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Listed below are examples of success stories, best practices, and/or innovative tools/approaches. This section will grow as entries are submitted or links to other sites with useful examples are provided. If you believe your agency has utilized a best practice/approach that others could learn from, please submit a short description to AASHTO (including any pertinent links) on the Share Info with AASHTO form. Please note that currently submissions are only being accepted from governmental entities.
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| National Transportation Enhancements Clearinghouse |
| Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center |
| PBIC Case Study Compendium - The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center has updated its compendium of case studies of pedestrian and bicycle projects and programs implemented by communities in the United States and abroad. The collection of brief case studies, or success stories, are categorized by the main activity involved in the community initiative: engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, planning, health promotion, and comprehensive safety initiatives.
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| Federal Highway Administration |
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Gwynns Falls Water Quality Management Plan
The Gwynns Falls Water Quality Management Plan is a joint effort of the Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management and the Baltimore City Department of Public Works. This project was the first inter-jurisdictional, regional cooperative restoration effort and initiative between the two agencies. Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) led a team of water resource engineers and environmental scientists to develop a comprehensive water quality management plan for the Gwynns Falls Watershed. The headwaters of the 171 square kilometer (66 square mile) Gwynns Falls watershed begin in Baltimore County and drain through Baltimore City, into the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River, and ultimately into the Chesapeake Bay. The goals of the water quality management plan were to identify and evaluate non-point source stormwater pollution and stream degradation; determine management measures for the reduction of non-point source pollution and reestablishment of stream stability; and provide a watershed restoration framework for Baltimore City and Baltimore County. One of the major plan components was the stream assessment. Field crews walked, collected data, and photographed over 214 kilometers (133 miles) of stream within the Gwynns Falls. The streams were divided into approximately 900 individual reaches averaging 227 meters (750 linear feet) each. The large number of reaches and data to be collected presented a unique challenge for the assessment team. The results of the field assessments were used to develop cost estimates and rankings for more than 120 projects within the watershed. Each project was ranked based on cost, water quality and habitat benefit, land availability, public acceptance, and educational opportunities. The final product is a list of management recommendations and a prioritized list of restoration projects for incorporation into the City and County's capital improvement programs.
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New Jersey Birding and Wildlife Trails Guide
New Jersey Department of Transportation funded production of New Jersey’s first Birding and Wildlife Trails guide featuring 82 wildlife-viewing locations along the Delaware Bayshore. The guide, produced by N.J. Audubon Society in collaboration with N.J. Department of Enviroment, NJDOT and the National Parks Service, is also available on line. For more information, link to New Jersey Birding & Wildlife Trails guide.
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| High Performance Infrastructure Guidelines -- Best Practices for the Public Right of Way” (2005), produced by the New York City Department of Design and Construction and the Design Trust for Public Space provides guidance on innovative sustainable environmental practices for the urban environment. It is filled with context sensitive environmental enhancing examples and guidelines relevant to transportation environmental enhancement.
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South Fork Rockfish River Restoration by Virginia DOT
A 2-mile reach of the South Fork of the Rockfish River in Nelson County, Virginia have been restored as a result of work by the Virginia Department of Transportation. Years of over-grazing and channel-straightening created an unhealthy, braided river channel and denuded, de-stabilized river banks. Instead of flowing over mid-stream rock piles and fallen trees, the river skirted around them, eroding the banks. Huge sections of banks regularly collapsed into the river. Natural pools and meanders were non-existent. What was once an eyesore is now a scenic landscape and a vastly improved riparian buffer. More than 10,000 linear feet of the South Fork have been restored (3,000 feet more than were required by regulatory agencies), and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) crews and contractors are preparing to plant 22,000 native tree seedlings along its banks. For more information on the restoration, see South Fork Rockfish River Restoration by Virginia DOT on the FHWA website.
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Center for Environmental Excellence by AASHTO
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Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration
- FHWA Environmental Excellence Awards - Categories include: Air Quality Improvement; Cultural and Historical Resources; Ecosystems, Habitat and Wildlife; Environmental Leadership; Environmental Research; Environmental Streamlining; Livable/Sustainable Communities; Non-motorized Transportation; Recycling and Reuse; Roadside Resource Management and Maintenance; Scenic Byways; and Wetlands, Watersheds and Water Quality.
- FHWA/FTA Transportation Planning Excellence Awards - The Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration created the Transportation Planning Excellence Awards in 2004 to recognize outstanding initiatives across the country to develop, plan, and implement innovative transportation planning practices. Awards are presented biennially. The awards program is cosponsored by the American Planning Association.
- FHWA Exemplary Ecosystem Initiatives
- FHWA's Keeping It Simple Website illustrates numerous "easy," complementary strategies used by transportation agencies that help make roads more wildlife friendly. It also showcases simple ways states are managing roadside habitats, minimizing highway construction's impact on sensitive species, controlling highway runoff so it doesn't pollute water and harm aquatic life and improving roadside lighting so it doesn't disrupt the flight pattern of migratory birds.
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Bats in American Bridges
Bats in American Bridges, a document produced by Bat Conservation International, presents results of field surveys conducted at 2,421 highway structures in 25 states leading to the discovery of approximately 4,250,000 bats of 24 species living in 211 highway structures. According to the document, providing bat habitat in bridges or culverts, either during initial construction or through subsequent retrofitting, is an exceptionally feasible, popular and cost effective means demonstrating a proactive commitment to the environment. Advice for incorporating bat roosts, both before and after construction, is provided. Environmental and economic benefits, impacts on structural integrity and public safety, and management of occupied structures are discussed.
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International Efforts
- England’s Highway’s Agency provides a wide range of information, which illustrates initiatives on how it cares for the environment. Procedures, manuals and video clips are available on a wide range of environmental topics, non-motorized modes (cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians) as well as an extensive downloadable library of sustainability research results on environmentally enhacing topics.
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