Evaluation of Transportation Element from City of Tempe General 2030 - Business Plan Example

18 April Evaluation of Transportation Element from of Tempe General Plan 2030: The General Plan 2030 for the city of Tempe, Arizona identified a comprehensive and ambitious transportation plan to sustain growth and development of the local community. Currently, Tempe operates precisely under this plan. Many forward thinking and enlightening plans are introduced by this plan to take transportation among other elements to a whole new level. However, an update is required by Arizona law in the general plan every ten years (“The Current Plan”). So, the 2030 plan has only ten years to execute all functions and fulfill those promises which were originally made in the plan to common public. After that, an update will be required in the plan. Much has been written about the land use and transportation relationship in the plan. It also offers a wealth of information on using alternative and better transportation modes to sustain mobility and ensure people a higher rate of accessibility. The current plan used in Tempe, Arizona is the General Plan 2030. This plan has promised people “alternative transportation modes for sustained mobility/greater accessibility” (“The Current Plan”). An important thing worth mentioning here is that according to the General Plan 2030, Tempe is already a built-out city and the predominant land use is residential. It is claimed in the plan that Tempe’s predominant land use will remain residential which means that transportation work will progress without letting it interfere with the city’s residential density. Future growth in the area of transportation as illustrated in the 2030 plan “will occur through redevelopment and infill opportunities” (City of Tempe). This redevelopment will be based on land use policies and codes and it will concentrate on many different factors from bus pullouts to transit access to sidewalks to signalized intersections to bike lanes. Mixed-used development is one of many land use policies which will be exercised in all of seven growth areas identified in the General Plan 2030 (City of Tempe). Transportation options explicated in the General Plan 2030 happen to be quite promising as they help people to connect everywhere from Tempe whenever they desire in an almost seamless manner (“Connect to Everywhere”). This is a great advantage in a city where even a momentary disruption in transportation causes huge troubles for people. Detailed evaluation of the Tempe General Plan 2030 illustrates that it quiet satisfactorily covers what I have learned from the course. This is because transportation planning process is all about induced demand where consumption increases as supply increases. In the case of increasing traffic volumes noticed in Tempe, improvements to existing modes of transportation as illustrated by the General Plan 2030 mean improvements in capacity. Such capacity improvements by way of improving on highways and building alternatives routes cause people to depend on and benefit from these options more than would be the case if these options were not made available to people (Lee, Klein, and Camus A-1). According to Tempe’s transportation plan, a large chunk of resources is dedicated toward developing alternative transit options for many different types of trips to facilitate people more. Tempe in Motion is one such transportation program which seeks to popularize the use of alternative modes, while also maintaining “the goal of creating a livable community with a balanced transportation system” (City of Tempe). Such a system seeks to make long-range transportation planning possible in Tempe. It is also aimed to keep the people of Tempe informed and involve them in the transportation processes. Evaluation of the 2030 plan shows that it is a smart effort to glorify “Tempe’s already successful multimodal transportation program” (Cite of Tempe). From non-stop flights to Metro Rail line to bus service routes to modern bikeways, “Tempe provides a variety of options for getting around the community” (“Connect to Everywhere”). So, transportation plans engineered in response to induced traffic in Tempe have led to induced demand which is a concept I acquired from Tempe General Plan 2030 that also sits well with what I learned from my course. This also shows that the concept of induced demand makes absolute sense for the city I picked during evaluation of a general plan. More traffic choosing has resulted in Tempe as a result of more improvements in transportation means. Transportation facilities are provided and updated in general plans to sustain economic activity of a city. However, whatever capacity improvements are made in transportation in accordance with the plan tend to fill up soon usually “to the same level of congestion” (Lee, Klein, and Camus A-1). Tempe is a growing urban area and research also confirms that evidence acquired from growing urban areas seems to support this idea that demand fills capacity (Lee, Klein, and Camus A-2). People in Tempe also have demonstrated a greater interest in travel upon provision of better transportation services under the General Plan 2030. This is because better transportation modes correspondingly stimulate demand. I believe that Tempe General Plan 2030 is a quite practical idea which takes a strategic approach toward transportation matters in the city. Evaluation of the plan helps to appreciate that Tempe is not oblivious to the growing traffic problem which has created an indefinite number of obstacles in the way of people to access means of transportation. So, introduction of alternatives modes of transportation is a good step taken toward facilitating accessibility. Also, the 2030 plan is laced with logic because it does not focus on improving transit facilities or implementing new land use policies without registering public’s residential concerns first. Instead, focus is concentrated on enhancing transportation means without disturbing people in any way possible. The plan should be appreciated for being highly practical because people’s concerns and their opinions are significantly valued by it. Many development plans fail because they do not include people in the process. They try to bring improvements in different areas for betterment of people, but they do not include people as active participants in the real game. The General Plan 2030 stands distinguished in my opinion because growth areas in Tempe have been selected very strategically. It is this strategic selection of growth areas which is bound to bring the highest possible turnout in the area of transportation. Works cited: City of Tempe. Comprehensive Transportation Plan. Tempe.gov, 2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2015. City of Tempe, AZ. Connect to Everywhere from Tempe. 164.50.248.38, 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2015. ---. The Current Plan - General Plan 2030. 164.50.248.38, 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2015. Lee, Douglass B., Klein, Lisa, A., and Camus, Gregorio. “Induced Traffic and Induced Demand.” Highway Economic Requirements System - State Version Technical Guide. Ed. United States, Federal Highway Administration. DIANE Publishing, 2002. A-1-A-16. Print. Read More