Addressing the sustainability of transportation systems is an important activity as evidenced by a growing number of initiatives around the world to define and measure sustainability in transportation planning and infrastructure provision. This paper reviews major initiatives in North America, Europe, and Oceania. The purpose is to characterize the emergent thinking on what constitutes transportation sustainability and how to measure it. While there is no standard definition for transportation system sustainability, it is largely being defined through impacts of the system on the economy, environment, and general social well-being; and measured by system effectiveness and efficiency, and the impacts of the system on the natural environment. Frameworks based on important causal relationships between infrastructure and the broader environment, infrastructure impacts on the economy, environment, and social well-being; and the relative influence of agencies over causal factors, are largely being used to devel...

As sustainable development becomes a more important objective in civil infrastructure planning and policymaking, quality of life (QOL) is an increasingly important measure to understand, characterize, and apply effectively in the search for and development of appropriate infrastructure solutions for sustainable development. This paper reviews the role of QOL in civil infrastructure decision making. It provides an overview and critique of methodological approaches to defining QOL and explains the significance of QOL in infrastructure decision making for sustainable development. Examples are used to demonstrate how infrastructure can be strategically developed or redeveloped to improve regional QOL and economic competitiveness while preserving or enhancing the natural environment. Based on the theoretical review and examination of infrastructure development examples, the writers suggest that a new paradigm that views infrastructure development as part of a sociotechnical system be considered. Such a paradig...

While there is no standard definition for sustainable transportation, several adopted definitions reflect that a sustainable transportation system should be effective and efficient in providing safe and equitable access to basic economic and social services, promote economic development and support environmental integrity. Critical priorities, standards, and constraints for attaining sustainable transportation may be different, however, in different countries depending on prevailing socioeconomic conditions and political and administrative institutions. This study develops four case studies to characterize some of the major transportation system sustainability issues in developed and developing economies. The cases demonstrate that while transportation sustainability issues revolve around similar issues, the actual process of identifying and addressing pertinent issues to promote transportation system sustainability may involve widely different priorities and constraints that should influence how standard...

The Small Business Liability and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 reflects a continuing national commitment to redevelop and return brownfields to productive use. As brownfields are being redeveloped, there are a growing number of projects where transportation has played a critical role. Through ten case studies of contemporary brownfield redevelopments, this paper discusses the roles that transportation can play in promoting brownfields redevelopment. The cases show that transportation can either hinder or drive brownfields redevelopment. While obsolete transportation infrastructure makes brownfield corridors or areas less attractive to potential developers, transportation projects strategically designed and located to improve accessibility between brownfield corridors and major economic centers tend to drive brownfields redevelopment. Such projects can be accelerated by including them in the metropolitan and state transportation improvement programs. The cases show that municipal, county, and othe...

Several state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in the United States are considering environmental issues in the early stages of the transportation planning process, recognizing that there are benefits to be gained from better decisions, reduced public controversy, and shortened times to project implementation. This paper examines the current practice of such consideration, with special emphasis on best case examples. The study was conducted through a literature review, a survey of state DOTs and MPOs, and the identification of best case examples. The findings indicate the emergence, both in the literature and in practice, of more formal recognition of the need to consider environmental factors earlier in the planning process. State DOTs and MPOs agree that air quality, land use, socio-economic, environmental justice, and community cohesion impacts are of greatest concern today, and will be so in 10 years . Different approaches for considering environmenta...

To enable systems to adapt to changing future conditions, ensuring adaptive capacity in resilience planning is critical. This paper presents an approach to evaluate the long-term benefits of adaptive resilience in infrastructure systems under future uncertainty. The methodology uses long timeframe assessment methods based on NPV and approaches to quantifying different levels of uncertainty along with multi-criteria assessment methods. The approach is demonstrated using three case studies, where investments have focused on different aspects of adaptive resilience in various infrastructure systems. The results demonstrate the increasing benefits of adaptive strategies over time with ongoing learning and the evolving nature of resilience needs. The presented approach can be used by decision-makers in multiple infrastructure sectors. A flexible approach to evaluate the long-term benefits of building adaptive capacity to enhance resilience, this methodology can be a useful tool for practitioners and policymakers to present a business case for long-term adaptive resilience investments..