ancient cities

goals and objectives for the plan. Proposals
emphasize systemwide improvements to roads
and public transit, cycling networks, and
pedestrian facilities and are meant to deliver
benefits over the entire region. Strategic regional
transportation plans typically cover a 20- to
25-year time horizon, with more detailed local
area plans covering 5- and 10-year periods.
5. Evaluation: The proposed changes are tested in
the simulation models to measure how outcomes
differ, depending on whether the proposals are
implemented. The outcomes of the simulations are
then evaluated against the goals and objectives set
for the plans. If the proposed changes to the
transportation system will not deliver the desired
benefits, then new infrastructure proposals are put
forward to better achieve the stated goals and
objectives for the plan.
6. Decision and Implementation: At the conclusion
of the planning process, and based on the
evaluation, a strategic plan is produced that
recommends the general location and phasing for
new transportation facilities. The planned
investments are intended to maximize the
efficiency of the entire regional transportation
network.
Critique of Traditional
Transportation Planning Process
Beginning in the 1960s, the highly structured, rational
comprehensive model of transportation planning
came under considerable academic and
community criticism. In some academic circles,
there were criticisms that planners were not merely
dispassionate, rational analysts who systematically
weighed the costs and benefits of an initiative;
rather, their rationality was bounded by their context,
in particular the social and political organizations
in which they worked. Moreover, transportation
problems were not always well defined, and planners
did not necessarily have access to full information or
the time needed to weigh all the options fully.
Ultimately, it was argued that far from being impartial
rational analysts, transportation planners faced
nontechnical pressures that shaped their studies.
Some academics and community groups
expressed wider discontent with the way that the
opinions of experts and government bureaucrats
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were given precedence over the views of the general
public, often resulting in the approval of projects
that did not meet the interests of diverse
community stakeholders. There were claims that
the highly structured planning framework emphasized
the supply of new infrastructure, and in particular
new highways, to address identified transportation
problems, rather than examining options to manage
the regional demand for transportation services.
In many instances, marginalized populations
were seen to be disproportionately affected by the
negative environmental and social exclusion externalities
of new transportation investments, without
realizing many of the benefits from being
connected to new facilities. Finally, it was argued
that transportation planning was an inherently
political process, and the projects that were ultimately
selected for construction were not necessarily
those that were most highly prioritized in the
technical studies.
Across North America in the 1960s, protests
were mounted against urban highway proposals in
New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and Vancouver.
Opponents focused on the way that decisions were
being made, particularly the lack of public involvement
in the decision-making process, and on the
negative impacts experienced by local communities.
Many of these planned highways were cancelled,
and these protests shifted the methods for
doing transportation planning.
Fragmented Directions (1976–Present)
Since the mid-1970s, no dominant framework has
replaced the traditional model of transportation
planning. Rather, there has been considerable fragmentation
in the methods and approaches used to
produce strategic transportation plans. Technically,
increasingly powerful computers have made it possible
to move from aggregate regional forecasting
models to disaggregated simulations of travel behavior.
Using extensive household surveys and personal
trip diaries, planners collect extensive demographic,
socioeconomic, and travel data, which are then used
to more accurately predict daily traffic flow volumes
on local facilities. In many contexts, longrange,
regionwide strategic planning has given way
to a greater focus on the production of short-term
plans, which more specifically emphasize the