Transportation projects are selected based on a variety of factors and considerations.

The transportation
planning process is useful when it can assist decision makers and others in the community to select a
course of action for improving transportation services. The seven-step planning process is a useful guide
for organizing the work necessary to develop a plan. The seven steps are (1) situation definition, (2)
problem definition, (3) search for solutions, (4) analysis of performance, (5) evaluation of alternatives, (6)
choice of project, and (7) specification and construction. Although the process does not produce a single
answer, it assists the transportation planner or engineer in carrying out a logical procedure that will
result in a solution to the problem. The process is also valuable as a means of describing the effects of
each course of action and for explaining to those involved how the new transportation system will
benefit the traveler and what its impacts will be on the community. The elements of the urban
transportation planning process are (1) inventory of existing travel and facilities, (2) establishment of
goals and objectives, (3) generation of alternatives, (4) estimation of project costs and travel demand, (5)
evaluation of alternatives, and (6) choice of project. An understanding of the elements of urban
transportation planning is essential to place in perspective the analytical processes for estimating travel
demand. Other elements of the transportation planning process are environmental impact statements,
geographic information systems and freight planning.

The process of forecasting travel demand is necessary to determine the number of persons or vehicles
that will use a new transportation system or component. The methods used to forecast demand include
extrapolation of past trends, elasticity of demand, and relating travel demand to socioeconomic
variables.
Urban travel demand forecasting is a complex process, because demand for urban travel is influenced by
the location and intensity of land use; the socioeconomic characteristics of the population; and the
extent, cost, and quality of transportation services. Forecasting urban travel demand involves a series of
tasks. These include population and economic analysis, land-use forecasts, trip generation, trip
distribution, mode choice, and traffic assignment. The development of computer programs to calculate
the elements within each task has greatly simplified implementation of the demand forecasting process.
The inability to foresee unexpected changes in travel trends, of course, remains a part of demand
forecasting. Travel demand forecasts are also required for completing an economic evaluation of various
system alternatives.

The evaluation process for selecting a transportation project has been described. Various methods have
been presented that, when used in the proper context, can assist a decision maker in making a selection.
The most important attribute of an evaluation method is its ability to correctly describe the outcomes of
a given alternative. The evaluation process begins with a statement of the goals and objectives of the
proposed project, and these are converted into measures of effectiveness. Evaluation methods differ by
the way in which measures of effectiveness are considered. Economic evaluation methods require that

each measure of effectiveness be converted into dollar units. Numerical ranking methods require that
each measure of effectiveness be translated to an equivalent score. Both methods produce a single
number to indicate the total worth of the project. Cost-effectiveness methods require only that each
measure of effectiveness be displayed in matrix form, and it is the task of the analysts to develop
relationships between various impacts and the costs involved. For projects with many impacts that will
influence a wide variety of individuals and groups, the evaluation process is essentially one of fact
finding, and the projects must be considered from the viewpoint of the stakeholders and community.
The reasons for selecting a project will include many factors in addition to simply how the project
performs. A decision maker must consider issues such as implementation, schedules, financing, and legal
and political matters. When a project has been completed and has been in operation for some time, a
post-evaluation can be a useful means to examine the effectiveness of the results. To conduct a post-
evaluation, it is necessary to separate the effect of the project on each measure of effectiveness from
other influencing variables. A standard procedure is the use of a control group for comparative purposes,
but this is usually not possible for most transportation projects. A typical procedure is to compare the
results with a forecast of the region without the project in place. Post-evaluations also can be used to
compare alternative modes and technologies, using a wide range of measures of effectiveness. The
usefulness of an evaluation procedure is measured by its effectiveness in assisting decision makers to
arrive at a solution that will best accomplish the intended goals.