Planning and moving about are two
inseparable companions. Think about it.
Hi, welcome to the County Seat today, I'm
Chad Booth.
I know you are all scratching your heads
thinking "what the heck is he talking
about", but ponder this When you go
anywhere you make a plan. If you go on
vacation, you plan an itinerary, if you run
errands, you plan a rout, if you take a walk
around the neighborhood, you at least give
some thought as to how you are going to
get back home.
Planning is also the key ingredient to
building systems of transportation, the
networks of airports, rail lines, bike paths,
freeways, car pool lanes, every aspect of
public moving has to start with a plan. And
in recent years, those plans have become
much more sophisticated. That is the topic
of our program today. We start our
journey today with a plan to tell you about
the history of planning. Here's Ria with the
basics.
The purpose of a road is to create a path from
point A to point B. Simple. However when it
comes to planning a road, you may start at
point a, but you never actually get to point b.
That is because point b is always changing. That
may explain why we are always re-planning our
20 year transportation plans every 4 years or so.
Before 1960 Utah officials had never thought of
the concept of Long Range Transportation
Planning. When you needed a road, you built it.
Simple. But as the Wasatch Front started to
grow rapidly, it became harder to plan out
transportation corridors let alone build them as
the valleys of northern Utah were starting to fill
in. So in the summer of 1960 The Utah
Department of Transportation and the local
elected officials along the Wasatch Front
commited to design the first Long Range
Tranportation Plan that would carry the needs
of the population to 1980.
By 1970 it was obvious that the 1960 plan
wasn't going to work, so we adopted a new plan
to take us to 1995 and which needed to be
redesigned by 1980. The 10th plan was
adopted in 2015 to get us to 2040 and the plan
to take us to 2050 should be done by next year.
So why is transportation so hard to plan for?
Well for one people don't always decide to live
where you think they are going to. At one time
it was assumed that population growth was
going to happen on the east side of the valleys
and the west sides would be agricultural. So
roads were buit in a north south pattern on the
east side. Growth changed and planning had to
adapt. Now there are more miles of East west
traffic arteries than north south. Similar things
happened in other areas of the state.
Another reason is resources. At one point gas
was cheap and abundant, now not so much.
The idea of commuting from suburbia seemed
like a good lifestyle until gas costs and traffic
congestion turned it into a nightmare.
Air quality has also had an impact on how we
move about. Road design, car design and
improvements in public transportation have
also changed how people choose get around.
When those choices change, then the planning
has to change as well.
Finally, there is population. Since 1960 we have
been adding to our population at about the rate
of one million people every twenty years. That
rate of growth is about to jump 50% between
now and 2040.
With this kind of growth more of the same will
not work to our best interest. More roads and
more cars and more commuting will have bad
consequences, yet no one wants to be forced
out of their cars, so we will have to find ways to
make alternatives a more convenient and
pleasant way to move around for it to work,
and to do that we need to keep planning. The
good thing about it is that Utah has a unique
system of planning that starts at the community
through local governments and works up.
With that effort we are able to look at all
transportation, so we can adjust the mix of bike,
pedestrian infrastructure, public, automated or
valet travel in our forward vision of the brave
new world. Perhaps even including where and
how we build in relation to where we work and
play. Chad has just the people standing by to
explore that topic. For the County Seat, I'm Ria Rossi Booth
Welcome back to The County Seat we are
talking about transportation planning and
the crystal ball that is out on the middle of
the table for our discussion. Joining us are
2 participants in the crystal ball Andrew
Gruber the Executive Director of the
Wasatch Front Regional Council, Bret
Millburn who is on the regional council and
is Commissioner from Davis County. Let's
talk about the legislature really changed
how we fund and look and build out these
organizations in the last legislative session
we have a unified plan now how is that
changing traffic planning?
That is a good question this is a topic that
impacts every Utah transportation how we
get around and its clear as you talk to folks
from other regions in the country just how
good things are here in Utah. We have a
really strong economy low un-employment and
our transportation system for the most part
is working really really well but we also
know we are the fastest growing state in
the nation we are going to add about 2
million more people by 2050 so you think
about the impact of all of those people
traveling around on our transportation
systems and the impact on traffic
congestion and on air quality and on our
quality of life. So with all that growth that
is come in we have got to make sure that
we are all working together collaboratively
to invest in our transportation system and
provide choices to people for how they get
around.
I think that is a really important part is the
choice part.
Absolutely.
There is a lot of talk about forcing people
out of their cars and that seems downright
un-American but if you can make it
appealing enough to get out of your car and
find a different way to get to work they feel
its reliable enough I think people would
voluntarily migrate without necessarily
being forced to sell their car and walk
everywhere.
I think it goes beyond just getting
somebody out of the car there are so many
other aspects that come into play when we
are talking transportation planning its
beyond the roadway or the railway or the
transit line it delves into our economic
development the infrastructure that is put
in place and helps drive the direction of
economic development and then goes even
beyond that into quality of life into
particular housing. Where people are living
a how people want to live anymore is a
driving factor in the conversation.
Do you think that as congestion grows and
not all this growth is going to come to the
Wasatch Front we are anticipating and I
guess it should be pointed out that people
think if transportation they just think of the
Wasatch Front the I15 corridor and the
traffic reports and you talk to a guy from
Garfield and he's afraid of Salt Lake County
but it really is more of that as traffic
congestion is already existing in other parts
of the state. How many MPO groups do we
have?
Metropolitan Planning Organizations there
are 4 of them in Utah so there is the
Wasatch Front Regional Council, in Salt
Lake, Davis, Weber, and Box Elder. There is
the Mountain land Association of
Governments in Utah County and the Cache
Valley MPO and the Dixie area MPO down
in St. George. So in those areas where
there is more population that is
concentrated you have these organizations
that bring together mainly the local elected
officials the county officials and the mayors
to work in conjunction with UDOT and then
the transit agencies to figure out what are
the most important plans and investments
to be made and as Commissioner Millburn
said we do that and coordinate
transportation with where people going to
live where is housing growth occurring
where are the jobs springing up and can we
coordinate those things together to be as
efficient as possible. But as you noted it
certainly not only an urban issue there are
huge transportation needs in all areas of
our state. There may not be as much
transit service in the rural areas of the state
but people are typically traveling longer
distances and one of the things that we
know all across the state is that we have to
be investing to keep our road systems and
our transit and trail systems in good shape.
So they stay in good repair.
That's right.
Utah has done a good job of staying ahead
of this curve of investing in our
transportation systems but particularly at
the local level there are challenges for cities
and counties to keep up and this is a
conversation that has to keep happening.
How do you divide the money to the guys in
San Juan County staying on top of that road
or getting that northwest corridor taken
care of in Washington county to those
people are going to be as important or
more important than the big pressure in
Utah County and Salt Lake County so how
does a little guy make sure that his interests
are protected when you are poetizing.
That's a big challenge but there are
formulas that are put into place on the
different revenue streams that are being
tapped particularly the gas tax and there is
the split between what comes to the state
and what goes to the locals and there is a
formula but which that is distributed and
this is being looked at in modified when
necessary there is also a process by
application for these funds and certain
criteria that needs to be met to fund the
project and I think even more importantly
any more is the willingness and the capacity
of the local level to participate in some of
these projects to really move them forward
and that is why these things such as
proposition one play a vital role in those
opportunities to generate some funds that
stay locally.
Another area that we need to keep looking
at is public private partnerships. How can
the private sector be involved in investing in
our transportation system like
Commissioner Millburn noted a little bit a
go if we invest in our infrastructure that
helps the economy to function so if a
business is going to be looking at where did
they local we do a great job bringing
businesses in from out of state they think
how can I locate somewhere I am going to
have good access to customers where I
have good access to workers well if we have
good transportation systems that helps the
economy thrive and helps businesses thrive
so then there is an incentive for the private
sector to be involved in helping to make
sure that our transportation system
functions well this is I think an area we are
going to be looking at more and more as
time goes on.
As you go through this planning process you
do these nice plans and think people are
going to grow here and then they don't
then what do you do. Has that happened?
I think it has happened and I think
something to consider is a plan is as only as
good as how its implemented and this is
where it gets right back to our local
communities often times and their zoning
and things of that nature on we can have a
plan and envision where things are going to
go but if at the local level we don't stick to
our zoning that allows growth within that
plan structure then we do have a sprawl
and what not.
Picking up on that Chad you mentioned that
the action that the legislature took. It was a
significant change made in the way that we
are investing in our transportation system.
SB136 which is Representative Schultz and
Senator Harper as co-sponsors made a
fundamental change to the way we are
thinking about transportation. So we have
these plans Utah is nationally known for
having a unified transportation plan that
looks out decades into the future and for
the viewers of the show all the information
about the plan is available at
unifiedplan.org. But then the question
becomes the dollars actually following what
the plan says. Are the local government and
the private land owners are they
coordinating to moving forward and
implement the plans. Well Senate Bill 136
for the first time says to the state when the
state is making its investments when UDOT
is making its decisions about how to invest
millions of dollars all around the state they
need to be thinking about local land use
and how that land use coordinates with
transportation they also need to be thinking
about economic development what kind of
investments can be made in the urban
areas and in the rural areas to bring
economic development to our state and to
coordinate that transportation
infrastructure.
As you are doing these long range plans are
you doing a chicken and egg thing saying
well we have to improve that east west
traffic around the Beaver area so they can
have the kind of economic development so
they can exploit the energy possibilities that
they have and so is that going into that kind
of planning is it that detailed?
Absolutely. Those are the mindsets which
we are all operating it cannot be linear in
thinking anymore when I say linear not just
the roadway, transit line or the trail but just
even aspects that come into play here. We
have talked about economic development,
housing, other things that all come into play
on putting that plan together.
I agree with this you say chicken and egg
and it's a great analogy because all of the
decisions around transportation, economic
development, housing, and air quality all
have to be thought of at the same time.
Simultaneous.
That's why it is also so important for local
communities including county officials,
county staff, city and other to be really
involved in this transportation process you
cannot just leave it to the transportation
folks just like the housing folks have to be
involved at the same time everybody
working together all the stakeholders
what's the vision for our community. How
do we want to grow and what's the
transportation the housing mix to bring in
that strong economic development.
Okay one question for you and a quick
answer on transportation.
About the last 12 years.
Okay how about you Andrew?
Well in Utah since 2010 but about 25 years
total.
So in transportation 20 or 12 years ago
what has surprised you both in
transportation that you were not thinking
of that happened?
You can never predict accurately what is
going to happen with technology and I will
tell you my teenage son 16 years old used
to be a rite of passage to get a drivers
license now he says I'm good Dad I'll take
Uber he is not interested in getting a drivers
license it is more convenient for him so
there is more opportunity for people to use
technology and have choices for how to get
around and we know that there is so many
changes that are coming but we don't know
exactly what those changes are going to be
and design our systems to be able to be
responsive and take advantage of those
innovations.
I would agree with Andrew there on the
technology aspect and trying to keep pace
with it but the other things that have
surprised me somewhat is just how fast our
population is growing and the interest in
being in Utah and our own internal growth
it's like on hyper speed.
It is at least 50% growth rate over what we
currently have which is already high.
Gentlemen thank you for taking the time
when we come back with The County Seat
we are going to take a look at short term
planning and find out how you participate
in it on a daily basis and how they get all
that information for those radio broadcasts
we will be right back.
Welcome back to The County Seat. One of
the things included in one of the previous
transportation plans brought about the
creation of the Utah Department of
Transportation Traffic Operations Center.
It was felt that part of keeping traffic
moving was informing the public of when it
was not, giving them the chance to plan an
alternative route to ease the congestion.
It is an impressive sight to see, as we find
out today On the Ground.
Our goal to keep Utah Moving and part of that
is our traffic management program and process
We are here in our control room at the Traffic
Operations Center and here our operators can
respond to any situation that happens on our
roads to better manage traffic it really is the
heart of UDOT
Were able to communicate with twenty
different agencies throughout the state that
helps us identify locate and respond to
incidents be it a crash lane closures or
congestion
When we get an incident called in through
anyone of the dispatches be it Utah highway
patrol Sharif or local organization we begin
looking for the incident on camera
Once the operators are able to locate the call
they will find it on camera, place it on the wall
for the rest of the operators as well as Utah
Highway Patrol dispatch upstairs to see. What
this does is it gives Utah Highway Patrol or any
of the first responders an action plan as to how
to access the incident.
We are also able to communicate with the
signals state wide, right now we have about
ninety six percent connectivity with our signals,
so if we have a crash that we are responding to
in the AM peak our signal techs are able to
assist our incident management vehicles in
getting traffic off the on ramps or off the exits
and on the on ramps in better time to avoid
delay.
We have over 1,200 traffic cameras we are able
to access all of those are in live time some of
them are accessed through a video connection
system others are accessed through a web or IP
address.
We need to make sure we are keeping up with
the need and demand we see here in the state.
As more businesses and more people move into
the state that means more people out on the
roads as well. Its important to make smart
decisions to address that growth.
I see the future of traffic management in Utah
moving toward more connectivity, not only with
vehicles but UTDOT with other dispatch centers
UDOT working with other data collectors and
everything tying in a lot more as far as
autonomous vehicles autonomous systems our
own operators be able to react in real time
much faster.
Our job is really to plan for the future of
transportation and there are some challenges
and opportunities with that because we are
going to see so much growth happen in the next
upcoming decade and we are already seeing
that growth right now and that's going to
continue over the next 30 to 35 years Utah's
population is going to double so we need to
make smart decisions and have an eye on the
future and make sure we are ready for all of
that additional growth.
We will be right back with some closing
thoughts.
Welcome back to The County Seat. What
was your takeaway from today's
conversation? Was it the need to change
our patterns of living and moving as a
society? Or thinking outside the box to
usher in new technology to solve our
problems of congestion. One could
connect the dots of forcing redistribution
and pushing future growth into our rural
communities (kind of like China's "Cultural
revolution" where the government
relocated millions out of the cities and into
rural areas). My personal thoughts are that
whatever we do it has to be market
oriented. It has to be changes in
transportation that people want to engage
in. Things that makes their lives easier and
better, rather than forced upon them. I
think there is great promise in the idea of
blending transportation to make it
spontaneous, user friendly and round the
clock which can be built on a backbone of
public transportation augmented with
market driven valet services like Uber, Lyft,
or self-serve bike rentals. This allows us to
keep our freedom and our cars, but makes
it more pleasurable to use other systems
to get around. That's my two cents worth
for the day. Hope you have enjoyed this
topic, and we hope you will share it with
your friends on social media. In fact,
would you do us a big favor and follow us
on Facebook and YouTube? That way we
can interact and you can keep up to date
on things that happen during the week.
See you next week on The County Seat.
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