Urban Transportation Planning since the Federal‐Aid Highway Act of 1962

Abstract

This paper reviews urban transportation planning in the United States since passage of the Federal‐Aid Highway Act of 1962. That act created the federal mandate for a continuing, comprehensive urban transportation planning process to be carried out cooperatively by state and local governments. The paper traces urban transportation planning from its rise in the 1960s, through the period of the 1970s when planning processes had to deal with greater requirements and complexity, to the 1980s when there was a shift to decentralization of decisionmaking authority from the federal government to state and local governments and the private sector. Planning processes have become more complex and sophisticated but have retained many of the earlier elements and objectives. The evolution is still continuing with the objective of improving procedures and institutions that are adapted to the needs and concerns of today's planners, citizens, and decision‐makers.