Urban Transportation Planning In the United States: An Historical Overview: Fifth Edition

Chapter 4. Urban Transportation Planning Comes of Age

Urban transportation planning came of age with the passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962, which required that approval of any federal-aid highway project in an urbanized area of 50,000 or more in population be based on a continuing, comprehensive urban transportation planning process carried out cooperatively by states and local governments. This was the first legislative mandate requiring planning as a condition to receiving federal capital assistance funds. The U.S. Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) moved quickly to issue technical guidance interpreting the act's provisions.

Through the mid 1960s urban transportation planning went through what some have called its "golden age." Most urban areas were planning their regional highway system and urban transportation planning methodology had been designed to address this issue. The BPR carried out an extensive program of research, technical assistance and training to foster the adoption of this process and the new methodologies. These efforts completely transformed the manner in which urban transportation planning was performed. By the legislated deadline of July 1, 1965, all 224 then existing urbanized areas that fell under the 1962 Act had a urban transportation planning process underway.

This was also a period in which there was early recognition of the need for a federal role in urban mass transportation. This role, however, was to remain limited for a number of years to come.

Joint Report on Urban Mass Transportation

In March 1962 a joint report on urban mass transportation was submitted to President Kennedy, at his request, by the Secretary of Commerce and the Housing and Home Finance Administrator (U.S. Congress, Senate, l962). This report integrated the objectives for highways and mass transit, which were comparatively independent up to that point but growing closer through cooperative activities. The report was in large part based on a study completed in 1961 by the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) entitled Urban Transportation and Public Policy (Fitch, 1964). The IPA report strongly recommended that urban transportation was a federal concern and supported the need for transportation planning.

The general thrust of the report to Congress, as it related to planning, can be summarized by the following excerpt from the transmittal letter:

"Transportation is one of the key factors in shaping our cities. As our communities increasingly undertake deliberate measures to guide their development and renewal, we must be sure that transportation planning and construction are integral parts of general development planning and programming. One of our main recommendations is that federal aid for urban transportation should be made available only when urban communities have prepared or are actively preparing up-to-date general plans for the entire urban area which relate transportation plans to land-use and development plans.

"The major objectives of urban transportation policy are the achievement of sound land-use patterns, the assurance of transportation facilities for all segments of the population, the improvement of overall traffic flow, and the meeting of total transportation needs at minimum cost. Only a balanced transportation system can attain these goals - and in many urban areas this means an extensive mass transportation network fully integrated with the highway and street system. But mass transportation in recent years experienced capital consumption rather than expansion. A cycle of fare increases and service cuts to offset loss of ridership followed by further declines in use points clearly to the need for a substantial contribution of public funds to support needed mass transportation improvements. We therefore recommend a new program of grants and loans for urban mass transportation" (U.S. Congress, Senate, l962).

President Kennedy's Transportation Message

In April 1962 President Kennedy delivered his first message to Congress on the subject of transportation. Many of the ideas related to urban transportation in the message drew upon the previously mentioned joint report. The President's message recognized the close relationship between the community development and the need to properly balance the use of private automobiles and mass transportation to help shape and serve urban areas. It also recognized the need to promote economic efficiency and livability of urban areas. It also recommended continued close cooperation between the Department of Commerce and the Housing and Home Finance Administration (HHFA) (Washington Center, l970).

This transportation message opened a new era in urban transportation and led to passage of two landmark pieces of legislation: the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962 and the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964.

Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962 was the first piece of federal legislation to mandate urban transportation planning as a condition for receiving federal funds in urbanized areas. It asserted that federal concern in urban transportation was to be integrated with land development and provided a major stimulus to urban transportation planning. Section 9 of the act, which is now Section 134 of Title 23 states:

"It is declared to be in the national interest to encourage and promote the development of transportation systems embracing various modes of transport in a manner that will serve the states and local communities efficiently and effectively" (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 1980a).

This statement of policy directly followed from the recommendations of the Sagamore conference and President Kennedy's Transportation Message. Moreover, the section directed the Secretary of Commerce to cooperate with the states:

"...in the development of long-range highway plans and programs which are properly coordinated with plans for improvements in other affected forms of transportation and which are formulated with due consideration to their probable effect on the future development of the urban area..." (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 1980a).

The last sentence of the section which required that urban highway construction projects be based upon a planning process, legislated the planning requirement:

"After July 1, 1965, the Secretary shall not approve under section 105 of this title any programs for projects in any urban area of more than fifty thousand population unless he finds that such projects are based on a continuing, comprehensive transportation planning process carried out cooperatively by states and local communities in conformance with the objectives stated in this section" (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 1980a).

Two features of the act are particularly significant with respect to the organizational arrangements for carrying out the planning process. First, it called for a planning process in urban areas rather than cities, which set the scale at the metropolitan or regional level. Second, it called for the process to be carried on cooperatively by the states and local communities. Because qualified planning agencies to mount such a transportation planning process were lacking in many urban areas, the BPR required the creation of planning agencies or organizational arrangements that would be capable of carrying out the required planning process. These planning organizations quickly came into being because of the growing momentum of the highway program and the cooperative financing of the planning process by the HHFA and the BPR (Marple, 1969).

In addition, the act restricted the use of the 1½ percent planning and research funds to only those purposes. If not used for planning and research, the state would lose the funds. Previously, a state could request that these funds be used instead for construction. This provision created a permanent, assured funding source for planning and research activities. In addition, the act provided that a state could spend another ½ percent at their option for planning and research activities.

Hershey Conference on Urban Freeways

In response to the growing concern about freeway construction in urban areas, the Hershey Conference on Freeways in the Urban Setting was convened in June 1962 (Freeways, l962). It concluded, "Freeways cannot be planned independently of the areas through which they pass. The planning concept should extend to the entire sector of the city within the environs of the freeway." The conference recommendations reinforced the need to integrate highway planning and urban development.

The findings recognized that this planning should be done as a team effort that draws upon the skills of engineers, architects, city planners, and other specialists. Freeway planning must integrate the freeway with its surroundings. When properly planned, freeways provide an opportunity to shape and structure the urban community in a manner that meets the needs of the people who live, work, and travel in these areas. Further, the planning effort should be carried out in a manner that involves participation by the community (Freeways, l962).

Implementation of the 1962 Federal-Aid Highway Act

The BPR moved quickly to implement the planning requirements of the 1962 Federal-Aid Highway Act. Instructional Memorandum 50-2-63, published in March 1963 (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 1963c) and later superseded by Policy and Procedure Memorandum 50-9 (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 1967a), interpreted the act's provisions related to a "continuing, comprehensive, and cooperative" (3C) planning process. "Cooperative" was defined to include not only cooperation between the federal, state, and local levels of government but also among the various agencies within the same level of government. "Continuing" referred to the need to periodically reevaluate and update a transportation plan. "Comprehensive" was defined to include the basic ten elements of a 3C planning process for which inventories and analyses were required. (Table 2)

These memoranda and further refinements and expansions upon them covered all aspects for organizing and carrying out the 3C planning process.

Through its Urban Planning Division, under Garland E. Marple, the BPR carried out a broad program to develop planning procedures and computer programs, write procedural manuals and guides, teach training courses, and provide technical assistance. The effort was aimed at developing urbanized area planning organizations, standardizing, computerizing and applying procedures largely created in the late 1950s, and disseminating knowledge of such procedures.

The BPR defined the various steps in a 3C planning process. These steps had been pioneered by the urban transportation planning studies that were carried out during the 1950s. It was an empirical approach which required a substantial amount of data and several years to complete. The process consisted of: establishing an organization to carry out the planning process; development of local goals and objectives; surveys and inventories of existing conditions and facilities; analyses of current conditions and calibration of forecasting techniques; forecasting of future activity and travel; evaluation of alternative transportation networks resulting in a recommended transportation plan; staging of the transportation plan; and identification of resources to implement it. The product of these 3C planning studies was generally an elaborate report(s) describing the procedures, analyses, alternatives and recommended plans.

Table 2 - Ten Basic Elements of a 3C Planning Process

Economic factors affecting development
Population
Land use
Transportation facilities including those for mass transportation
Travel patterns
Terminal and transfer facilities
Traffic control features
Zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, etc.
Financial resources
Social and community-value factors, such as preservation of open space, parks and recreational facilities; preservation of historical sites and buildings; environmental amenities; and aesthetics.

To foster the adoption of these technical procedures, the BPR released a stream of procedural manuals that became the technical standards for many years to come: Calibrating and Testing a Gravity Model for Any Size Urban Area, (July 1963); Calibrating and Testing a Gravity Model with a Small Computer, (October 1963); Traffic Assignment Manual, (June 1964); Population Forecasting Methods, (June 1964); Population, Economic, and Land Use Studies in Urban Transportation Planning, (July 1964); The Standard Land Use Coding Manual, (January 1965); The Role of Economic Studies in Urban Transportation Planning, (August 1965); Traffic Assignment and Distribution for Small Urban Areas, (September 1965), Modal Split- Documentation of Nine Methods for Estimating Transit Usage, (December 1966); and Guidelines for Trip Generation Analysis, (June 1967).

The BPR developed a two-week "Urban Transportation Planning Course" that was directed at practicing planners and engineers. It covered organizational issues and technical procedures for carrying out a 3C planning process as it had been conceptualized by the BPR. The course used the BPR manuals as textbooks and supplemented them with lecture notes to keep the information current and to cover material not in manual form. In addition, personnel from the BPR provided hands-on technical assistance to state and local agencies in the applying these new procedures to their own areas.

This effort to define the "3C planning process," to develop techniques for performing the technical activities, and to provide technical assistance completely transformed the manner in which urban transportation planning was performed. By the legislated deadline of July 1, 1965, all the 224 existing urbanized areas which fell under the 1962 Act had an urban transportation planning process underway (Holmes, 1973).

Conventional Urban Travel Forecasting Process

The 3C planning process included four technical phases: collection of data, analysis of data, forecasts of activity and travel, and evaluation of alternatives. Central to this approach was the urban travel forecasting process. (Figure 6) The process used mathematical models that allowed the simulation and forecasting of current and future travel. This permitted the testing and evaluation of alternative transportation networks.

Figure 6
Urban Travel Forecasting Process

The four-step urban travel forecasting process consisted of trip generation, trip distribution, modal split, and traffic assignment. These models were first calibrated to replicate existing travel using actual survey data. These models were then used to forecast future travel. The forecasting process began with an estimate of the variables that determine travel patterns including the location and intensity of land use, social and economic characteristics of the population, and the type and extent of transportation facilities in the area. Next, these variables were used to estimate the number of trip origins and destinations in each subarea of a region (i.e. the traffic analysis zone), using a trip generation procedure. A trip distribution model was used to connect the trip ends into an origin-destination trip pattern. This matrix of total vehicle trips was divided into highway and transit trips using a modal split model. The matrices of highway and transit trips were assigned to routes on the highway and transit networks, respectively, by means of a traffic assignment model (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 1977).

In using these models to analyze future transportation networks, forecasts of input variables were used for the year for which the networks were being tested. Travel forecasts were then prepared for each transportation alternative to determine traffic volumes and levels of service. Usually only the modal split and traffic assignment models were rerun for additional networks after a future year forecast had been made for the first network. But occasionally the trip distribution model was also rerun.

Travel forecasting on a regionwide scale required a large computing capability. The first generation of computers had become available in the mid 1950s. The BPR had taken advantage of them and adapted a telephone routing algorithm for traffic assignments purposes that would operate on the IBM 704 computer. Additional programs were developed to perform other functions. The second generation of computers, circa 1962, provided increased capabilities. The library of computer programs was rewritten for the IBM 709 computer and then for the IBM 7090/94 system. The BPR worked with the Bureau of Standards in developing, modifying, and testing these programs. Some programs were also developed for the IBM 1401 and 1620 computers. This effort was carried out over a number of years, and by 1967 the computer package contained about 60 programs (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 1977).

This approach to travel forecasting, which later became known as the "conventional urban travel forecasting process," came quickly into widespread use. The procedures had been specifically tailored to the tasks of regionwide urban transportation planning and BPR provided substantial assistance and oversight in applying them. Moreover, there were no other procedures generally available and urban transportation study groups that chose not to use them had to develop their own procedures and computer programs.

Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission

In most urbanized areas, ad hoc organizational arrangements were created to conduct the urban transportation planning process required by the Federal-aid Highway Act of 1962 and the Bureau of Public's guidelines. In some urbanized areas, however, the urban transportation planning process was carried out by existing regional planning agencies. This was the case for the urbanized areas of Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha in Southeastern Wisconsin.

The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC) was created under State enabling legislation by Executive Order of the Governor of Wisconsin in 1960 upon petition of the County Boards of the seven constituent counties. It was directed to prepare and adopt master plans for the physical development of the Southeastern Wisconsin region on the basis of studies and analyses. The Commission itself was formed with 21 citizen members, serving for six years without pay, three from each county, with one member from each county appointed by the County Board and the other two members appointed by the Governor (Bauer, 1963).

The Regional Land Use-Transportation Study, which began in 1963, was the Commission's first long-range planning effort. The staff proceeded under the guidance of the Intergovernmental Coordinating and the Technical Coordinating Committees. (Figure 7) The 3 ½ year, $2 million study covered the development of goals and objectives, inventory of existing conditions, preparation and analysis of alternative plans, and selection and adoption of the preferred plan (Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, 1965-66). SEWRPC prepared three alternative land use plans for the year 1990. The "controlled existing trend plan" continued the low-density residential development trend with the imposition of land use controls to minimize leap-frog development and reduce encroachment on environmentally sensitive areas. The "corridor plan" concentrated medium and high density residential development along transportation corridors interlocked with recreation and agriculture wedges. The "satellite city plan" focused new residential development into existing outlying communities in the region. A transportation plan was developed for each of the land use plans which primarily consisted of the existing plus committed highway and transit systems with additions, including an extensive bus rapid transit system with an exclusive busway.

Figure 7
Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission

The recommended "controlled existing trend plan" was adopted by the full commission and eventually by most of the county boards and local units of government. In 1966, SEWRPC began the continuing phase of the land use-transportation study which provided support to implement the plan, monitored changes in the region and progress in implementing the adopted plan, and conducted periodic reappraisals of the plan in light of the changes in the region.

In the ensuing years, SEWRPC conducted a wide range of planning studies including those related to: watershed development and water quality, air quality, highway functional classification, public transportation, parks and open space, port development, libraries, airport use, and prepared many local plans in cooperation with the local jurisdictions. Moreover, it provided extensive technical assistance to local governments on a variety of planning issues.

Highway Planning Program Manual

As part of its extensive efforts to provide technical guidance for carrying out highway planning, the BPR developed the Highway Planning Program Manual. The manual was designed to consolidate technical information on highway planning practice and make it readily available. Much of that information on highway planning practice and many of the manuals had been developed by the BPR.

The Highway Planning Program Manual was first issued in August 1963 (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 1963d). It was directed primarily at the highway engineers in BPR's field offices who needed information to administer highway planning activities that were being carried out by State highway departments and by urban transportation planning groups with Federal-aid highway planning funds. It also provided valuable information to those performing the actual planning activities in state and local agencies.

The manual covered the basic elements of a highway planning program which included: administration and control, highway inventory, mapping, traffic counting, classifying and weighing, travel studies, motor vehicle registration and taxes, highway fiscal data, road life expectancy and costs, and urban transportation planning. The goal for the overall highway planning process was to develop a master plan for highway development. This was to consist of a functionally classified highway system, an estimate of highway needs, a long range development program to meet the needs with priorities and, a financial plan to pay for the development program.

The section of the manual devoted urban transportation planning to was equally detailed. It covered the various aspects of the urban transportation planning process including: organization, use of computers, origin destination studies, population studies, economic studies, land use, street inventory and classification, evaluation of traffic services, traffic engineering studies, public transportation, terminal facilities, travel forecasting, traffic assignment, developing the transportation plan, plan implementation, and the continuing planning process.

The Federal Highway Administration continued to update the Highway Planning Program Manual and add appendices, which included recent version of relevant procedure manuals, until the early 1980's. The manual was eventually rescinded by FHWA in 1985.

Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964

The first real effort to provide federal assistance for urban mass transportation development was the passage of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964. The objective of the act, still in the spirit of President Kennedy's Transportation Message, was "...to encourage the planning and establishment of areawide urban mass transportation systems needed for economical and desirable urban development" (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 1979b).

The act authorized federal capital grants for up to two-thirds of the net project cost of construction, reconstruction, or acquisition of mass transportation facilities and equipment. Net project cost was defined as that portion of the total project cost that could not be financed readily from transit revenues. However, the federal share was to be held to 50 percent in those areas that had not completed their comprehensive planning process, that is, had not produced a plan. All federal funds had to be channeled through public agencies. Transit projects were to be initiated locally.

A program of research, development, and demonstrations was also authorized by the 1964 act. The objective of this program was to "...assist in the reduction of transportation needs, the improvement of mass transportation service, or the contribution of such service toward meeting total urban transportation needs at minimum cost" (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 1979b).

Congress, however, did not authorize much money to carry out this legislation. Not more than $150 million per year was authorized under the 1964 act and the actual appropriations fell short of even that amount (Smerk, 1968).

Urban Development Simulation Models

With the growth of urban transportation planning came an increasing interest in understanding urban phenomena and in constructing urban development simulation models. Such models would enable planners to evaluate alternative urban development patterns, and to produce information on population, employment, and land use for use in estimating travel and transportation requirements. Land use simulation models developed in early urban transportation studies were rudimentary and focused on the effect of transportation access on the location of activities (Swerdloff and Stowers, 1966).

During this period many cities were actively engaged in developing work plans to eliminate slums and urban blight through Community Renewal Programs (CRPs) that were partially funded by the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA). These CRPs provided an additional impetus for the development of urban simulation models. It was as part of one of these CRPs that a significant breakthrough occurred. Between 1962-63, Ira S. Lowry developed a land use allocation model for the Pittsburgh Regional Planning Association as part of a modeling system to generate alternatives and aid decisionmaking (Lowry, 1964).

The "Lowry model," as it came to be known, was the first large scale and complete urban simulation model to become operational. The model was attractive because of the simplicity of its causal structure, the opportunity to expand it, and its operationality (Goldner, 1971). The underlying concept of the model used economic base theory in which employment was divided into "basic" employment that was devoted to goods and services exported outside the region, and "retail" or "non-basic" employment that served local markets. Basic employment was located outside the model, while non-basic employment by the model on the basis of its accessibility to households. Households were located on the basis of accessibility to jobs and availability of vacant land. The model proceeded in an iterative fashion until equilibrium was reached (Putman, 1979).

The conceptual framework developed by Lowry stimulated an era of model development during the mid-1960s, much of which concentrated on elaborations and enhancements of the original Lowry model concepts (Goldner, 1971; Harris, 1965; Putman, 1979). The Lowry model evolved through further development in Pittsburgh and the San Francisco Bay Area Simulation Study, and other efforts by a number of researchers. Most of this work, however, did not result in models that did not become operational (Goldner, 1971). After a period of dormancy, work began anew and resulted in the development of the integrated transportation and land-use package (ITLUP). This set of models performed lad use activity allocation incorporated the effects of transportation and land use and the feedback effects of land use on transportation (Putman, 1983).

Williamsburg Conference on Highways and Urban Development

By 1965 there was concern that planning processes were not adequately evaluating social and community values. Few planning studies had developed goal-based evaluation methodologies. A second conference on Highways and Urban Development was held in Williamsburg, Virginia, to discuss this problem (Highways and Urban Development, 1965). The conference concluded that transportation must be directed toward raising urban standards and enhancing aggregate community values. Transportation values such as safety, economy, and comfort are part of the total set of community values and should be weighted appropriately.

The conference resolutions highlighted the need to identify urban goals and objectives that should be used to evaluate urban transportation plans. It emphasized that many values may not be quantifiable but, nonetheless, should not be ignored. The conference also endorsed the concept of making maximum use of existing transportation facilities through traffic management and land use controls.