The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is considering a new policy that will add considerations about regional economic inequities when evaluating potential highway projects.
"Recognizing that highways reward some areas and penalize others, [Northeast Ohio’s] top transportation planning agency is drafting a policy to quantify whether adding new interchanges to the system would exacerbate historical patterns of inequity," reports Steven Litt.
The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is federally mandated to oversee transportation planning for the region that includes Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Lorain and Medina counties.
"By developing the new policy, NOACA aims to look beyond a traditionally narrow focus on safety and mitigation of traffic congestion to consider broader impacts on regional economic development patterns, transit, and environmental sustainability," according to Litt.
"Criteria under consideration, and reviewed in the most recent meeting of NOACA’s policy committee on July 10, include whether a new interchange would facilitate redevelopment of 'declining and abandoned areas,‘' or encourage transit-oriented development in areas with higher densities of population." NOACA is expected to make a decision about the new policy by December. If approved, the new policy would immediately apply to eight projects in the planning pipeline.
An earlier article by Litt details NOACA's work on eNEO2050, a 20-year vision for the region that promised to focus on social equity, particularly for households without cars. That plan is expected for completion in 2021.
Equitable Transportation Planning Initiative Advances in Northeast Ohio
The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is moving forward with a groundbreaking policy to consider regional economic inequities when evaluating potential highway projects.
L.A. Metro Plans for an Equitable Recovery
The pandemic has forced difficult confrontations with inequities that existed long before the novel coronavirus. L.A. Metro planners are responding by charting a path toward a transportation system that reverses and improves those previous realities.
Integrating Climate Protection, Public Health, and Equity Into Planning
The beta version of a comprehensive new evidence-based platform called Streetsmart helps policy makers, planners, and advocates make the case for healthy, inclusive, and sustainable transportation investments.
Planetizen’s Top Planning Books of 2023
The world is changing, and planning with it.
Chicago Red Line Extension Could Transform the South Side
The city’s transit agency is undertaking its biggest expansion ever to finally bring rail to the South Side.
How ‘Daylighting’ Intersections Can Save Lives
Eliminating visual obstructions can make intersections safer for all users.
LA Pledges to Add Thousands of New Bus Stop Shelters
The city’s bus riders will finally get some relief from sun and rain.
How Paris, Texas Became a ‘Unicorn’ for Rural Transit
A robust coalition of advocates in the town of 25,000 brought together the funding and resources to launch a popular bus service that some residents see as a mobility lifeline—and a social club.
San Diego Trolley Nation’s Most Popular Light Rail
The system's ridership benefited from an extension project and free transit for youth.
Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
City of Morganton
San Joaquin County
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Park City Municipal Corporation
National Capital Planning Commission
City of Santa Fe, New Mexico
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
