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Federal Transit Administrator (FTA) Peter Rogoff presented the Outstanding Achievement Award for Excellence in Environmental Document Preparation to transit agencies and their partners for creating environmental documents that are clear, concise, accessible to the public and consistent with environmental laws and regulations.
Well managed environmental reviews and documents offer critical support for public transportation projects that improve peoples' lives. This award recognizes top performers for their diligence in this area.
Among the six nominations received, two were selected and honored at the 2009 APTA Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida held October 4th–7th.
This year's recipients are:
Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Parsons Transportation Group for the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Northwest Corridor LRT Line to Irving / Dallas Fort Worth Airport
Steve Salin, Vice President of Rail Planning at Dallas Area Rapid Transit, (representing John Hoppie, DART's Project Planning Manager) accepted the award on behalf of DART. Rod Kelly, Project Manager accepted the award on behalf of Parsons Transportation Group.
The FEIS limits descriptive material that has no bearing on environmental effects. It uses appropriate maps, aerial photographs and graphics that have a consistent look and feel making it easy for decision makers and the public to understand them. The document does not include additional Plan and Profile Drawings. Rather, these materials are available in a separate document, thus reducing the paperwork burden and making for an overall less cumbersome volume.
DART is proposing a 9.3-mile light rail transit extension of the "Orange Line" that would extend northwest through Irving to Belt Line Road and Valley View Lane near Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The project will connect one of North Central Texas's densest employment centers to the regional DART transit system and vastly expand access to the area.
Valley Regional Transit and URS Portland, Oregon for the Environmental Assessment for the Downtown Boise Multimodal Center
Kelli Fairless, Executive Director for Valley Regional Transit accepted the award on behalf of VRT. Bob Post, Consultant Team Project Manager accepted the award on behalf of URS Portland, Oregon.
The EA has an easy to read fact-sheet that presents a clear, concise, readable overview for decision makers and the public to understand what the project is about and how to get involved. Conceptual illustrations of the proposed multimodal center and the joint development project show how the physical design will look in three-dimension and provide the public with a tangible feel for how the facility will fit into the urban look and feel. The selective use of illustrations, contextual maps, and tables successfully convey the project's design. A side-by-side comparison of alternatives provides a great visual aid.
VRT is proposing a Downtown Multimodal Center that will consolidate local and regional transit services and other transportation functions in a single location, and provide user-friendly transitions among public transit services, walking, bicycling and other transportation modes. It will serve as a gateway downtown for commuters, tourists and visitors and as a catalyst for implementing broader downtown land-use and economic development goals.
More Information
FTA honored three transit organizations last year for demonstrating FTA best practices for environmental documents.
For more information about the application process and winning environmental documents refer to:http://www.fta.dot.gov/planning/environment/planning_environment_8191.html
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