Federal Agencies Name CHCNGA-TPO National Transportation Planning Excellence Award Winner

Federal Highway Administration
14 July 2015

FHWA 50-15
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Contact: Nicole Jones / Doug Hecox
Tel: 202-366-0660

Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration Announce Year's Best

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today jointly announced the Chattanooga-Hamilton County/North Georgia Transportation Planning Organization (CHCNGA-TPO) as one of this year’s eight Transportation Planning Excellence Award (TPEA) recipients. It is the CHCNGA-TPO’s first TPEA.

“Building a world-class transportation system doesn’t happen overnight, and never by accident,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “These awards recognize the critical role planning plays in meeting America’s future transportation challenges.”

CHCNGA-TPO was recognized for its 2040 Regional Transportation Plan, a $78 million effort to improve local transportation over the next 25 years. The plan, which doubles bike and pedestrian funding while increasing roadway and transit capacity, represents the kind of long-term planning needed nationwide to help local and state officials make the most of increasingly limited state and federal funds.

“Good projects are the result of good planning,” said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Gregory Nadeau. “A disciplined, long-term vision of the state’s transportation needs in the coming decades is not just good government – it is smart government.”

Selected by an independent panel, the awards are a biennial recognition by the FHWA and FTA of outstanding transportation planning practices performed by planners and decision makers in communities across the country.

This year, eight winners were selected of 35 TPEA submissions from around the nation. Criteria for selection included: community, public involvement and partnerships; context sensitive solutions; innovation and effectiveness; equity; implementation and strategy; multi-modalism; and potential for long-term benefits.

“It’s important to recognize the creative efforts of the nation’s transportation planners,” said Acting Federal Transit Administrator Therese W. McMillan. “The future of our infrastructure system begins with their vision.”

This year’s other winners include:

4th Street/Prater Way Bus RAPID Transit Project
Awardee: Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County, Nev.
Category: Planning and Environmental Linkages for Livability, Sustainability and Public Health

Bus Stop Accessibility Study
Awardee: Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission
Category: Modeling and Technology Applications
Asset Management
Transportation, Land-Use, Freight and Operations Planning Linkages

Humanizing Infrastructure: Design for the Replacement of I-95
Awardee: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 6
Categories: Public and Educational Planning, Training, and Outreach
Planning and Environmental Linkages for Livability, Sustainability and Public Health

Minnesota State Highway Investment Plan (MnSHIP)
Awardee: Minnesota Department of Transportation
Categories: Public and Educational Planning, Training and Outreach
Asset Management

Mt. Hood Multimodal Transportation Plan
Awardee: Oregon Department of Transportation
Category: Emergency and Safety Planning
Public and Educational Planning, Training and Outreach
Rural, Small, Regional and Tribal Community Planning

Moving Forward Updated 2035 Regional Transportation Plan
Awardee: Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments
Categories: Planning and Environmental Linkages for Livability, Sustainability and Public Health
Asset Management

Project Connect North Corridor: Taking Transit Where No Transit Has Gone Before!
Awardee: Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Texas
Category: Public and Educational Planning, Training, and Outreach

Additional information about the 2015 TPEA recipients can be found at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/tpea/2015/