About the Event
The Role of Well-Designed Transportation Projects Enhancing Communities
Transportation projects affect communities in ways that go far beyond the immediate needs of moving people and goods from one place to another. In a time of limited resources at every level of government, communities need to understand these impacts in order to maximize available transportation dollars.
The speakers will introduce this interdisciplinary research effort, which examines the measurable benefits of well-designed transportation projects in order to identify projects and processes that create positive outcomes in a variety of areas, including public health and safety, environmental protection, economic development, aesthetics, and cultural enrichment.
Protecting Public Health, Safety and the Environment
Carmody will highlight the positive and negative impacts of transportation projects on public health, safety, and the environment. Benefits such as improved community access to goods and services must be balanced against potential negative impacts including pollution, resource depletion, and the reduction of biodiversity.
Promoting Economic Development
Adams will describe ways of measuring the economic impacts of transportation projects on their geographic settings. Defining economic development as distinct from land development, this research delves into the economic benefits of well-designed transportation projects using both spatial and temporal frameworks of analysis.
Speaker(s)
Lance Neckar, Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture
Robert Johns, Director, CTS
John Carmody, Director, Center for Sustainable Building Research
John Adams, Professor, Department of Geography
