Moving Communities Forward: AIA Study on Design of Transportation Projects

There are six key design strategies that can be crucial in determining whether or not a transportation project will benefit its community, according to a new federal study conducted by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and University of Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies (CTS).

The report, Moving Communities Forward, analyzes over thirty different transportation projects from every corner of the country, exploring how they impact their communities' economic progress, environmental health, public safety, level of citizen participation and overall aesthetics and livability.

The study was authorized by Congress in the 2005 transportation bill and funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

David T. Downey, Assoc. AIA, managing director of the AIA Center for Communities by Design said, "The findings show that small decisions have major effects on how a transportation project impacts its community.

In particular, it was striking to see how involving the public in a design process that incorporates all applicable disciplines - architects, engineers, planners, landscape architects, contractors, and government officials - can achieve a solution that has multiple benefits for a community."

Bob Johns, University of Minnesota CTS Director, added, "The benefits of involving multiple disciplines were evident in this research as well as in design practice. This truly was an interdisciplinary academic study, wi