The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) held a panel discussion during its 2023 Washington Briefing on advancing transportation-efficient land use decisions. The session emphasized the importance of working closely with key land use partners, including local entities that control land use, in order to improve transportation and land use outcomes.

 

Mariia Zimmerman, strategic advisor for technical assistance and community solution at the US Department of Transportation, noted that transportation infrastructure talk is part of a larger land use discussion, and that transportation needs stronger connections to local housing and economic development goals. Zimmerman highlighted the importance of gaining a better understanding of how transportation and land use function together and understanding the impact of such projects at the individual level as well as the overall cumulative impact on a local community.

Hugh Morris, a smart growth policy representative for the National Association of Realtors, stressed that addressing and improving housing and transportation needs takes time, collaboration, and major investments. He explained that it takes a long time to change the built environment and that collaboration across the local, state, and national level where transportation and housing is so important. Morris also emphasized that moving forward to make biking and walking more viable transportation options must happen at a smaller level with a finer grain of detail.

https://aashtojournal.org/2023/03/10/where-state-dots-transportation-planning-and-land-use-intersect/