2006 Transportation Planning Excellence Awards

The 2006 Transportation Planning Excellence Awards were presented on July 9, 2006, at the Transportation Research Board's summer meeting in La Jolla, California. Inaugurated in 2004, this biennial awards program is sponsored by the American Planning Association, Federal Highway Administration, and Federal Transit Administration.

The awards program recognizes innovative transportation planning practices across the country. More than 100 submissions were received in 12 categories. Criteria for selection included innovation, community and public involvement, partnerships and collaboration, multi-modalism, equity, sustainability; demonstrated results and replication; and evaluation. Awards were not given in all categories.

Representing APA on the awards jury was Whit Blanton, AICP, Vice President of Renaissance Planning Group in Orlando, Florida, and former chair of the Transportation Planning Division. Presenting the awards on behalf of the sponsors were Cynthia Burbank, Associate Administrator for Planning, Environment and Realty, FHWA; Charles Goodman, Director, Office of Systems Planning, FTA; and APA Board Member Jeffrey Lambert, AICP. In the photo at left, APA Board Member Jeffrey Lambert, AICP (second from right), joins FTA and FHWA officials in presenting the award to Tom Thomson, AICP, Executive Director of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission.

Eleven projects received Transportation Planning Excellence Awards, and seven projects were selected for Honorable Mention. For more information, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/tpea/awards2006.htm.

Award Winners

ADOT Tribal Strategic Partnering Team
Arizona Department of Transportation, Phoenix

Connecting Savannah: Moving People – Making Neighborhoods
Chatham Urban Transportation Study, Savannah, Georgia

PlanCheyenne
Cheyenne (Wyoming) Metropolitan Planning Organization

Metro Vision 2030 Planning and Implementation Program
Denver Regional Council of Governments

Sociocultural Effects Evaluation Handbook
Florida Department of Transportation, Tallahassee

Regional Transportation Plan
Maricopa Association of Governments, Phoenix

Bringing Context Sensitive Design to Massachusetts Roads
Massachusetts Highway Department, Boston

Mobility for the Next Generation: Transportation 2030 Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area and Transit Oriented Development Policy for Regional Transit Extensions
Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Oakland, California

Minnesota Performance-based Statewide and District Transportation Plans and Minnesota Statewide Freight Plan
Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Paul and Mendota Heights

NJDOT Smart Transportation
New Jersey Department of Transportation, Trenton

New York Best Practice Model
New York Metropolitan Transportation Council, New York City

Honorable Mention

Transportation Tomorrow 2030 – Placemaking for Prosperity
Binghamton (New York) Metropolitan Transportation Study – MPO for the Binghamton Area

Citylink
Coeur d'Alene Tribe, Plummer, Idaho

I-40/Coors Design-Build Reconstruction Project: Aesthetics Public Involvement Program
New Mexico Department of Transportation, Albuquerque

H-GAC Pedestrian-Bicyclist Special Districts Program
Houston-Galveston (Texas) Area Council

Michigan Travel Counts Household Travel Survey
Michigan Department of Transportation, Lansing

Spartanburg Walkable Community Workshop Series
Spartanburg (South Carolina) Area Transportation Study

Washington Transportation Plan 2005 Update: Moving Freight
Washington State Department of Transportation, Seattle