Surface Transportation Policy June 24 2010 Draft for Comment

Michigan Association of Planning A Chapter of the American Planning Association Draft Surface Transportation Policy June 24, 2010 Summary and Background Transportation systems play an integral role in our communities. We depend on them to get to jobs and school, to move freight, and for recreation. They consist of roads, bridges, transit routes, walking and bicycling facilities, shipping ports, airports, rail lines, international border crossings, and intermodal facilities. Transportation systems are much more than just a means to move people and goods. These systems directly affect quality of life and economic development. Transportation systems play a significant role in a business’s decision to invest in a community. Michigan’s transportation systems have, in the past, been principally concerned with efficient movement of freight for manufactured goods. This has resulted in an extensive, high-capacity road and highway network in support of over-the-road freight and automobile traffic. The efficient movement of freight throughout our state and across our international borders is critical to the health of our economy. However, as Michigan’s economy diversifies from large-volume manufactured goods to include more low-volume specialty and technology related items and services, transportation systems must be able to meet these changing needs. A critical element to the new transportation paradigm is the ability to quickly and ...