Ken Snyder
described various planning tools that can be used as part of a decision support system to make more informed community planning choices. The use of these tools can help to describe a project, visually show how new development will affect a community, and quantify the impacts of different land use and transportation patterns. Types of decision support tools include:
- Information resources, to help people learn about available tools, methods, and practices, as well as the results of similar projects in other areas;
- Visualization tools, which use computer imagery to assist people in visualizing alternative development patterns and design strategies;
- Impact analysis tools, which quantify a range of performance measures associated with different transportation and land use strategies, such as travel times, emissions, land consumption, and energy use;
- GIS modeling techniques, which assist in measuring and illustrating spatially-based characteristics and impacts; and
- Community process tools, which are designed to facilitate public involvement and community decision-making.
A broad array of decision support tools can be viewed through the DOE's toolkit website. Two additional sources of information on tools and current planning activities include the Department of Energy's Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development website and the Livable Communities website. To make maximum use of limited resources, communities may wish to establish Regional Resource Centers, utilizing private and/or federal funding to purchase hardware and software tools that can be shared among multiple communities.
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