Transportation Planning Qualifications

FHI provides comprehensive transportation planning and traffic engineering services for a wide variety of public and private sector clients including state departments of transportation, regional agencies, municipalities, corporations, institutions and developers. FHI’s planners and engineers have expertise and experience.

Transportation Planning	Traffic Analysis and Design
Regional and statewide analysis	Traffic circulation and impact analysis
Corridor studies	Traffic simulation
Transit studies	Signalization analysis
Pedestrian and bikeway planning	Parking studies
Demand modeling	Surveys and data collection
Access management	Traffic design
Freight and intermodal studies
Airport studies

 

Transportation Planning

• Regional and statewide analysis: FHI’s experience encompasses a wide range of statewide transportation planning efforts, including long range multimodal transportation policy documents, statewide highway and rail system plans, bicycle and pedestrian vision plans, air conformity plans, intermodal management studies, and freight movement plans. As a firm successfully involved in the practice of teleworking, we were also selected to carry out a regional telework analysis to determine utilization and effects. Back to top

• Corridor studies: FHI has prepared numerous roadway, transit, and multimodal corridor planning and management studies. FHI’s range of capabilities is ideally suited to the types of multifaceted planning issues that arise in corridor studies, from traffic congestion and safety to transit operations, land development issues, and the preservation or enhancement of community character. FHI has particular experience in the preparation of management plans for corridors which seek balance between traffic operations and the maintenance of community character, and is well-versed in the application of comprehensive public outreach programs for such efforts. Back to top

• Transit studies: FHI staff have considerable fixed guideway experience encompassing light and heavy rail and bus rapid transit (BRT) projects ranging from feasibility analyses into the design phase. Our Euclid Avenue Bustransit work includes station area planning, involving land use, environmental, and traffic analyses, as well as planning studies for intermodal transportation centers. FHI has prepared numerous short-range transit development programs for urban bus operations and journey-to-work efforts, and has prepared and facilitated transit and paratransit coordination plans aimed at optimizing service. We have also carried out bus rider surveys, boarding surveys, user surveys at intermodal centers, and employer, employee and human service agency surveys. Back to top

• Pedestrian and bikeway planning: FHI has carried out pedestrian and bikeway planning studies in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Connecticut. Our work has ranged from statewide bicycle and pedestrian vision planning to design-phase efforts for multi-use trail facilities. Recent work has included safe routes to school planning to develop prototypical programs for application to local schools. FHI has also conducted pedestrian and bikeway needs analyses as planning elements of larger scale transportation projects such as corridor studies and regionwide transportation strategies. Back to top

• Demand modeling: FHI is licensed in several demand forecasting packages, and FHI’s staff is proficient in using regional and sub-area network models to develop travel demand projections. Recent work included combining traffic modelling capabilities and professional judgment to determine travel growth in transportation corridors. FHI used the software program VIPER to manage, edit, and display MINUTP and TP+ models for these efforts. Back to top

• Access management: FHI has a strong capability in access management techniques to promote a safe and effective relationship between the local transportation system and its abutting land uses. Our work on access management plans includes preparation of curb cut plans and signal plans based on existing and projected development patterns. One of FHI’s specialties, which we have promoted at several national conferences, has been the crafting of municipal land use regulations to aid in the implementation of access management goals. Back to top

• Freight and intermodal studies:FHI staff have participated in a variety of specialized studies of freight movement and intermodal transfer facilities. These have included intermodal management system planning, market analysis for freight movement, railyard improvement studies, designation of freight routes, and the development of port master plans. Back to top

• Airport studies: FHI has carried out various planning studies for both international and regional airports, including traffic and environmental investigations for master plan updates and impact analyses for airport improvement projects. FHI is familiar with the Federal Aviation Administration’s NEPA guidelines, the requirements of Advisory Circulars 5050.4A, 5070.6A, and other pertinent guidelines. Back to top

Traffic Analysis and Design

• Traffic circulation and impact analysis: FHI maintains a strong staff capability in the preparation of traffic circulation studies and impact analyses with respect to capacity, safety and geometrics, placing emphasis on the identification of opportunities for impact mitigation. FHI utilizes the latest capacity analysis methodologies, including Highway Capacity Software (HCS), Signal 2000, and Synchro for intersection analysis. Our projects include analysis of downtown circulation, corridor traffic operations, and transit station area access and circulation as well as development or review of traffic impact studies for private and municipal developments. Back to top

• Traffic simulation: For corridor study and urban circulation projects, FHI has employed its expertise in simulation to evaluate traffic operations utilizing the software program, CORSIM. FHI has successfully used simulation to evaluate the interface between freeways and arterial networks as well as to assess the operational impacts of closely spaced intersections, particularly with regard to delay and queuing impacts. FHI has used CORSIM’s simulation display capabilities to better explain detailed traffic analysis results to stakeholder groups. Back to top

• Signalization analysis: FHI staff have extensive experience analyzing and optimizing timing and phasing plans for traffic signals, both at isolated intersections and within coordinated systems. FHI has utilized a variety of software tools for these analyses, including Highway Capacity Software (HCS), Signal 2000, TEAPAC, Synchro, TRANSYT-7F, and PASSER. Back to top

• Parking studies: FHI staff’s parking experience includes analyzing demand, circulation, and queuing for parking lots and decks, and providing recommendations for circulation, safety and capacity improvements. Parking issues are routinely addressed as an element of site development review, downtown circulation analyses, and urban corridor studies. FHI has also studied parking lot utilization in relation to land use and zoning, and has developed model zoning regulations to reduce adverse water quality impacts from excessive impervious surfaces. Back to top

• Surveys and data collection: FHI has carried out and analyzed the results of numerous types of transportation-related surveys, including license plate surveys, parking surveys, household travel surveys, vehicle occupancy counts, travel time and delay runs, and field inventories of roadway characteristics. FHI also coordinates and conducts traffic count programs, including manual turning movement counts and automatic traffic recorder (ATR) counts. Back to top

• Traffic design: FHI’s traffic engineers have expertise in the design of signalization, signing, and pavement markings, highway and area lighting, and the development of plans for the maintenance and protection of traffic. Back to top