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The Long Range Transportation Business
Plan establishes the vision, goals, and objectives that
guide how VTrans maintains, operates, and builds the
state's transportation system. The current
plan was adopted in 2002. It built upon the findings
and recommendations of modal
policy plans (highways, bike/pedestrian, aviation,
and transit), transportation plans completed at the
regional level, and public opinion surveys and outreach.
It refined the three major objectives of the 1995 Long
Range Plan, and emphasizes system management.
Since 2002, VTrans has continued to refine and update
its modal plans, and completed several planning efforts
that assist the Regional
Planning Commissions, the Chittenden County Metropolitan
Planning Organization (CCMPO),
and municipalities with planning and implementing transportation
projects and services. This update will incorporate
the results of these on-going planning and policy efforts.
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An overarching change since 2002 is passage
of SAFETEA-LU
[click here for
a glossary of planning terms]. SAFETEA-LU authorizes the
Federal surface transportation programs for the 5-year period
2005-2009 and includes requirements for development of statewide
long range transportation plans. The legislation emphasizes
the significance of safety and security by providing specific
planning factors for each and also requires that long range
plans promote consistency between transportation improvements
and state and local planned growth and economic development
patterns.
This update is unique because it will use "Scenario Planning".
Long term plans are often used to identify needs for one assumed
future condition. The challenge, of course, is to determine
what that future condition will be. This challenge is particularly
difficult for transportation which is affected by numerous
financial, demographic, economic, energy, social, and even
geopolitical factors and events. Scenario planning helps minimize
risk and uncertainty by recognizing that multiple futures
are possible. |
