The Transportation Planning Division, or TPD, at the N.C. Department of Transportation works with communities, metropolitan and/or rural planning organizations to develop long-range, multimodal transportation plans.
These plans address current and future transportation needs by proposing solutions based on land use, population and employment projections while attempting to minimize impacts to the natural and human environment. TPD is also responsible for producing project-level traffic forecasts and travel demand models that provide insight into infrastructure design decisions such as determining the number of lanes required on a roadway to address future congestion and meet safe, efficient mobility standards.
Additionally, Comprehensive Transportation Plans identify and recommend proposed multimodal projects in response to anticipated growth of an area over a 25- to 30-year period. These plans evaluate various transportation modes, including airports, bicycle/pedestrian accomodations, ferries, freight, highways and public transportation.
The plans also serve as an official guide for creating well-coordinated and efficient transportation systems.
NCDOT’s planning process includes:
- Data gathering and basemap development (a visual representation of geographic features of a project)
- Working with communities to create a transportation vision, which includes goals and objectives
- Performing a needs analysis of the local transportation system
- Analyzing alternative solutions to address future demand
- Developing a draft plan
- Adopting the plan by local governments, transportation planning organizations and NCDOT
This planning process eventually becomes the blueprint for future transportation improvements that include the evolving needs of communities across the state.