Driving change: Exploring the adoption of multimodal local traffic impact assessment practices

Abstract

Local governments are increasingly recognizing the need to improve multimodal mobility. Using interviews with officials in 36 eastern US communities, we explore factors influencing the adoption of new traffic-impact-assessment (TIA) practices that support multimodal objectives. We focus on communities’ motivations and supports for multimodal-oriented practices, as well as challenges they face in adopting these practices. By examining both the prevalence of multimodal-supportive TIA practices adopted by our study communities and the motivations for and challenges to adopting these practices, we identify pathways through which transportation researchers can better support communities’ efforts to more closely align their TIA practices with desired multimodal-supportive outcomes.