Hello. This video will provide you with a brief overview of scenario planning. It will
also share some of the resources that we, the United States Department of Transportation
(D-O-T), Federal Highway Administration, (F-H-W-A), offer to agencies interested in conducting
scenario planning.
Scenario planning is a technique that helps assess and prepare for possible future conditions.
Each scenario tells a different, plausible story about the future. Using input from the
public and other stakeholders, agencies can create scenarios that incorporate a wide variety
of factors, such as housing, employment, socioeconomic trends, environmental features, vehicle miles
traveled, and others. The specific factors incorporated in scenarios will depend on what
the agency hopes to accomplish in its scenario planning effort.
By creating several different scenarios, agencies can better assess what might occur in the
future for a given region or area. As a result, agencies are able to make more informed decisions
about how to plan for the future.
F-H-W-A supports scenario planning as an enhancement of the traditional transportation planning
process. The technique can help agencies and stakeholders compare choices and consequences
to make better decisions; identify change affecting communities and regions; and better
understand the complex relationships that exist between transportation and social, environmental,
and economic factors.
We established our scenario planning program in 2004 as part of an initiative associated
with the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users.
The program is supported by F-H-W-A’s Surface Transportation Environment and Planning Cooperative
Research Program. It is also part of the Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program (T-P-C-B)
sponsored by F-H-W-A and the Federal Transit Administration (F-T-A). T-P-C-B provides information,
training, and technical assistance to transportation professionals across the Nation. More information
on T-P-C-B is available at the following Web site: www.planning.dot.gov.
F-H-W-A and F-T-A already work closely together on T-P-C-B efforts and plan to collaborate more
on scenario planning in the future. Additionally, F-H-W-A and F-T-A are working with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (E-P-A) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on
scenario planning as part of the U-S D-O-T, E-P-A, and HUD Partnership on Sustainable Communities.
As part of our program, we offer customized workshops for agencies interested in scenario
planning. Peer speakers typically attend these workshops to share lessons learned, tips,
and success factors with a host agency. We also offer biannual Webinars on a variety
of scenario planning topics and share resources, such as a scenario planning guidebook, with
agencies across the country. More information about our workshops, Webinars, and other resources
are available on our Web site at: www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/scenplan/index.htm.
The Web site includes a link to an online application
for agencies interested in applying to receive a customized scenario planning workshop or
webinar. Clicking the link will take you to the application on the T-P-C-B Web site. We encourage
interested agencies to view this Web site for more details and to apply.
The next scenes illustrate a workshop that FHWA co-sponsored in April 2011 along with
the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council, or R-T-C, located in Washington State.
The R-T-C is the metropolitan planning organization for Clark County in Vancouver, Washington
and the regional transportation planning organization for Clark, Skamania, and Klickitat Counties.
The workshop included several sessions and involved about 60 participants. Vancouver
Mayor Pro Tempore Larry Smith kicked off the workshop by welcoming participants. Dean Lookingbill,
Director of R-T-C, explained some of the key issues that Clark County is facing, the workshop’s
goals, and why R-T-C believes scenario planning can help the region. Several of our staff
then introduced scenario planning and shared examples of notable efforts from around the
country. Next, Alan Matheson, the F-H-W-A-sponsored peer speaker, talked to participants about
Envision Utah’s scenario planning efforts. Envision Utah is a nonprofit organization
that works with communities across the State of Utah to help them manage population growth.
In the afternoon, workshop participants had the opportunity to discuss how Envision Utah’s
approach might be applied to Clark County, and what Clark County could do to get started
with scenario planning. As a result of the workshop, R-T-C plans to work with community
partners to engage in scenario planning in the near future.
This video has provided a brief summary of the resources we offer to agencies interested
in scenario planning.
We remind you to visit our Web site to learn more about scenario planning resources or
to apply for a customized workshop or Webinar. The Web site also includes contact information
for technical staff involved in the program.
We look forward to hearing from you.