US Department of Transportation

FHWA PlanWorks: Better Planning, Better Projects

US Department of Transportation

FHWA Planworks: Better Planning, Better Projects

Visioning and Transportation

Visioning and the Decision Guide

Training Videos and Modules Training »

Reference Links

Scenario Planning Guidebook, FHWA
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/scenario_and_visualization/scenario_planning/scenario_planning_guidebook_2011/ [FHWA]
Supporting Performance-Based Planning and Programming Through Scenario Planning, FHWA
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/scenario_and_visualization/scenario_planning/scenario_planning_guidebook/index.cfm [FHWA]
Linking Community Visioning and Transportation Planning, TRB
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/exit.cfm?link=http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/166047.aspx [TRB]

Characteristics of Visioning

Use collaborative approaches to addressing interdisciplinary topics
Identify proactive, innovative, and interactive outreach techniques
Focus on community context, livability, and values
Emphasize scenario development and analysis
Expand stakeholders' sense of ownership and responsibility for implementation

Visioning is an optional public exercise where planners facilitate community stakeholders in defining their desired future, in order to inform planning and policy development. Visioning provides an opportunity for communities to establish a common foundation for a variety of community plans including, for example, land use, transportation and economic development. Using an adopted community vision as an input into transportation decision making ensures that transportation plans and projects are advancing the values and opportunities that the community supports.

When used to support transportation planning, visioning often includes scenario planning. Visioning scenarios extend beyond conventional 10-25 year planning horizons and address dynamic relationships among social, economic, educational, environmental, and technological factors, as well as mobility, accessibility, and system performance. The desired future may be illustrated in pictures or maps along with policies which can be supported by specific goals, objectives, and implementation strategies.

Visioning methods range from simple structured small group discussions to complex analyses with sophisticated renderings and extensive public engagement. A well-crafted vision relies on strong participation and genuine interaction among participants whose decisions and actions can support.

A successful outcome from visioning can improve both the quality and timeliness of transportation decision making. A vision provides the physical, economic and social context of a community's future, built on collaboration between decision makers and interested groups or individuals. Transportation decisions improve when decisions build upon the positive relationships and partnerships established by a process that is broad-based and inclusive of all of the diverse interests within a community. The result of this collaboration is agreement on the vision and a commitment to implement the vision. By considering this vision during transportation decision making, practitioners can gain local support for transportation improvements that support the desired future

Visioning can support all phases of transportation decision making. For a snapshot of the relevance of visioning to each Key Decision, roll over the Decision Guide graphic below. Click on any Key Decision to access detailed information about:

Purpose and outcomes
Partner roles
Linkages across phases
Questions to consider
Data that support the decision

Key Decisions that are grayed-out have no specific relevance to the individual application or topic area but are still accessible from this graphic.

LRP-1

Approve Scope of LRTP Process

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/LRP-1

Determine if the scope, goals, measures, and/or commitments from visioning are available and applicable.

LRP-2

Approve Vision and Goals

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/LRP-2

Evaluate if the goals and adopted future from visioning are useful to inform the transportation vision and goals.

LRP-3

Approve Evaluation Criteria, Methods and Measures

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/LRP-3

Use the goals and objectives from visioning to inform the selection of evaluation criteria and performance measures to ensure that the preferred scenario reflects the community vision.

LRP-4

Approve Transportation Deficiencies

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

LRP-5

Approve Financial Assumptions

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/LRP-5

Explore whether partner commitments in the community visioning process may be a potential revenue source for transportation improvements.

LRP-6

Approve Strategies

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/LRP-6

Review implementation strategies from the vision to enhance proposed transportation strategies.

LRP-7

Approve Plan Scenarios

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

LRP-8

Adopt Preferred Plan Scenario

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/LRP-8

Validate that the preferred scenario is supportive of the adopted future in the community vision.

LRP-9

Make Conformity Determination by MPO

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

LRP-10

Adopt LRTP by MPO

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/LRP-10

Acknowledge the adopted/consensus vision as a guiding document/resource for the adopted LRTP.

LRP-11

Make Conformity Determination

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

PRO-1

Approve Revenue Sources

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/PRO-1

Consider commitments within the visioning process to identify potential revenue sources and funding partners. Although funding for future projects may be considered, firm commitments are necessary to include these in the TIP and STIP.

PRO-2

Approve Project Cost and Revenue Allocation Approach

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

PRO-3

Approve Project List from Adopted Plan

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

PRO-4

Approve Project Prioritization

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/PRO-4

Determine if vision implementation priorities inform project prioritization or sequencing.

PRO-5

Reach Consensus on Draft TIP

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

PRO-6

Adopt TIP by MPO

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

PRO-7

Approve TIP by Governor and Incorporate into Draft STIP

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

PRO-8

Reach Consensus on Draft STIP

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

PRO-9

Approve STIP with respect to Fiscal Constraint

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

COR-1

Approve Scope of Corridor Planning Process

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/COR-1

Determine if scope, goals, measures, and/or commitments from visioning are applicable to the corridor planning scope.

COR-2

Approve Problem Statements and Opportunities

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/COR-2

Link issues and desired outcomes identified in the vision to the problems and opportunities addressed in the corridor plan.

COR-3

Approve Goals for the Corridor

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/COR-3

Consider the goals and adopted future from visioning to inform the corridor planning goals.

COR-4

Reach Consensus on Scope of Environmental Analysis

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

COR-5

Approve Evaluation Criteria, Methods and Measures

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/COR-5

Review the goals, objectives, and measures from the visioning process to inform criteria and measures.

COR-6

Approve Range of Solution Sets

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

COR-7

Adopt Preferred Solution Set

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/COR-7

Validate that the preferred solution set is supportive of the consensus vision and/or adopted future(s).

COR-8

Approve Implementation Criteria for Prioritizing Projects

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

COR-9

Adopt Priorities for Implementation

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

ENV-1

Reach Consensus on Scope of Environmental Review

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/ENV-1

Identify scope elements, goals, measures, and/or commitments from the visioning process that may be applicable to the environmental review scope.

ENV-2

Approve Notice of Intent

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

ENV-3

Approve Purpose and Need/Reach Consensus on Project Purpose

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/ENV-3

Determine how the vision problem statement, key issues, adopted future(s), goals, and guiding principles inform the project purpose and need.

ENV-4

Reach Consensus on Study Area

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

ENV-5

Approve Evaluation Criteria, Methods and Measures

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/ENV-5

Consider indicators, implementation priorities, and action steps from visioning.

ENV-6

Approve Full Range of Alternatives

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/ENV-6

Consider opportunities to address vision priorities when selecting alternatives to be carried forward.

ENV-7

Approve Alternatives to be Carried Forward

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

ENV-8

Approve Draft EIS with Conceptual Mitigation

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

ENV-9

Approve Resource Agency Public Notice

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

ENV-10

Approve Preferred Alternative / LEDPA

https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/planworkst/DecisionGuide/Step/ENV-10

Document the preferred alternative support of the adopted community vision and communicate this to stakeholders and partners.Document the preferred alternative support of the adopted community vision and communicate this to stakeholders and partners.

ENV-11

Approve Final Jurisdictional Determination

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

ENV-12

Reach Consensus on Avoidance and Minimization for the LEDPA

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

ENV-13

Approve Final EIS and Record of Decision

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

ENV-14

Render Permit Decision and Approve Avoidance and Minimization

This Key Decision is not associated with application.

The Vision Guide

The Vision Guide was developed to enhance transportation practitioners' understanding of how broad-based community visioning processes can inform decision making. It explores community visioning efforts, identifies steps and activities for engaging in visioning, and highlights the links between vision outcomes and transportation. During visioning, stakeholders and the public come to consensus on four basic questions: Where are we now? Where are we going? Where do we want to be? and How will we get there?

The Vision Guide is an interactive graphic providing access to the many activities and decisions associated with integrating community visioning into transportation planning.

Visioning Phases: The guide organizes visioning activities into three phases: Preparing, Creating, and Implementing. Click on a phase name to view an overview of what occurs within that phase.
Visioning Activities: The questions in each column link to important activities for practitioners to pursue as part of visioning. Click on a question to learn more and to access case studies illustrating the practice.
Visioning Decision Points: Vision-related approval and adoption decisions are the bold steps in the Vision Guide. These points require a decision to produce a vision outcome. Click on any of the Decision Points, to view information for these transition points.

Vision Guide Chart
Preparing the Vision Visioning Phases Preparing the Vision For the practitioner, initial preparation activities focus on developing the necessary support and institutional structure to launch and maintain a successful visioning process. Establishing this framework for action involves answering the critical questions of, “Why should a community engage in visioning? What is the purpose and focus of the vision? How will the vision be organized? and Who should be involved?” To resolve these process questions, an agency manager, or transportation planning practitioner, must reach out to stakeholders, assess existing relationships, identify key issues, secure commitments, establish an organizational structure, and develop a scope of work. To resolve these process questions, a practitioner must reach out to stakeholders, assess partnerships, identify key issues, secure commitments, establish an organizational structure, and develop a scope of work. These steps are typically undertaken in planning exercises, but may hold additional significance in an interdisciplinary, inclusive, and innovative visioning process. This phase includes organizational, managerial, and foundational activities which are the responsibility of the convening organization. The key questions to be addressed through the activities within this phase include: Why are we doing this? What has been done? What is important? What are our resources? Who will we involve and how? What is our approach?	Creating the Vision Visioning Phases Creating the Vision For the practitioner, this phase leads to the creation of the final vision products, and includes the most well known activities of conducting a vision. The critical questions that frame this phase are simple in theory, yet complex in practice. This phase is the core of a visioning process, which seeks to generate future policy direction from a shared base of understanding. Technical activities are a focus within this area and include data collection and analyses, modeling and scenario-planning techniques, and indicator development. Typically, scenario planning actions utilize early community input and descriptions of current trends, in contrast with alternative futures, to enable public comment and agreement on a preferred future. Significant stakeholder outreach and public engagement is also conducted to assess preferences and to develop consensus vision outcomes. Other actions include leadership engagement and consensus building. The end result of the activities in this phase is most often a concise statement of a preferred future, accompanied by additional products such as decision principles, descriptive maps, long-term goals and objectives, or other guidelines for implementation. The key questions to be addressed through the activities within this phase include: Where are we now? Where are we going? Where do we want to be? How will we get there?	Implementing the Vision Visioning Phases Implementing the Vision For the practitioner, this phase focuses on identifying specific actions, roles, and responsibilities to advance the vision into reality. Activities may include endorsement of the vision by elected officials and key stakeholders, or transferring vision outcomes into related planning process, or conducting outreach to significant partners to maintain the relevance and effectiveness of the vision over time. Progress made toward the vision and the status of commitments of partners and agencies is tracked and communicated to the public, as a means to demonstrate tangible outcomes. The purpose of implementation is to achieve progress in realizing the vision, but equally important is the creation of lasting structures, partnerships, and processes for continued cooperation. The key questions to be addressed through the activities within this phase include: How to realize our vision? How will we stay on track? What have we accomplished? How to maintain our vision?
Why are we doing this? What has been done? What is important? What are our resources? Who will we involve? What is our approach? Approve Scope Decision Point : Approve Scope Effectively planning visioning activities and managing the expectations of stakeholders and partners is critical to a successful process. A scope of work should establish a detailed, phased approach that allows for reassessments at critical junctures in the process. While a scope may be approved by the leadership of a sponsoring organization, it should also be clearly communicated to a broader audience to help set expectations for the vision.	Where are we now? Where are we going? Approve Goals Decision Point : Approve Goals Reaching consensus on community goals is a key milestone in a visioning process and substantially informs many future activities. Approval of goal statements by stakeholders or sponsors provides an early opportunity to establish a shared identity, to create a sense of purpose for the vision, or to identify common values. Goal statements are important outcomes that are continually transferred through the visioning process and utilized as inputs to the planning efforts of partners. Where do we want to be? How will we get there? Adopt Future(s) Decision Point : Adopt Future(s) Common to any visioning processes is the creation, selection, and recognition of a preferred future, or set of futures. This Key Decision is often accomplished first by soliciting the approval of stakeholders through involvement techniques, followed with formal adoption by leadership of the sponsoring organization or partners. It is this formal adoption step that enables transfer of the vision’s preferred future, or futures, into related strategic planning efforts.	How will we realize our vision? How will we stay on track? Approve Indicators and Commitments Decision Point : Approve Indicators and Commitments Implementation of a vision necessitates actions on a range of issues, may encompass many jurisdictions and regulatory agencies, and requires the continued involvement of many partners and stakeholders. Two critical tools for advancing implementation efforts include the application of indicators and the tracking of commitments. Reaching a point of consensus approval for either of these tools provides a framework for embarking, monitoring, measuring, communicating, and revisiting the outcomes of a visioning process. What have we accomplished? How will we maintain our vision? Adopt Update Process Decision Point : Adopt Update Process Establishing a process to revisit the vision provides an important future opportunity to readjust the vision to meet evolving priorities of the community. The final transition for any vision is the approval and adoption of a process to continually advance and maintain the relevance of the vision. An update process should establish a clear understanding of the responsibility, timeline, and scope for refreshing the vision. Vision update processes are often adopted as part of the final vision products, with the support and recognition of project partners.

Examples from Practice

Visioning can be used as an input to transportation planning in many different ways. The examples below illustrate a variety of approaches and outcomes of a visioning process. The use of scenario planning is a common feature of most.

Sustainable Choices 2040, Champaign-Urbana IL Urban Area Transportation Study (CUUATS)

CUUATS began their visioning process by statistically modelling changes in land use patterns, employment and population growth, public health, and travel demand patterns. Using the projected changes in these trends, as well as public input, CUUATS created two separate scenarios: The Traditional Development 2040 scenario, which projected developments through 2040 from historical trends, and the Sustainable Development 2040 scenario, which projected developments through 2040 based on MAP-21 performance goals and the performance goals of the region.
PlanCheyenne Reflections and Progress, Cheyenne WY MPO

Within their Transportation Master Plan, Cheyenne Area MPO included a chapter on an unconstrained "Transportation Vision Plan." The MPO divided this chapter into sections on various modal choices and addressed what projects, if funded, could reduce congestion as well as increase mobility and safety. Using a fiscally unconstrained plan, Cheyenne considered the impacts of projects that were not feasible and developed strategies to fund those projects which they determined would have the greatest impacts on the community.
Millennial Plan for 2040, Evansville, Indiana MPO

Evansville MPO held community visioning workshops in order to encourage greater public participation in developing a collective vision for their community. One of the tools used was the Boonville Downtown Revitalization Blog, which provided updates to citizens and contained a section for residents to voice their opinions and recommendations to community planners.
Vision 2050, Envision Utah

In 2014, Envision Utah conducted a values study to understand what matters most to residents of Utah. The study outcome was captured in three primary characteristics: Safe and Secure Environment, Cost of Living/Economic Opportunity, and Scenic Beauty/Outdoor Recreation. The use of scenarios and survey results, informed by the values allowed development of a vision for 2050.
Florida Transportation Plan, Florida DOT

Florida DOT based their transportation vision on five questions: Where have we been; Where are we today; Where are we going; Where do we want to go; and How do we get there. State, regional, and local agencies all attempted to answer these questions, and the general public was heavily consulted during the process. A state summit, five regional workshops, several local partner meetings, and online comment forms were all used to obtain input from the public in shaping the vision for Florida.
Imagine Hillsborough 2040 County FL MPO

Hillsborough County MPO received feedback from the community on where residents would like to see the community grow and develop over the subsequent 25-year period. Using this feedback, the Planning Commission created a heat map to illustrate the preferred course for future development.
On To 2050 Alternative Futures Engagement Summary, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP)

Public engagement for the On To 2050 plan began in April 2017. The focus was to "stress-test" assumptions about trends that may shape the future of the CMAP region. A robust set of strategies was used for this engagement and a wide variety of stakeholder were engaged. This information will inform the ongoing development of the ON TO 2050 plan.
Vision 2040,Puget Sound Regional Council, Seattle, Washington

Puget Sound Regional Council considered six major policy areas in developing their vision for the region: environment, development patterns, housing, economy, transportation, and public services. By understanding the impacts of a project to all of these areas, the agency was able to integrate land use, economic, and transportation decisions in a manner that supports environmental health, addresses challenges associated with climate change, strives to achieve social equity, and attends to the needs of future generations.

US Department of Transportation

FHWA Planworks: Better Planning, Better Projects

Visioning and Transportation

Visioning and the Decision Guide

Long Range Transportation Planning

Programming

Corridor Planning

Environmental Review/NEPA Merged with Permitting

The Vision Guide

Examples from Practice