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This second report of the Transportation and Sustainable Communities Team of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) creates a short-term strategic framework to initiate and coordinate the research agendas of Federal agencies on transportation and sustainable communities. This Agenda supports the FY 2000 President’s Budget, and lays the groundwork for longer term research programs to implement and support transportation and sustainable communities.

Based on its previous review of Federal research and other initiatives related to the sustainability of transportation, this interagency team has found that Federal activities supporting the range of sustainability issues related to transportation are fragmented, and that a more strategic interagency systems approach to transportation, sustainability, and global climate change is urgently needed to complement current vehicle technology and fuels research.

In the short term, the Team recommends a core strategy to establish technical expertise and understanding of sustainability issues within DOT. This will involve increasing involvement by DOT in sustainability issues; establishing a sustainability research agenda, including analytical case studies; and building partnerships with Federal, state, and local agencies. The Team has discussed several opportunities for funding this initiative within proposals pending under reauthorization and appropriation bills. This core strategy will also support major related Federal programs, including alternative fuels and vehicle technologies, by coordinating those activities with national transportation programs and initiatives. Once this focus is established, the Team proposes a comprehensive program that includes broader research, outreach and education. This initiative will include:

• Strategic Research: Organize a center within DOT to analyze environmental trends related to transportation, coordinate DOT research and policies related to those trends, tie these activities to the Department’s Strategic Plan, and share research information with the public and DOT’s partners and stakeholders.

• Case Studies: Support regional, state, and local analytical case studies, demonstrations, pilots, and evaluations of innovative transportation and land development strategies that ensure mobility and accessibility, while making communities more sustainable, particularly with consideration of potentially irreversible environmental effects.

• Outreach: Expand in-service and university curricula for planning and transportation professionals, develop educational materials for the general public, and disseminate findings to business and government decision makers on the roles transportation and land development play in sustainability.

A preliminary timetable is provided in Figure 1.

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Figure 1. Approximate Schedule for Transportation and Sustainable Communities Initiative Activities

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