Human Environment

• Community Impact Assessment

The Community Impact Assessment brochure was written as a quick primer for transportation professionals and analysts who assess the impacts of proposed transportation actions on communities. It outlines the community impact assessment process, highlights critical areas that must be examined, identifies basic tools and information sources, and stimulates thought on individual projects. The primer is intended to increase awareness of the effects of transportation actions on the human environment and emphasizes that community impacts deserve serious attention in project planning and development. In addition, the guide provides useful suggestions on facilitating public involvement in the decisionmaking process.

• Flexibility in Highway Design

This guide is about designing highways that incorporate community values and are safe, efficient, effective mechanisms for the movement of people and goods. It is written for highway engineers and project managers who want to learn more about the flexibility available to them when designing roads. In ISTEA, and again in TEA-21, the Congress stressed preserving historic and scenic values and provided dramatic new flexibilities in funding for facilities with historic or scenic significance. In addition, in TEA-21, the Congress promotes more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly transportation facilities and encourages consideration of bicycle lanes and sidewalks in new or updated transportation plans. The guide does not establish any new or different laws, or geometric design standards or criteria for highways and streets, but provides a wealth of information on how highways can be designed to achieve enhanced mobility and help achieve other community objectives.

Integrated Transportation and Environmental Decisionmaking

• Public Involvement Techniques in Transportation Decisionmaking

This document incorporates all of Innovations in Public Involvement for Transportation Planning (which is no longer available). It was prepared to introduce agencies to a variety of practical techniques in public involvement that can be used in different situations. It is geared to the needs of State agencies and MPOs, particularly smaller MPOs with less extensive public involvement experience. It is intended for use both by public involvement specialists and others who have such responsibilities. While the document discusses a number of public involvement approaches, techniques should always be tailored to local conditions and be as creative and fresh as possible to attract public interest.

This publication was designed to be user-friendly and succinctly explains techniques such as charrettes, visioning, brainstorming sessions, citizens advisory committees, and a variety of media strategies. It is a starting point to stimulate responsiveness to ISTEA (and now TEA-21), where new emphasis on public involvement has become a key feature of transportation planning in States and metropolitan areas