2017/01/01 by Ann Hartell, Hartell, Ann
Social Sciences · #Transportation Planning and Optimization #Urban Transport and Accessibility #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.57938/9c992f1e-2f1e-463c-908f-14ee280103be
openalex publication_date 2017/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Transportation planning in the United States is moving to widespread use of performance-based <br/>planning methods as new federal requirements for Metropolitan Planning Organizations <br/>(MPOs) are implemented. In addition to requirements for measures of safety and infrastructure, <br/>many MPOs are adopting performance measures for other issues. This study explores current <br/>planning practice in using a performance-based approach to tackle a complex planning issue: <br/>location affordability, defined as the combined household cost burdens of housing and <br/>transportation. A review of long-range transportation plans at 20 large MPOs provides <br/>information on how location affordability is represented in regional transportation plans, how it <br/>is defined and measured, and how it is integrated into the planning process. Using Christensen's <br/>(1985) matrix of planning and policy problems as a theoretical framework, appropriate <br/>application of performance measures in connection with location affordability is identified. For <br/>challenging planning issues where solutions are uncertain or infeasible, performance measures <br/>are more appropriate if used in project or program evaluation, supporting a search for more <br/>effective solutions rather than holding MPOs accountable for outcomes.