Pilot Test of Transferable Regional / Local PLACE3S Method & Analytical Tool for CA and National Uses
California AbstractThe California Energy Commission, in coordination with Caltrans, has embarked on the development of a five-step regional and urban planning and implementation method called PLACE3S. This method shows promise as the foundation of a statewide program to help regions, cities and rural counties effectively engage the public in developing broadly supported plans that integrate land use and transportation planning with environmental protection and economic development. Because the PLACE3S method is an innovate leap into highly integrated and simultaneous land use and transportation design, multi-indicator measurement and public involvement; traditional funding to pilot test the method and tools has been unavailable. We request TCSP funding to launch PLACE3S as a statewide transportation and land use-planning program. To get the PLACE3S program to the point where we can launch the state program we need to: 1) conduct a complete pilot test of both the PLACE3S method and GIS tools. Once this first step is completed we will prepare case study materials (documents, web sites, college curricula) and user guides (in partnership with ESRI). We also will conduct workshops, training sessions and outreach to actively begin the transfer of pilot test findings to other regions and cities in California and throughout the United States. However, without TCSP assistance to fund the first comprehensive pilot test, we cannot proceed. The proposed TCSP project can be completed in 12 months. The pilot test site has been selected, baseline data is collected, and broad partnerships are built. The outcome of the pilot test will include: 1) Documentation of the process, including quantitative comparisons of the planning alternatives, to demonstrate how PLACE3S exposes net differences in land use alternatives, 2) Quantitative assessment of final plan to show how PLACE3S produces net change, 3) Implementation plan to demonstrate how PLACE3S GIS tools simplify implementation and benefits tracking, 4) Two or more RFPs for development prescribed in the implementation plan to use as models of how to attract desired investment to build the plan, 5) Estimate of the deferred consumption of undeveloped lands and beneficial use of brownfields as an example of using the PLACE3S method to manage sprawl, and 6) Review of how regional economic and employment modeling was integrated into the PLACE3S method to: a) fine-tune job / skills matching around realistic transportation options and b) improve trip generation models with specific knowledge about the location of jobs and unemployed persons who most likely would fill those jobs. Previous Page | 
