Proposed Changes in Urban Transportation Studies

IN T R O D U C T IO N Population forecasters have estimated that the 1970 census when reported will show close to 75 percent of the United States popula­ tion will be classified as urban. Once again one can expect that the greatest percentage change will occur in the urban fringes of central cities of population range of 25,000 to 100,000. Along with the in­ creased population growth and dispersion comes greater transportation demands. Urban transportation planning activity in the United States has increased significantly in the last 15 years due primarily to realization of the need to solve current problems of person and goods movements in rapidly growing areas. The immediate need for planning recommen­ dations to guide impending development and at the same time to satisfy legislative requirements has been the prime concern of all transportation planning organizations. The result of this expediency has often been a failure to indulge in sufficient introspective examina­ tion of the various practices, methodology and techniques currently employed in planning practice. The proposed changes in the conduct of urban transportation studies to be reported here results from research conducted by research engi­ neers and graduate research assistants of the Joint Highway Research Project with the cooperation of the Indiana State Highway Commis­ sion and the Bureau of Public Roads of the U. S. Department of Transportation. The research had two general objectives. The first objective was to advance the technology of transportation planning and contribute useful revisions of procedures as well as new concepts. A secondary objective was to contribute to an improved education of transportation planners who are presently in great demand. The present shortage of trained professionals will become even more acute as smaller communities perform transportation planning. The contribu­ tion of this second objective is not reported here.