Long Range Transportation Plans (LRTP) are an essential element of an agency’s transportation planning process. A traditional LRTP is a 20-year planning horizon vision document that reflects the application of programmatic transportation goals to project prioritization. Transportation plans are conducted at the National, Regional, and unit level for Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs). LRTPs include financial components demonstrating how the recommended transportation plan can be implemented, identifying the public and private resources expected to be available to carry out the plan, and recommending any additional financing strategies for needed projects and programs.
Sain Associates completed the Southeast Wiregrass Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (SWAMPO) 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan earlier this year, which evaluated the future transportation needs in the Dothan region and developed project and policy recommendations to accommodate the forecast growth in the region. The long-range plan evaluated population and employment in the region which led to the development of horizon year demographic forecasts. Sain updated the base year of the travel demand model from 2010 to 2015 and the horizon year from 2040 to 2045.
Sain updated the population and employment inputs for the model as well as the highway networks to reflect recently constructed projects and account for changes in future projects between the 2040 and 2045 plans. We evaluated roadway improvements using the travel demand model, and utilized GIS to estimate transit, bicycle, and pedestrian demand. The long-range plan also incorporated a section on sustainability to address the impacts of transportation on climate change.
