Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) is now including a checklist to be used in the preparation of County-led transportation studies that are called “Operational Analyses” (OAs). The checklist is part of Fairfax County’s effort to focus on the multimodal elements that support new developments by placing greater emphasis on the analysis of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit aspects of transportation studies.
The checklist includes:
- Pedestrian Analysis items such as peak hour pedestrian counts and study intersections, pedestrian gap analyses, and photographs of substandard and missing facilities
- Bicycle Analysis items such as peak hour bicycle counts at study intersections, bicycle gap analyses, and photographs of substandard and missing facilities
- Transit Analysis items such as bus stop assessments, proximity of bus stop to the proposed site, and route frequency and headways
As FCDOT states, the checklist “will act as Phase 1 for the revamp of County led OAs to emphasize pedestrian, bicycle, and transit modes” as well as the identification of multimodal options during the development process.
The checklist is intended to be used as a “Phase 1” by transportation consultants in conducting operation analyses. The experience gained in this Phase 1 use will assist FCDOT in refining and implementing a Phase 2 checklist to create more effective multimodal facility planning.
Our traffic engineering team has been pleased to collaborate with FCDOT and VDOT on these changes to how Operational Analyses are conducted in Fairfax County.