of both short- and long-range transportation planning and programming.
• Transportation Asset Management: the strategic and systematic process of accounting for, operating, maintaining, upgrading, and expanding physical assets effectively throughout their lifecycle.
• Transportation Planning and Environment: an approach to transportation decisionmaking that identifies and considers environmental, community, and economic factors early in the planning process and carries these issues through the project development, design, and construction phases to completion.
• Tribal Transportation Planning: meeting tribal transportation needs through informed decisionmaking.

Award Winners

More than 80 projects were nominated for this year's Excellence Awards. Eleven projects received Awards, and another eleven projects were recognized with Honorable Mentions.

Honorable Mentions

The Judges

Tom Bruff,
Program Manager,
Southeast Michigan Council of Governments

Dr. Tom Furlani,
Professor,
Director of the Center for Computational Research,
University of New York, Buffalo

Tom Kane, Director,
Des Moines Iowa Metropolitan Planning Organization

Carrie Kissel, Senior
Project Manager and Director,
National Association of Development Organizations

Robert Leiter,
FAICP,
Retired Director of Land Use and Transportation Planning,
San Diego Association of Governments

Michelle Maggiore,
Senior Policy Director,
Wilbur Smith Associates

Dr. Catherine Ross,
Harry West Professor,
Director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development,
Georgia Institute of Technology

Effie Stallsmith,
Former Federal Transportation Administration Planner,
Transportation and Livability Consultant

Erika Young,
Transportation Director,
National Association of Regional Councils

For more information about the joint FHWA/FTA Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program, go to www.planning.dot.gov.

To provide Feedback, Suggestions or Comments for this page contact Fred Bowers (frederick.bowers@dot.gov).