EVOLVING ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING RESEARCH IN NEW JERSEY

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and recent changes in the Clean Air Act have greatly affected transportation planning, particularly concerning the relationship between transportation activity and air quality. Provisions of the ISTEA legislation were intended to refocus emphasis on transportation sources of pollution because air quality improvements in metropolitan areas over the past two decades have not kept up with public and Congressional expectations. Traditionally, transportation planning had responded to localized air quality problems in congestion hot spots by enhancing highway capacity to reduce bottlenecks. But ISTEA and the Clean Air Act Amendments reflect disenchantment with supply side solutions and establish reductions in travel demand as appropriate goals for public policy. This new emphasis on the demand side reinforces the need to redesign travel demand modeling tools for evaluating alternative transportation, transit, and traffic remedies that balance the need for accessibility with environmental goals. This paper will explore the kinds of travel demand reductions being proposed, examine recent studies of the demand modeling process, and then focus on the specifics of the New Jersey context.