Abstract

Transportation Planning in Rural Counties
Track: Transportation
Authors: Thomas McMurtry

Mostly rural counties face unique challenges dealing with transportation issues. Many rural counties deal with declining rural population, aging infrastructure, agricultural changes, limited access to services, and getting products to market. All of these effect the transportation in rural communities. I have worked closely with many rural counties to develop transportation plans that balance growing needs with dwindling resources. Even with limited resources it is important to plan for the future. The use of GIS systems enhances the ability of transportation plans to display spatial data in a format that residents can understand, which is of great value.

Many rural areas have been expanding their GIS capabilities, this enhances good planning practices to help, understand hotspots, prioritize routes, identify ways to reduce crashes, and more. These GIS enabled planning tools and exercises help in communicating important information to DOT leadership, major stakeholders, elected officials as well as the general public.