TPO Welcomes AmeriCorps Member

Chelsea Foster was born in Indianapolis, IN, and remained there until moving to a small town in the northern part of the state to attend Goshen College. She majored in history at the small liberal arts school and also became familiar with environmentalism and sustainability. By the time she was writing her thesis on displacement caused by highway construction, Chelsea realized that many of these practices and subjects, like composting, active transportation, and environmental justice, had become passions. Chelsea’s growing interest in environmental and racial justice and the importance of those concepts in cities introduced her to urban planning. When exploring options for next steps after graduation, she learned of TPO’s AmeriCorps opening. Though she didn’t have a move to Tennessee on her radar, she knew the position was a perfect fit and was excited to be offered the spot. In her position as an AmeriCorps Member, Chelsea will manage bicycle and pedestrian counts and present information to area high school driver’s education classes and other interested groups. She will likely lean more on virtual platforms than ever before and have to find alternative ways to reach students during the pandemic. Chelsea is also looking forward to learning more about planning, getting a better understanding of the work involved in planning processes, finding opportunities for community engagement, and working with other government agencies and partnering organizations. When she isn’t in her TPO or home office, you’ll likely find Chelsea spending time outside. She loves hiking, soccer, and yoga and is excited to explore natural resources in the area. Her creative side leads her to also spend time reading, drawing, and taking photographs. We’re excited to show her what our region has to offer, and looking forward to the contributions she makes in her time with us. Welcome, Chelsea!

Input Needed for Statewide Active Transportation Plan

TDOT is developing a Statewide Active Transportation Plan this year that covers walking, bicycling, and traveling by personal mobility devices such as wheelchairs and scooters.
To participate in their Virtual Open House, visit their website to watch a brief video presentation, take a short survey online, and make comments on an interactive map between now and October 7th.

Mobility Plan 2045 Call for Projects








 

The TPO is soliciting projects for Mobility Plan 2045. We’ve notified jurisdictions within our planning area that we are accepting applications for projects to be included in the plan. All applications must be submitted by jurisdictions no later than Friday, September 4. While individuals can’t submit an application, we encourage you to reach out to your local leaders now if there is a project you think should be included. Contact us at mobility@knoxplanning.org for more information.

Traffic Crash Trends During Covid-19

Transportation staff have been tracking trends in traffic crashes and fatalities during the Covid-19 related shutdown and have continued analyzing the data as businesses and work sites gradually re-open. To no one’s surprise, there was a big drop-off in reported crashes across the region in late March and April. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a similar decline in traffic fatalities. As a result, the share of crashes resulting in one or more deaths has increased since mid-March. We’ve seen a similar trend statewide in Tennessee: traffic crashes are down from previous years, but fatalities are not. There are two additional statewide trends of note: traffic fatalities among people walking and teen drivers are up this year. In our region, the number of traffic crashes and fatalities involving people walking or bicycling have declined from previous years. More details can be found in this presentation.

Survey: Transportation Needs for Seniors, People with Disabilities, & People of Low-Income.

The survey below takes less than 10 minutes, and your input would be appreciated.  Please feel free to forward the survey to anyone you think would be interested in taking it. Take the Survey: English Spanish The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) is updating our Human Services Transportation Coordination Plan (HSTCP). The HSTCP is required for the Knoxville urbanized area and focuses on human service transportation or transportation services provided by public transit providers, human service agencies, and nonprofits that serve seniors, people with disabilities, and people of low-income. The Knoxville urbanized area consists of all of Knox, and portions of Anderson, Blount, Loudon, and Sevier Counties – including the major cities within. The main effort of the HSTCP is to identify where gaps in services exist and identify strategies to help fill those gaps. The HSTCP is used to shape transportation policy and can impact how federal and state funds are distributed in the region. If you would like to stay involved with the HSTCP update or any future public input opportunities, please share your email at the end of the survey. This is a very important survey for the Knoxville region and we greatly appreciate your participation

Mobility Plan 2045 Underway

This region’s long-range transportation plan is updated every four years. The update allows us to receive federal money for transportation projects in our region and ensures that we’re making the best long-term decisions for our residents, employers, and visitors. The update, Mobility Plan 2045, will look 25 years ahead, determining what we need to do now in anticipation of what we will need then. Our vision for the future is determined by looking at our current conditions as well as expectations for growth and infrastructure needs in the future. We currently have about 877,000 residents who call our region home. Looking ahead 25 years, we expect to add approximately 183,000 new residents, placing our region’s population at just over 1 million by 2045. While Knox County will continue to have the largest population, gaining another 95,000 residents, we also expect every county in our region to continue growing in population and employment. Our population is diverse, with people living in small towns, big cities, and rural areas, and meeting the needs of so many different groups is challenging. The plan tries to determine the best ways to continue building prosperity and maintaining a high quality of life for all those in our region by looking at several areas of interest. By digging into these topics, we will attempt to uncover ways to make our transportation system safer and more efficient, improve the health of our residents and reduce air pollution, improve links among transportation modes, infrastructure and development, and address equal access to benefits and opportunities. Those topics include: • Congestion, • Safety, • Technology, • Mobility, • Health, • Land use and development, • Environmental justice, • Equity, • Economic development, • Tourism, and • Freight and goods movement. A series of videos related to these topics is available at www.knoxmobility.org. Digging into these issues gives us a big picture look at our region, helping us prioritize transportation projects that accommodate all modes with a variety of different project types. Once these projects are identified in Mobility Plan 2045, they will start to move through the project development process. These projects can take 5, 10, or even 20 years to complete, which is why we need to start planning now. The first step in the process is to get feedback from you. That input not only guides our decision-making, but it ultimately impacts which transportation projects rise to the top of the list when it’s time to fund them. Ready to share your thoughts? Take the survey Explore the map

Designing for Traffic Safety (a PechaKucha recording)

Transportation planner Ellen Zavisca discusses how changes to the design of our streets and our vehicles can save lives and prevent unnecessary injuries. Mistakes happen, but they should not be deadly. If we take traffic violence seriously and work to reduce speeds, we can get to a place where no one suffers a life-changing injury, or worse, just trying to get from Point A to Point B.

TPO Receives Commendations from Federal Partners

The Knoxville Regional TPO successfully completed the Federal certification review of the metropolitan transportation planning and programming process. The TPO’s mission is to advise and assist our region to improve and expand transportation choices by involving citizens and decision-makers in our plans, forums, and outreach. Every four years, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) review and evaluate our planning processes to ensure that we’re meeting the federal requirements and regulations in place to help us realize that mission. The review included input and participation from TDOT, Knoxville Area Transit, TPO staff, and the public. After a three day visit from federal partners to review the work and processes of the TPO, the review team determined that all requirements for certification had been met. Beyond meeting the specified requirements, the TPO earned six commendations for exceeding expectations in certain areas: – Metropolitan Transportation Plan – Interactive Map – Air Quality & Transportation Conformity – Interagency Consultation Engagement – Public Outreach & Civil Rights – Active Knox Speaker Series – Transit Multimodal Planning – Transit Coordination – Transportation Safety Planning – Bicycle and Pedestrian Crash Analysis Future recommendations include working with federal partners to expand the performance-based planning and programming process, using Title VI data to expand outreach efforts with disadvantaged populations, working closely with FHWA and TDOT during the next congestion management process update, and updating the Regional Intelligent Transportation Systems Architecture by summer of 2021. This certification is good for four years, meaning the next certification process will take place in 2024.

Public Notice: How to Participate in the Executive Board Meeting

Instruction on how to participate in the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization Executive Board meeting and the Public Hearing on the FTA Section 5307/5339 Program of Projects The Knoxville Regional TPO Executive Board meeting on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. will be held electronically utilizing the Zoom video-conferencing platform. Included on the agenda is the Public Hearing on the proposed transit FY2020 Program of Projects. If you wish to make a public comment on any agenda item, live during the meeting, please request access by contacting Laura Edmonds at laura.edmonds@knoxplanning.org or at 865-215-2506. As part of your request please provide your full name, email address, and indicate which agenda item you wish to provide comment. Request must be submitted by 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, 2020. Once a request is received, you will be sent an email invitation that will include a Zoom link that will enable you to connect to the meeting. If you are unable to participate during the live meeting and you want to provide a public comment, you can do so in advance. Please send your comments to Laura Edmonds at the contact information above. Clearly indicate which agenda item your comment concerns and include your full name, email address. Comments received will be read into the record during the live meeting. Comments must be submitted no later than 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, 2020. If you only want to view the meeting and do not want to make a public comment, you can watch the meeting both live and recorded on YouTube below. Watch Meeting Additional information on the Program of Projects and the Public Hearing can be viewed here.