Case Study:

Albany, New York

Application

Findings

Some of the findings resulting from the CDTC land use modeling exercise include:

• Overall, it would be relatively difficult to change general regional patterns of development, since a relatively small amount of growth is expected in housing and employment. (This finding results at least partially from CDTC's decision to model only incremental changes in land development.)
• Any policy toward encouraging a less dispersed regional settlement pattern would need to rely on factors in addition to congestion, since the effects of congestion alone are relatively small. The accessibility of locations is relatively high throughout the CDTC urbanized area, so the time advantage of any one location does not provide an overwhelming advantage.
• To the extent that congestion does have an effect, countervailing forces appear to result. While outlying areas may become more distant and thus less desirable, central cities may also be hurt through reduced accessibility. The model suggests that congestion may encourage higher densities of housing in more central locations (Figure 3) but may also encourage employment to decentralize (Figure 4).

Figure 3. Growth in Households, 1990 - 2015

Source: Capital District Transportation Commission, 1995.

Figure 4. Growth in Employment, 1990 - 2015

Source: Capital District Transportation Commission, 1995.

• The impacts of encouraging urban reinvestment would be significantly positive for the transportation system (Figure 5). Benefits would be realized in a number of measures, including highway and transit accessibility, VMT, person-hours of delay, and transit and non-motorized travel. The greatest benefits would be to the inner suburban towns. Although congestion would increase slightly in central cities, this increase would be small compared to the decrease in congestion in the inner suburbs. Outer suburbs would also experience a reduction in congestion.

Figure 5. Effects of Urban Reinvestment

• Traffic congestion and delay could also be reduced by locating new development in areas where excess highway capacity exists, away from critical congestion corridors.

Based on its discussion of transportation and land use issues, the Demographic, Land Use, and Growth Futures Task Force developed a number of planning and investment principles for the region. It further recommended a number of actions consistent with these principles. Some of these recommendations included establishing an urban service area; providing funding and staff participation in community-based, corridor-level land use/transportation plans; and surveying industries to determine the impacts of transportation on location decisions. The results of the CDTC Land Use Model assisted the task force in identifying the potential impacts of many of its recommended actions and helped the task force make more informed decisions.

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