Transportation Planning
Long range transportation plans are important tools for a community to use when preparing for future growth. Staff, decision makers, and the public rely on the documents to identify the function, capacity, and location of future facilities, direct resources to transportation projects, and provide the community with the level of investment that will be needed to support anticipated development.
The Phoenix Transportation System Plan (TSP) details projects and policies that address transportation problems and needs in the City of Phoenix. Population growth and new development in recent years has led to an update of the TSP to address the transportation needs of all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers, and public transit users. This document provides a 20-year list of improvement projects and a plan for implementing the projects. The TSP has been developed in compliance with the requirements of the state Transportation Planning Rule (TPR) and to be consistent with state, regional, and local plans, including the recently adopted 2013-2038 Rogue Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization’s 2013–2038 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and Fern Valley Interchange Area Management Plan (IAMP).
Transportation Questions
Fundamentally, a Transportation System Plan (TSP) is a blueprint for biking, walking, driving, and using transit through the year 2035, because it will include plans and policies for automobiles, bikes, freight vehicles, pedestrians, and transit. The TSP is a comprehensive document containing goals, objectives, policies, projects, and implementation guidelines needed to provide mobility for all users, now and in the future. The City of Phoenix TSP integrates mobility options for all modes of travel: automobile, transit, bicycle, pedestrian, and freight movement.
The study area for the Phoenix TSP (the TSP planning area) is illustrated in Figure 2- 1 of the TSP. The TSP addresses transportation projects within the City of Phoenix and its UGB, and in those areas outside of the city limits that may be added to the UGB in the future.
The TSP policies and projects are determined by the goals and objectives developed with input from the Phoenix community. The TSP is the long-range plan to guide transportation investments within the City of Phoenix. The overall goal of the TSP is to establish a system of connected transportation facilities, services, and policies to meet long-range (20-year) local transportation needs. The TSP addresses local transportation needs with cost-effective street, transit, freight, bicycle, and pedestrian facility improvements. The plan provides a connected transportation network for residents, employers, and visitors, through a balanced system, to support livability and economic development.
This TSP offers a menu of projects that can be selected as funding sources become available or as adjacent improvements are made. As funds become available, the mode-specific planned projects can be evaluated together to assess the highest priority projects that can be completed together within the available budget.