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An organization, as part of their planning and/or project development process need to be able to quickly analyze various alternatives for key specific performance measures in order to remove those alternatives which can quickly be shown as not meeting the purpose and need of the project/plan. This allows for the organization to best utilize resources to provide additional in-depth studies only for those alternatives which are viable. In cases where public meetings or workshops will be held to inform the public about the issues and policies being addressed as part of the development process, there is benefit from the inclusion of some form of sketch modeling to rapidly evaluate alternatives under consideration.
Sketch model complexity can range from a basic spreadsheet to a transportation model modified to run expeditiously enough to provide results within required time constraints. Agencies should disclose the level of detail or "capability" of the sketch model used so that stakeholder expectations will be set appropriately.
These sketch models allow the rapid input of land uses and produce rough estimates of changes for the area being analyzed, enabling the development of a range of possible scenarios capable of meeting the policy goals of the agency. The final set of alternatives can be evaluated with the official travel model and land use model, to get accurate and detailed performance measures. The best alternatives may then be included in the various planning/project documents.
Sketch models can be grouped into two categories:
A variety of quick response tools have been developed in order to respond to the question of climate change as a result of land use and/or transportation decisions. These spreadsheets vary in their complexity of inputs and can produce outputs such as vehicle miles traveled, fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and energy consumption.Outputs are often based on empirical evidence or "rule of thumb" calculations and therefore won't be as robust at dealing with circumstances that fall out of a narrow range of behavior.The specific outputs available for a particular tool are based on the inputs required and the initial purpose for constructing the spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet tools developed can have limited applicability based on the level of generalization that occurs as a trade-off for ease of inputs and quick-response.Therefore, before using a particular tool, the user should do due diligence to understand those limitations.
Examples of some spreadsheet tools under development or currently in practice follow:
Rapid Fire is a spreadsheet (Excel 2007) based sketch modeling tool developed by Calthorpe Associates as part of the "Vision California" process as funded by the California High Speed Rail Authority.The Rapid Fire model is based on empirical data and research on the impacts of land use and transportation decisions on automotive travel, emissions and land, energy and water consumption.
WAITING FOR RESPONSE FROM CONSULTANT REGARDING BACKGROUND SKETCH TOOL USED TO PRODUCE REPORT
The COMMUTER model is a spreadsheet-based computer model that estimates the travel and emissions impacts of transportation air quality programs focused on commuting. The model is particularly useful for programs such as those recognized under the EPA's Best Workplaces for Commuters and other Commuter Choice Programs.
The Guidebook Emissions Calculator consists of two Excel workbooks. Part One covers Land Use, Transit and Travel Demand Management and Part Two covers Vehicle Technology and Fuels.
For Part One, the Guidebook Emissions Calculator incorporates the rules of thumb into a VMT calculation. For Part Two, the tool is based on emissions profiles of drivers and vehicles.The calculation is not meant to give an exact estimate of the reductions from the policy measures; rather it presents an order of magnitude sense of potential emissions reductions.
The VMT Spreadsheet is a simple tool that allows analysts to estimate the green house gas (GHG) emissions of simple land use projects or plans.The trip generation rates, trip lengths, and green house gas emissions factors are based on national and regional data, which can be replaced with local data for increased accuracy.
The VMT Spreadsheet with 4D Smart Growth Adjustments is a tool that allows users to estimate the green house gas (GHG) emissions of mixed-use/smart growth projects or plans.The tool is limited to analyzing projects and plans that are larger than 200 acres in size as the 4D data is not valid for smaller projects.The trip generation rates, average 4D variables, trip lengths, and green house gas emissions factors are based on national and regional data, which can be replaced with local data for increased accuracy.
King County has developed a GHG emissions worksheet that can assist applicants in answering the SEPA checklist question relating to GHG emissions. The worksheet is available as a fill-in Excel spreadsheet or in PDF format. The SEPA GHG emissions worksheet estimates all GHG emissions that will be created over the life span of a building project. This includes emissions associated with obtaining construction materials, fuel used during construction, energy consumed during the buildings operation, and transportation by building occupants.
Sketch planning tools are more complex than those developed at the spreadsheet level. The user is required to have more detailed data at hand to provide as inputs, the amount of effort required to construct scenarios increases but with the benefit of a more accurate result and, usually, a graphical interface which allows for rapid assessment of the results.
Sketch planning tools typically rely on land use and transportation data in order to perform the assessment of impacts of various scenarios. And while the sketch planning tools are more complex than spreadsheet tools, they still don't provide the level of detailed traveler interaction with the transportation system that would result from a full transportation demand model. These tools utilize elasticities, rates, factors, or manual adjustments to account for changes in travel behavior and require the operator to have adequate knowledge to properly set these values.
Examples of specific sketch planning tools under development or currently in practice follow:
The Bay Area Simplified Simulation of Travel, Energy and Greenhouse Gases (BASTEGG) is a GIS-based tool for calculating automobile availability, vehicle usage, fuel consumption, and green house gas emissions, by each household within the San Francisco Bay Area at the neighborhood level. The BASSTEGG model is intended to be used in land use alternatives scenario testing at the regional level, and by city planners interested in the VMT and greenhouse gases produced by residents of their communities.
The Urban Footprint map-based model, currently under development, uses geographic information systems (GIS) technology to create and evaluate physical land use-transportation investment scenarios using 50 meter grid cells.Scenarios are defined through the application of "Place Types" to the environment.
Output metrics will include: land consumption; infrastructure cost (capital as well as operations and maintenance)l building energy and water consumption, cost, and associated CO2 emissions; public health impacts; vehicle miles traveled and all related fuel, GHG, and pollutant emissions; and non-auto travel mode share and other related travel metrics.
TESTER is a policy-level analytical aid that can be used by communities that lack the technical expertise and data to utilize more sophisticated and labor-intensive modeling applications.TESTER is an internet based GIS software platform that enables the evaluation of CO2 implications of large-scale land use changes.
Local Sustainability Planning Tool is a sketch planning tool that helps visualize land use strategies and see the effects of certain policy choices "on the ground."It allows the display of "instant results" estimating directional and order of magnitude VMT and GHG emission reductions as a result of land use decisions. The sketch tool is built on the existing model called Envision Tomorrow.Envision Tomorrow is a proprietary scenario planning tool developed by Fregonese Associates, which computes housing and employment density as you create land use scenarios. Based on this tool, a new computational layer called Transportation Impact Module was added, which calculates the impact of different land uses on VMT and GHG emission, among others.
Future plans for enhancement will include migrating the desktop version to a web-based product and improvements to estimate fiscal impact, water demand, energy consumption and public health indicators.
CACP 2009 is an emissions management tool that calculates and tracks emissions and reductions of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide) and criteria air pollutants (NOx, SOx, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, PM10, PM 2.5) associated with electricity, fuel use, and waste disposal.
The software is designed to help do the following:
Urbemis is designed to estimate air emissions from land use development projects. The model uses the California Air Resources Board's EMFAC2007 model for on-road vehicle emissions and the OFFROAD2007 model for off-road vehicle emissions.
PLACE3S is a web-based software application that facilitates use of the PLACE3S planning method, a kind of planning known as scenario planning. The software is a parcel-based land use/transportation planning tool with smarth-growth adjustments.
I-PLACE3S is designed to support smart growth planning in regions, cities, and communities, and to be easily accessible to planners, policymakers, citizens, and students. Together, the scenario planning method and the GIS model allow an interactive, participatory analytical process to evaluate land use planning scenarios and their impact on a community and region.
The current version I-PLACE3S is an overhaul of the PLACE3S model, which was initially developed in the early 1990s.I-PLACE3S is currently managed by SACOG, and a private company provides programming, maintenance and web hosting.
INDEX is an integrated suite of interactive GIS planning support tools for:
INDEX is designed to support the entire process of community planning and development. Applications begin with benchmark measurements of existing conditions to identify problems and opportunities that merit attention in plans. INDEX is then used to design and visualize alternative planning scenarios, analyze and score their performance, and compare and rank alternatives based on goal achievement. Once plans are adopted, INDEX supports implementation by evaluating the consistency of development proposals against plan goals. Over time, achievements can be periodically measured with progress reports.
Various sketch tools have been developed in the past to help address climate change issues. With the passage of AB 32 and SB 375 in California, there has been considerable work undertaken to develop additional sketch modeling tools to estimate mobile and stationary source emissions and natural resource utilization.While this work has produced useful tools, continued refinement and development of rapid turnaround sketch level models coupled with empirical data collection and analysis necessary to develop those models is necessary to meet the changing demands and proposed solutions to address climate change.
Rapid Fire by Calthorpe Associates
Moving Cooler by Cambridge Systematics Inc.
COMMUTER by US EPA
CCAP Transportation Emissions Guidebook Emissions Calculator by Center for Clean Air Policy
VMT Spreadsheet by Fehr and Peers
VMT Spreadsheet with Smart Growth Adjustments by Fehr and Peers
King County State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) GHG Emissions Worksheet by King County, Washington
Bay Area Simplified Simulation of Travel, Energy and Greenhouse Gases(BASSTEGG) byMetropolitan Transportation Commission
Urban Footprint by Calthorpe Associates
TESTER by Sonoma Technology, Inc.
Local Sustainability Planning Tool by Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)
Envision Tomorrow by Fregonese Associates
CACP Software 2009 by ICLEI
Urbemis by Rimpo and Associates, Inc.
PLACE3S by California Energy Commission
I-PLACE3S by Sacramento Area Council of Governments
INDEX by Criterion Planners