In July 2004 approximately 70 people assembled in Baltimore, Maryland, to participate in the Conference on Integrating Sustainability into the Transportation Planning Process. The conference, organized and conducted by the Transportation Research Board (TRB), brought together individuals from across the transportation, energy, environmental, land use, planning, and public policy communities—at national, state, and local levels and from the public and the private sectors. The public sector was represented by officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as from state and regional organizations. Private-sector participants included members of academia, individuals from trade associations, automotive industry professionals, and consultants. Sponsored by TRB, the Federal Highway Administration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the conference was conducted under the auspices of TRB’s parent organizaton, the National Research Council (NRC). A specially appointed NRC committee developed the conference as a forum to exchange perspectives on the challenges and potential solutions to the challenges of integrating sustainability concerns into the transportation planning process. Drawing on the resource papers, presentations, and conference discussions, the conference committee evaluated the current state of the practice, considered strategies for integrating sustainability concepts into transportation planning, and identified areas for further research. (Author/publisher)
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