Urban Transportation Council Green Guide for Roads Task Force TAC 2009 Annual Conference and Exhibition Vancouver

Goal The intent is to promote sustainable growth and alternative multi-modal transportation solutions within the corridor, along with safe, long lasting roadway infrastructure and green construction principles.

Approach Formed a Green Guide for Roads Task Force in August, 2008 and currently has 21 members  cross-section of TAC members with experience in planning, design, construction and maintenance of roadways Task Force identified:  13 Areas where sustainability principles can be applied  Requirements within each Area  Best Practices within each Area  Self-evaluation assessment methodology

Development Process:  Submitted a Request for Funding Proposal to UTC and TAC Board in April 2009 to hire a summer student intern. Board approved and hired a Graduate Student-Stefan Cermak, UofT, Master of Science in Planning, by end of April:  Student worked exclusively with 13 subtask groups throughout the 4 summer months and formatted areas/sections of the Guide based on inputs from subtask groups and independent research  Formed 13 Subtask Groups based on the “Areas” of the Guide identified in the next two slides and individual member’s knowledge/expertise  Each subtask group worked with Stefan Cermak and resulted with 40 + pages of Guide document produced, which becomes the Master Worksheet Templates for further development

Areas 1.Community Interface 2.Valued Environmental Components and Land Consumption 3.Mobility Choices 4.Intersections and Driveways 5.Hard Surfaces 6.Landscaping

Areas 7.Amenities 8.Drainage 9.Safety 10. Energy Consumption 11. Construction 12. Operations and Maintenance 13. Services and Utilities

Status Areas Believe list is inclusive with minimal overlap Requirements Comprehensive, but concerns about overlaps Best Practices Some concerns about potentially missing BPs Assessment Methodology Concept developed; certainly needs more work

Sample Requirements Item 3 of 13 - Mobility Choices 1.Road design considers all users - Meet long-term travel needs - Increase active transportation options - Reduce travel demand - Measure performance 2.Maximize person movement capacity - Prioritize modes on energy savings - Evaluate trade-offs between off-peak and peak needs

Sample Requirements Item 3 of 13 - Mobility Choices (2) 3.Sustainable Economics - Full cost pricing - Decrease per capita congestion costs - Increase transit affordability - Increase freight speed and reliability - Use capital investments on sustainable projects 4.Promote Pedestrian Movement - Barrier-free sidewalks - Separate pedestrians from traffic - Provide amenities

Sample Requirements Item 3 of 13 - Mobility Choices (3) 5.Promote Bicycles - Separate bicycles from peds and traffic - Improved bicycle facilities 6.Promote Transit - Transit priority - High quality transit facilities - Appropriate levels of service

Refinement and Validation Have we got all the “Areas” covered?? Do the Requirements make sense – any missing, any overlaps (double counting)?? Any Best Practices we should add??

Next Steps 1.The Task Force met F2F on October 15 and decide to recommend the following next step:  Recommend a Consultant Assignment and transfer the Guide Development to a Project Steering Committee, while exploring opportunity for the Task Force to act in a technical advisory capacity to the Steering Committee 2.Aim is to complete the Guide by September 2010 for final review and publication

Motion to UTC: To retain a consultant to transform the Green Guide for Roads Working Templates, developed by the Task Force, into a Self-evaluation Guide for an estimated cost of $100K. This represents an initial step towards the ultimate goal of developing a LEED type accreditation system.

Task Force welcomes Your Comments Please discuss with your Task Force Representative(s) THANK YOU Task Force welcomes Your Comments Please discuss with your Task Force Representative(s)