Multi-Use Trail Evaluation Tool for VDOT State Trails Office

Virginia Department of Transportation's (VDOT's) new State Trails Office (STO) has requested Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC) assistance with development of a prototype tool to evaluate multi-use trail projects that apply for VDOT or other trail funding. This topic ranked first of nine in the Transportation Planning Research Advisory Committee’s spring 2023 research prioritization process. Two concerns conveyed by the STO will guide this research. First, the STO has requested a tool capable of evaluating the benefits of completing a regional network by adding trail segments, i.e., a tool capable of describing the benefit of the segment to the whole trail system. Second, the STO has a high interest in the incorporation of equity, which can entail strategic location of multi-use trails projects, special accessibility features, the provision of meaningful trail development roles to impacted stakeholders, or other factors. Qualitatively, the tool should enable STO to consistently compare proposed trail projects, and it could help to establish a future funding pipeline that enables phasing of projects. Another benefit, which may be quantifiable, is to compare the cost in person-hours of a tool-assisted comparison of trail proposals with the cost in person-hours of a manual evaluation.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $376943
• Contract Numbers:

  124251

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Virginia Transportation Research Council

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903
• Managing Organizations:

  Virginia Transportation Research Council

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903
• Project Managers:

  Moruza, Audrey

• Performing Organizations:

  Virginia Transportation Research Council

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903

  University of Virginia, Charlottesville

  Center for Transportation Studies
  P.O. Box 400742, Thornton Hall, D228
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903
• Principal Investigators:

  Moruza, Audrey

  Chen, Donna

• Start Date: 20230823
• Expected Completion Date: 20251031
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Decision making; Equity; Trails
• Identifier Terms: Virginia Department of Transportation
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01890079
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Virginia Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 124251
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 15 2023 9:58AM