Scenario Planning

The TPB launched the Regional Mobility and Accessibility Scenario Study in 2001 to examine the impacts of alternative transportation and land use scenarios. Phase I of the Scenario Study has examined five scenarios that shift future jobs and households and add extensive networks of new public transit facilities, to see if these scenarios point to actions the region's leaders might take to better meet the objectives of the TPB Vision. Phase II of the study entailed an extensive public outreach effort in which TPB staff shared the analysis of the five scenarios with audiences around the region and facilitated discussion about scenario implications and implementation challenges. This effort culminated in a Feedback Report detailing the input received at these events.

TPB members and staff have started to investigate how to integrate the study into the development of the TPB's Constrained Long-Range Transportation Plan (CLRP) and into planning efforts at the state and local levels. In September 2007, the TPB created a Scenario Study Task Force to explore implementation alternatives. These alternatives will be studied within the context of two new scenarios, the "CLRP Aspirations" scenario and the "What Would it Take?" scenario. The CLRP Aspirations scenario seeks to create a land use and transportation vision that can serve as a de facto unconstrained plan for the region. The What Would it Take scenario begins to address deepening concerns about climate change and what can be done with the region's transportation sector to reduce mobile emissions. The TPB's study of land use and transportation scenarios will not produce a magic formula to solve the region's transportation problems, but it will inform a growing public discussion on the direction and shape of future development. Implementing the TPB Vision—including the goals of reducing per capita driving, increasing transit use and promoting regional activity centers—formed the context and motivation for the Scenario Study. Ultimately, regional leaders hope the results of the study will help steer the region closer to this vision. More information about the Scenario Study, including details about the different scenarios and their potential effects, is available on the TPB website and in the 2006 scenario planning summary brochure, What if the Washington Region Grew Differently?

The Transportation/Land-Use Connections Program

In an effort to assist municipalities in implementing strategies suggested by the Scenario Study, the TPB created the Transportation/Land Use Connections (TLC) Program. The TLC Program addresses the “how to” challenges related to improving transportation/land-use coordination and realizing an alternative future for the region, through providing both direct technical assistance and information about best practices and model projects. Through the program, the TPB provides communities with up to $20,000 worth of technical assistance to catalyze or enhance planning efforts. Any local jurisdiction that is a member of the TPB is eligible to apply. The second part of the TLC program is the Clearinghouse, a web-based source of information about transportation/land use coordination, including regional and national experience with transit-oriented development and other key strategies.

More information about the TLC program, including current and past technical assistance projects, is available here.