Foursquare ITP collaborated with the Downtown Columbia Partnership (DTC) and Howard County Office of Transportation on a Downtown Columbia Transportation Demand Management Plan (TDMP) that outlined TDM requirements for development in Downtown Columbia. Envisioned as a vibrant, mixed-use, urban environment that would provide jobs, retail, and other destination uses for the 14,000-acre town, the downtown was one of the country’s first planned communities of the 1960’s. Today, Downtown Columbia is mostly an auto-oriented destination. The Downtown Columbia Master Plan provides a 30-year vision that will transform Downtown Columbia into a mixed-use center.
We developed a plan that outlined TDM requirements for future site development in Downtown Columbia. This plan provided framework for the development and monitoring of site-specific TDM plans as well as action steps by the Downtown Columbia Partnership and the Howard County Office of Transportation to successfully implement TDM measures in Downtown Columbia. To develop the plan, Foursquare ITP conducted additional outreach, including a survey and focus groups, to research and incorporate the impact of COVID-19 on travel patterns into the finalized plan. We also engaged with peer jurisdictions to understand how COVID-19 impacted their TDM initiatives and learned about how they implement TDM into the built environment beyond requirements for new construction.
In the development of the TDMP, Foursquare ITP completed a comprehensive peer review of TDM in the site-development process in four peer communities across the United States: Fairfax County, Virginia; Lexington, Massachusetts; Bloomington, Minnesota; and Boulder, Colorado. The peer review compared program structures, enforcement mechanisms and processes, ongoing funding needs, and how requirements for individual buildings are structured. Findings from the peer review informed a draft TDM for development framework recommendations that we presented in a workshop with Howard County staff.
Additional rounds of peer interviews focused on the impact of COVID-19 on TDM implementation and an exploration of how peer jurisdictions implement TDM into the development process beyond requirements for new construction. For this plan, Howard County received a “Collaboration and Cooperation” award.
Solutions and Outcomes
- Developed site-specific requirements and an implementation plan for ongoing funding and monitoring for a diverse and growing town center.
