Paul Horton was part of the team that developed the Sustainable Transportation Analysis and Rating System (STARS). Transportation agencies serving Portland and Eugene, Oregon; Vancouver, Washington; and Santa Cruz, California; among others, are currently using STARS to develop integrated sustainable transportation strategies. Please contact Paul for more information at paul [dot] horton [at] leighfisher [dot] com or 650.375.5356.
Taking sustainable transportation to the next level
What is sustainable transportation? Transportation planners were asked that question at the beginning of a December 2011 seminar on sustainable transportation planning hosted in the San Francisco Bay Area, in part, by LeighFisher.
Today, transportation professionals are interested in shifting transportation planning from the traditional objective of moving vehicles more efficiently to providing people with more—and better—choices. Also on their minds is finding affordable ways to reduce energy use and climate pollution. A new toolbox, the Sustainable Transportation Analysis and Rating System, is available to help communities and transportation planning agencies meet the multiple mandates of reducing carbon emissions, enhancing livability, and improving cost efficiency.
Currently being piloted in six western U.S. cities, STARS is designed to provide people with attractive, affordable, and more efficient alternatives to their automobiles through an emphasis on expanded multimodal choices, such as public transit, bicycling, and walking, as well as virtual communications and “compact community” principles. A compact community allows a person to easily walk or bike—rather than drive—to retail establishments, services, and public transit facilities. STARS also recognizes the importance of measuring carbon reductions and pursuing low carbon emission strategies, including transit-oriented land use planning and travel demand management. STARS encourages users to cost-effectively achieve these goals.
STARS is innovative, as its developers realized that the ongoing operations of a transportation project tend to have more lasting effects on a community than the construction phase. Over 95% of the greenhouse gas emissions from a typical surface transportation project are generated post-construction by everyday vehicular use, even though these emissions are not taken into account by traditional transportation planning approaches during project development. In fact, the decision regarding what to build in the first place is just as important as—if not more important than—how it is constructed. STARS integrates principles of sustainability as early as possible during the transportation planning phase, an “upstream” approach that distinguishes STARS from other rating systems centered on the design and construction phases.
STARS goes beyond simply adding “greener” features to a typical transportation planning or design process. Rather, it allows for a fundamental reevaluation of the very purpose of transportation during the planning phase. STARS users are first required to establish a clear and compelling sustainability vision for the project. STARS credits are then awarded for setting and achieving clearly stated, fully integrated goals.
Because it encourages a mix of transportation and land use strategies to meet the needs of the community regarding access to goods, services, and information, STARS helps planners develop solutions to transportation problems that might otherwise be overlooked using a traditional transportation planning approach. Ultimately, STARS provides a roadmap for planners and community leaders seeking a better way to resolve their transportation problems without the unintended consequences of sprawl, congestion, and pollution.
So, what is sustainable transportation? It’s clearly a work in progress. If you would like to learn more about STARS and sustainability principles in transportation planning, contact Paul Horton and check the news section of our website (https://www.leighfisher.com/new/news) for similar seminars we may be co-hosting in the future.
