Transportation planning recognizes the critical links between transportation and other societal goals. Transportation planning is all about making choices and understanding the potential consequences of those choices to transportation conditions, safety, mobility, access, the economy, quality of life, environmental resource consumption, social equity, land use, urban growth, economic development, safety, and security.
INDOT understands that transportation plays a critical role in everyday life. Transportation is crucial to Indiana’s economic vitality and quality of life, which is why INDOT encourages community and stakeholder participation in its transportation investment decisions. Money spent on our state’s transportation system affects each and every one of us directly, because it affects how people, goods, and services move about in Indiana.
INDOT’s Technical Planning Section provides cooperative interaction between the public, transportation professionals, stakeholders, and decision makers. The section provides technical analysis to assist in future multi-billion dollar transportation infrastructure investment needs decisions to optimize transportation system performance; provide economic opportunities; and to improve the quality of life to residents.
Transportation Planners Are Responsible For:
- Monitoring current transportation conditions, socio-economic trends, and forecast future transportation needs
- Performing various economic impacts and corridor needs analysis on specific major new projects and construction programs
- Propose preliminary transportation improvement strategies to address state level transportation needs
- Cooperative interaction between the public, transportation professionals, stakeholders, and decision makers.
- Develop, update, and maintain the INDOT Future-Year Transportation Plan document and transportation needs
- Proposing preliminary transportation improvement strategies to address state level transportation needs
- Coordinating capital investment activities with Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), non metropolitan officials, Regional Planning Organizations (RPOs), public transit operators, and others.
- Performing Environmental Justice and Red Flag Investigation Analysis
- Preliminary Community Context Audits
- Coordinating with multimodal project development activities and programs (aviation, freight, marine ports, pedestrian trails, rail, transit, and other non-motorized forms of travel)
- Oversee work activities and programs for Rural Planning Organizations (RPOs) and MPOs
- Review local transportation plans, work programs, and transportation policies
- Perform statewide Bike & Pedestrian Program transportation planning and local coordination
- Assist in the development of various planning and corridor studies
- Support the development of transportation policies and goals
- Facilitates required transportation planning related public involvement and outreach activities
- Participate in air quality conformity, interagency consultations with various transportation partners and perform air quality conformity reviews
- Support federal initiatives such as: travel surveys, community surveys, Census Transportation Planning Package Analysis
Statewide Planning Factors Requirements:
- Development of statewide transportation plans and programs that address all areas of Indiana and encourage the continued improvement and evolution of the metropolitan and statewide transportation planning processes by MPOs, INDOT, and public transit operators
- Ensure the Planning Factors listed below are addressed in INDOT’s planning activities and programs
- Provision for the development and integrated management and operation of transportation systems and facilities (including accessible pedestrian walkways and bicycle transportation facilities) that will function as an intermodal transportation system for Indiana and an integral part of an intermodal transportation system for the United States.
- Consideration of all modes of transportation and policies in the statewide transportation plan development process
- Continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive coordinated efforts with MPOs and RPOs to the degree appropriate, based on the complexity of the transportation problems to be addressed.
Federal Planning Factors Requirements
Each state shall carry out a statewide transportation planning process that provides for consideration and implementation of projects, strategies, and services that will:
- Support the economic vitality of the United States, the states, nonmetropolitan areas, and metropolitan areas, especially by enabling global competitiveness, productivity, and efficiency
- Increase the safety of the transportation system for motorized and non-motorized users
- Increase the security of the transportation system for motorized and non‐motorized users
- Increase the accessibility and mobility of people and freight
- Protect and enhance the environment, promote energy conservation, improve the quality of life, and promote consistency between transportation improvements and state and local planned growth and economi development patterns
- Enhance the integration and connectivity of the transportation system, across and between modes throughout the state, for people and freight
- Promote efficient system management and operation
- Emphasize the preservation of the existing transportation system.
Planning Partners
The following organizations are key partners with INDOT in the long-range transportation planning process:
- Metropolitan Planning Organizations
- Rural Planning Organizations
- Local Public Agency
- Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP)
- Federal agencies:
- State agencies including:
- INDOT District Planning & Asset Management Departments
- Stakeholders & special interest groups
- Contract consultants & research groups
- INDOT Multi-Modal Departments
- INDOT Technical Modeling Team
Contact Information
Jay Mitchell, Supervisor
Technical Planning Section
Indiana Department of Transportation
100 N. Senate Ave., IGCN 955
Indianapolis, IN 46204
jmitchell@indot.in.gov