Regional transportation agencies are increasingly challenged to develop transportation plans that address societal goals, such as climate mitigation and resilience, public health, conservation, equity and housing, motivated by policy or societal demands. Moreover, the transportation sector represents the largest contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with emissions from light duty vehicles representing 60 percent of GHG emissions in the transportation sector. Transportation plans must be designed to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in order to help address the climate crisis. While a typical land use or transportation planning process starts with analyses of transportation patterns, population growth and existing built environment, often the environment is the last consideration, resulting in significant impacts to habitats, species, water, air quality and farmland. This continues the legacy of transportation as a major cause of environmental harm – from air and water pollution, to habitat fragmentation and species decline, to habitat and farmland loss due to infrastructure growth and associated sprawl development. The loss of habitat and farmland comes with the loss of valuable services that keep communities healthier and safer. Natural and working lands protect our air, water and wildlife, sequester greenhouse gas emissions, improve our public health, provide climate resilience, contribute to a vibrant economy and ensure healthy ecosystems. Indeed, the recent call for protecting 30% of lands and waters by 2030 reflect the urgency of reversing the climate and biodiversity crises. While communities and policy makers are calling for transportation plans that contribute to climate, conservation and other societal goals, a typical planning approach presents challenges to developing multi-benefit regional plans.
What if we planned differently? Can an “Integrated Planning” approach that utilizes natural and working lands conservation as a central strategy in transportation and land use planning achieve long-range goals, including reducing VMT and GHG emissions? The Nature Conservancy tested this theory in Merced County, California (USA) using scenario planning tools to map and measure the benefits and impacts of an Integrated Planning land use scenario compared to business as usual and adopted scenarios. We found that a planning approach that starts with conservation as the backbone can reduce VMT and GHG emissions, reduce household costs, protect groundwater, floodplains and habitat, accommodate housing needs, and more. Using an innovative Integrated Planning approach can transform the planning paradigm to help regions meet their transportation, climate, conservation, public health, housing, and other societal goals.
The podium talk will begin with the context for the work, walk through the science, methods and approach, and share the results, including the limitations and next steps.