Implementation
Tools and Techniques
Since 1999, the City of Houston has received
over $ 4.8 million in grants from the Federal Highway Administration
as part of the Transportation and Community and System Preservation
(TCSP) Pilot Program. The purpose of this program is to “fund
innovative projects that will increase the knowledge of the
costs and benefits of different approaches to integrating
transportation investments and strategies, community preservation,
land development patterns, and environmental quality.”
See complete information at (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tcsp/evalpln2.html#s1).
In order to share the lessons learned and experience gained,
each Phase of the Main Street Revitalization Project that
is funded by the TCSP program includes an evaluation component
that examines how well the following TCSP goals were addressed:
- Improve the efficiency of the transportation
system.
- Reduce the impacts of transportation on
the environment.
- Reduce the need for costly future public
infrastructure.
- Ensure efficient access to jobs, services
and centers of trade.
- Encourage private sector development
patterns.
Phase 1: Initial Evaluation
The City of Houston contracted with Knudson & Associates
to perform an evaluation of the Main Street Revitalization
Project covering the period between 1999 and 2000. This evaluation
focuses on a survey of public perception related to transit
in the Main Street Corridor and a case study of the Master
Plan process. To view this report click here: Evaluation
Report.
Phase 2: Long Term Evaluation
-
An innovative GIS-based Land Development Model has been developed
to assess the long-term economic, transportation and land-use
impacts resulting from the planning and implementation activities
of the Main Street Revitalization Project. This GIS-based
model tracks changes and automates analysis of on-going development
activity within the corridor. It also provides the ability
to distribute growth estimates throughout the corridor based
on regional forecasts. In addition to allowing a better understanding
of growth in the Main Street Corridor, the methodology developed
within the Land Development Model can be applied to other
parts of Houston, or other cities facing the challenges of
sprawling growth, increasing congestion and suburbanization.
To view the report related to this model click: Final
Summary Report (Phase 2).
Next steps related to the Land Development Model include:
1) continued data gathering and testing of the model outputs
2) exploration of opportunities to improve the model and
apply it in other settings around Houston.
Phase 3: Pilot Project Evaluations
–
Individual parts of the overall Main Street Revitalization
Project are being implemented through a series of Pilot Projects.
Independent evaluations that address both the planning process
and the final product related to each Pilot Project have been
carried out. The Pilot Projects for which an Evaluation has
been completed are listed below with a link to their respective
Evaluations.
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