Toolbox for Regional Policy Analysis

Welcome! This is a toolbox of analytical methods for testing the regional impacts of transportation and land use policies. The toolbox is designed for use by metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), state departments of transportation (DOTs), and other analysts who wish to assess a range of impacts in regional transportation and/or land use planning. Impacts of interest may include economic development, environmental justice, accessibility, land development, wetland and habitat impacts, and other social and environmental measures associated with transportation investments and land use policies.

The toolbox includes techniques ranging from sketch-planning methods and GIS-based analyses to integrated urban models. In contrast to project-level analysis techniques, the methods are primarily designed for analyzing the impacts of a regional transportation plan, regional land use scenarios, or other policies applied on a regionwide basis. The toolbox includes two primary components:

First, a series of case studies of applications of methods. You can begin by viewing a list of case studies by impacts measured or by policy addressed.

Second, a discussion of the various types of impacts and how they relate to each other. Within this section, each impact area is discussed in more detail, including:

• An overview of what factors influence it, and how;

• Links to related case studies;

• The types of forecasting methods available, and where they have been applied; and

• Where to find additional information on forecasting methods.