This report is the companion piece to NCHRP Report 217, "The No-Action Alternative--Impact Assessment Guidelines." That report defines the transportation planning and impact assessment process showing how the no-action alternative can provide a benchmark for the assessment of impacts and the evaluation of project alternatives. This report documents the research methods, procedures, and findings that led to the policy and procedural recommendations set forth in the guidelines. This report will be of special interest to agency administrators, project managers, and impact analysts responsible for project-level planning and impact assessment; it deals with both highway and transit projects. Although the work is oriented toward transportation planning, the research results can be readily applied by state, metropolitan, and local planning organizations to other types of development projects. (Author/publisher)
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