NOACA is currently undertaking the required 4 year update to the region's long range transportation plan.    The draft plan update was released on March 23, 2009 and is open for public comment until May 8, 2009, when the Board of NOACA is expected to approve the plan.   Public comments may be sent to publicinv@mpo.noaca.org.  

After the release of the draft long range transportation plan on March 23, NOACA released a subsequent memo suggesting that climate change language could be included in Goal 2 and an explanatory paragraph be added to the plan explaining how NOACA plans to address climate change.  Adding climate change to the plan was also discussed at the April 10, 2009 NOACA Board meeting. 

Adding explicit mention of climate change is a good first step.  More than 15 other MPOs (including MORPC in Columbus) already have language recognizing that climate change must be addressed in regional transportation plans.  The next step is for NOACA to better integrate specific climate change planning activities into the plan.  Public comments help shape the plan and were largely responsible for the recent AMATS reversal to include climate change in the long range transportation plan for Summit and Portgage counties.  Please consider writing a personal message to the email address above.

• NOACA Long Range Transportation Plan
• NOACA 2030 Goals
• ODOT 21st Century Task Force Report

Areas for improvement and comment:

Goal 1 
Describes the the transportation agency’s approach to sustainable development.  The plan should include language that acknowledges climate change and the effects that future carbon pricing might have on future development patterns, for example, in the cost to use and build highways.

Goal 2
NOACA has added language about climate change here.  We suggest they make this goal less vague by including language about how they plan to measure success. How will NOACA know it has a sustainable transportation system? What are the metrics?

Goal 3
What would be some measurable goals? If we think that demand-side transportation management should be a goal, then NOACA will fund a study like Boston, Charlotte and Denver’s “Measuring the air quality and transportation impacts of infill development,” which shows how standard forecasting tools can be modified to capture at least some of the transportation and air quality benefits of brownfield and infill development. For example, if just eight percent of Denver’s jobs and households were shifted over time toward 10 regional centers, congestion would be reduced by more than six percent and emissions would be reduced by about four percent.

Goal 4
Deals with having a balanced transportation system.  To have a balanced system means to prioritize shifting modes to transit, bicycles, and walking.  NOACA needs to include in this goal what our mode split is today and what's the vision for the future.   If we had a mode shift from 1 to 3% it would have a measurable impact on VMT. We need a snapshot of who is taking transit and biking and a plan for how we are going to get from .5% of trips made by bicycle today to 2 or 3 percent? NOACA’s plan needs to start the conversation around what a 2% mode shift looks like in Northeast Ohio, and help model mode-shift and demand-side management.

Goal 5
Focuses on improving transportation mobility of transportation dependent individuals. The goal can be strengthened by allowing state and local infrastructure dollars for new jobs and infrastructure and tax credits granted only with a prerequisite that ensures it provides access to public transportation.

Goal 6
States that the region will add transportation system capacity only when it promotes NOACA principles. This was the major sticking point in the debate over spending resources on another highway interchange in Avon. In the end, this goal was not upheld and the interchange is moving forward. Again, by recognizing that highway induced sprawl increases our dependence on cars and in the short term that means increasing greenhouse gas emissions, NOACA can reframe this goal in the context of the impact highway widenings and interchanges will have climate change.

Further, NOACA, by updating these goals to recognize climate change, also recognizes the findings the ODOT-led 21st century transportation priorities study. That group’s recommendations in sections A,C, D, F, I and J are specifically tailored to what MPOs like NOACA should be doing to address the climate crisis. For example, it calls for a comprehensive transit system, bicycle and pedestrian systems, better coordination with land-use and transportation plans, clean fleets, commuter trip reduction and regional MPO plans to include regional VMT goals. NOACA has made no acknowledgement of this plan. Even if it's not written into law, they're ignoring the writing on the wall. Read more.

Let's get this region proactive and leading around transportation again – don’t forget, we had one of first rail systems, an unparalleled street car system, established an inexpensive rail line from the city to the airport. We can do it again.

One quick note about more efficient vehicle fleets. A recent McKinsey & Co. report on the role of efficient vehicles in confronting climate change forecasts market penetration for plug-in electric hybrid vehicles to reach 2 to 6% of new car sales while standard hybrids will reach 18% by 2020 (in a moderately conservative scenario). In 2020 more than 50 percent of CO2 abatement potential could come from the combined impact of second generation biofuel, traffic flow, shifts to public transportation, and eco-driving measures, the report concludes. By 2030, however, improvements to vehicle fuel efficiency could account for more that 70 percent of the total reduction potential, making such improvements key to long-term abatement in the automotive sector.