TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
The Center seeks to develop innovative transportation infrastructure design that suuport quality growth and promote greater access for non-drivers.
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Megaregions and Transportation Planning Framework (2009) |
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This project outlines a strategy for exploring the potential of the megaregion as a value-added structure that will guide national transportation policy and investment, while explicitly addressing the relationships among demographic change, land resources, infrastructure investment, and economic development. It examines mechanisms to plan for, finance, and supply infrastructure that reinforce the competitiveness of current leading economic regions, while simultaneously linking to rural areas and under-performing regions that often experience only the negative externalities of economic growth. This research project has been designed to analyze the broad spectrum of possibilities of integrating the megaregion concept into current decision-making processes for transportation investment in the U.S. View the Megaregions and Transportation Planning project (2009) page. |
Atlanta Metropolitan Congestion Pricing Study (2008) |
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This project will provide a comprehensive examination of public perceptions and preferences regarding pricing options in metropolitan Atlanta. Results of the project will help guide the Georgia Department of Transportation and the State Road and Tollway Authority of Georgia in the siting, evaluation, and implementation of future congestion pricing strategies. |
Hospital Impacts on Community Health: A Study of Piedmont Hospital (2008) |
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Georgia Tech’s Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, with technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, assessed the public health impacts on people living and working near a large hospital. This study builds on the Atlanta BeltLine Health Impact Assessment (HIA) by focusing on Piedmont Hospital, which is located in one of the BeltLine’s key redevelopment nodes. Significant public and private investment will be targeted in this area. This Health Impact Assessment thus provides scholars and the public more information in improving public health and promoting active living in this area through redevelopment. |
City of Decatur, GA Community Transportation Plan and Rapid HIA (2007) |
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Active Living through active travel is the call to action for the City of Decatur, GA. Decatur, a city of approximately 20,000 residents located in the largely auto-oriented Atlanta metropolitan area, has chosen to take a decidedly different course than many of its neighboring cities. It has embraced the principles and research surrounding active living to develop a Community Transportation Plan. Decatur has created a new Active Living Division within the Department of Community and Economic Development. The Division will combine traditional recreation programs with quality of life programs like environmental sustainability, alternative transportation planning and efforts to encourage an active living lifestyle. The International City/County Management Association is committed to track the outcomes and community benefits of Decatur’s Active Living Division in a two-year study that will identify performance measures and best practices for other cities. |
City of Milton, GA Bike and Pedestrian Plan (2007) |
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CQGRD worked in conjunction with Georgia Tech's City and Regional Planning Program and the Center for GIS to produce a Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan for the newly established City of Milton, GA. This plan proposes a network of multiuse trails to connect Milton’s neighborhoods with its parks, schools, libraries, stores, sports facilities, and other public spaces. |
Atlanta BeltLine Health Impact Assessment (2007) |
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The Atlanta BeltLine would convert a 22-mile span of freight railway into a transit and trail loop, surrounded by parks and residential and commercial development. When we start a new development project, are we building a healthy place? How do we understand the health impacts of a new development? To answer these questions for the Atlanta BeltLine redevelopment project, CQGRD conducted a Health Impact Assessment (HIA). A HIA is a collection of procedures and tools by which projects, policies, and programs can be evaluated based on their potential effects on the health of a population and the distribution of those effects within the population. While the HIA tool is widely used abroad, the BeltLine HIA is one of the first conducted in the United States. |
Community and Environmental Scan and Assessment: Atlanta Regional Freight Mobility Plan (2007) |
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This study involves data collection via surveys and interviews of freight stakeholders, identification and assessment of existing and future freight movement, development of freight-supported land use guidelines, evaluation of environmental and social impacts related to freight movement and development of strategies, and recommendations to proactively address freight and goods movement needs and challenges in the Atlanta region. CQGRD's contribution examines five existing or emerging freight corridors designated by the Atlanta Regional Commission. The resulting study measures community and environmental impacts, both specific to certain freight areas and seen across all areas, and provides ways to best mitigate these impacts while ensuring continued freight mobility. |
Economic Diversification of Camden County, GA: Quality Growth and Development Report (2005) |
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CQGRD worked in conjunction with Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute to employ tools, such as a quality growth audit, to identify obstacles to achieving the community's vision for its future and to provide examples and recommendations which community members could use while planning for the future. This study also explored a comprehensive infrastructure management program to help manage growth in a coastal community. |
The Atlanta BeltLine: Transit Feasibility White Paper (2005) |
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The BeltLine Transit Panel was assembled by the Atlanta Development Authority (ADA) to review the studies done to date on the BeltLine project and assess and comment on the feasibility of the transit component and how it might function in relation to an integrated transit system for Central Atlanta. The end purpose of this work is to synthesize the information developed on the BeltLine for its transit potential and provide guidance and suggest principles on how the BeltLine transit might develop over time. |
Development Potential of the SR365 Corridor in Hall County, GA: A Quality Growth Study (2004) |
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This study explores transportation, green infrastructure, and livability opportunities and constraints in this rapidly growing county in northwest Georgia, between Atlanta and Chattanooga. |
Incremental Urbanism: New Models for the Redesign of America's Commercial Strips (2004) |
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One of CQGRD's first projects was to assess Buford Highway, running from the Perimeter to Midtown in Metro Atlanta, and speculate on what a better future could be. Buford Highway is one of the most dangerous corridors for pedestrians in the United States, yet it houses a diverse population that is more likely to walk for transportation. This study explore an urban retrofit by changing the strip from dangerous, dysfunctional highway to healthy, functional boulevard. |
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