Overview
The Memphis Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has been given an Honorable Mention in the 2012 Transportation Planning Excellence Awards for the 2011 Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan.
The Transportation Planning Excellence Awards Program is a biennial awards program developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and co‐sponsored by the American Planning Association. The program provides a unique opportunity to recognize and celebrate the outstanding transportation planning practices performed by planners and decision makers in communities across the country. Nominations are judged on seven criteria:
- Community, Public Involvement, and Partnerships
- Context Sensitive Solutions
- Innovation and Effectiveness
- Equity
- Implementation and Implementation Strategy
- Multimodalism
- Potential for Long‐Term Benefits
2012 Transportation Planning Excellence Awards - Honorable Mention
The Memphis MPO submitted an application for the 2011 Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan highlighting the overwhelming community participation and extensive collaboration with regional partner agencies. The intent of the Memphis MPO Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan was to identify the opportunities for enhancing bicycle and pedestrian travel within the Memphis MPO planning area and to provide recommendations for taking advantage of these opportunities. Recommendations are made at the regional as well as the local scale.
To gain insight regarding residents' attitudes towards bicycle and pedestrian travel within the Memphis MPO region, an informal bicycling and walking survey was conducted and received a total of 2,101 responses. Additionally, hundreds of citizens attended public meetings over the course of the planning process. Extensive communications between each MPO jurisdiction's planning and engineering staff and the regional transit agency was another key component of the planning process, resulting in jurisdiction-specific recommendations and maps. Understanding each jurisdiction's specific needs built upon the common regional goals and visions for enhancing bicycling and walking in the region to best address their individual concerns in a regionally-focused plan.
For more information, visit the 2012 FHWA TPEA Winners Webpage.
