DOT Livability
Livability 101
Six Principles of Livability
- Provide more transportation choices to decrease household transportation costs, reduce our dependence on oil, improve air quality and promote public health.
- Expand location- and energy-efficient housing choices for people of all ages, incomes, races and ethnicities to increase mobility and lower the combined cost of housing and transportation.
- Improve economic competitiveness of neighborhoods by giving people reliable access to employment centers, educational opportunities, services and other basic needs.
- Target federal funding toward existing communities – through transit-oriented and land recycling – to revitalize communities, reduce public works costs, and safeguard rural landscapes.
- Align federal policies and funding to remove barriers to collaboration, leverage funding and increase the effectiveness of programs to plan for future growth.
- Enhance the unique characteristics of all communities by investing in healthy, safe and walkable neighborhoods, whether rural, urban or suburban.
Partnership fo Sustainable Communuties
Soon after Ray LaHood was sworn in as Secretary of Transportation, an intermodal working group was formed to start shaping the Department’s vision of Livability. Initial steps included the identification of all existing programs and authorities within the Department that already supported livability in one way or another and drafting possible changes to these programs that would allow the Department to make Livability a priority and make real improvements in the lives of American citizens.
Soon after these efforts, in June 2009, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency joined together to form the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an unprecedented agreement to coordinate federal housing, transportation and environmental investments, protect public health and the environment, promote equitable development, and help address the challenges of climate change. The three agencies are working together more closely than ever before to meet President Obama’s challenge to coordinate federal policies, programs, and resources to help urban, suburban, and rural areas and regions build more sustainable communities and make those communities the leading style of development in the United States. The agencies are working together to identify opportunities to build more sustainable communities and to remove policy or other barriers that have kept Americans from doing so.
Federal Resources for Understanding Livability
- US DOT Climate Change Clearinghouse The Transportation and Climate Change Clearinghouse is designed as a one-stop source of information on transportation and climate change issues. It includes information on greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, analytic methods and tools, GHG reduction strategies, potential impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure, and approaches for integrating climate change considerations into transportation decision making. http://climate.dot.gov/
- FTA Transit-Oriented Development Website FTA’s public webpage providing information on transit-oriented development, FTA programs and staff contacts, additional TOD resources, and outreach and training opportunities. http://www.fta.dot.gov/planning/planning_environment_6932.html
- FTA Livability Website Highlight's how FTA programs fit into the larger DOT Livability Initiative and the Federal Sustainable Communities Partnership. www.fta.dot.gov/livability
- Reconnecting America – Center for Transit Oriented Development CTOD has been funded by the federal government to serve as a national clearinghouse for best practices in TOD, and to help develop standards for TOD as well as guidance for transit system planning with the goal of maximizing ridership through planning and development. CTOD also does fee-for-service work in regions, which helps inform our nonprofit work. http://www.reconnectingamerica.org/public/tod
- Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) provides information on planning, design, engineering, encouragement, education, and enforcement topics related to pedestrians and bicyclists. PBIC is operated by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, in cooperation with the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, with funding in part under a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration through the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program. www.pedbikeinfo.org; www.walkinginfo.org; www.bicyclinginfo.org; www.pedbikeimages.org; www.apbp.org
- National Trails Training Partnership The National Trails Training Partnership (NTTP) provides information about trail-related training and resources, in partnership with many Federal and State agencies and nonprofit organizations. NTTP is operated by American Trails, with funding in part under a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration through the Recreational Trails Program. www.nttp.net
- National Transportation Enhancements Clearinghouse The National Transportation Enhancements Clearinghouse (NTEC) provides information about the Transportation Enhancement (TE) activities, including State program information and contacts, project lists, project examples, and publications. NTEC is operated by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy with funding in part under a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration through the Surface Transportation Environment and Planning Cooperative Research Program (STEP). www.enhancements.org
- Passenger Rail Programs The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) actively supports the development of the nation's intercity rail passenger system. FRA develops and implements Administration policy regarding the nation's intercity passenger rail systems and sponsors passenger rail improvements and services: http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/5
- BTS Livability Program– http://www.bts.gov/programs/livability/index.html: The BTS Livability Program Tab is accessible from a drop-down menu under the tab programs located on the BTS Home page. The Livability Program page lists numerous resources of potential interest to policy makers and transportation planners in their efforts to better understand, assess and evaluate transportation’s role in creating livable communities.
- BTS Energy and Environment Program - http://www.bts.gov/programs/energy_and_environment/index.html -The BTS Energy and Environment Program Tab is accessible from a drop-down menu under the tab programs located on the BTS Home Page. This page lists both BTS and external products, programs and resources on economic, statistical, and data analysis on issues related to energy consumption, energy intensity of transportation and the economy, greenhouse gases, and other issues related to the impact of transportation on the environment.
- MARAD Environment and Safety http://www.marad.dot.gov/environment_safety_landing_page/environment_and_safety_landing_page.htm
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LIvability and Government
