Transportation is getting worse and costing more. We have to do better. This course shows you how.
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About the Course
Transportation investments have shaped our communities for many generations, both expanding and limiting our options with each investment decision.
Today, most local governments struggle to provide adequate investments in transportation, to maintain their basic systems, and to respond to growing demands.
A Strong Towns approach guides a community in making productive transportation investments with limited available resources. We go beyond simply transportation spending to align systems of growth and development with transportation policies. In this course, we will examine:
• The forces that have shaped local government transportation investments
• How to balance maintenance needs with other investment opportunities
• The difference between a road and a street, and why It matters
• How to understand and properly respond to traffic congestion.
• The role of safety in a transportation system
• The proper use of standards and codes for building transportation systems.
• The role of biking and walking in building a productive place
• The role of transit in building a Strong Town.
Participants in this course will develop a plan for local action that they can begin implementing immediately.
This course is worth 9 AICP continuing education credits.
Interested in purchasing multiple licenses for this course? Learn about group discounts here.
Course Curriculum
- Lesson 1: From Cart Paths to Highways (6:00)
- Lesson 2: From Highways to Interstates (5:47)
- Lesson 3: To go around or go through? (5:45)
- Lesson 4: Setting Local Standards (7:57)
- Lesson 5: Standards as Gospel (6:02)
- Lesson 6: Embedded Values of Traffic Engineering (5:36)
- Lesson 7: Deciding Who Decides (3:30)
- Preparing Your Plan and Additional Resources
- Lesson 12: What is forgiving design and where did it come from? (7:09)
- Lesson 13: Forgiving design in a code book (7:16)
- Lesson 14: Forgiving design in action (7:33)
- Lesson 15: The relationship between forgiving design and speed (4:07)
- Lesson 16: Whose mistakes are forgiven on roads and streets (6:57)
- Preparing Your Plan and Additional Resources
- Lesson 17: What makes a good road? (4:52)
- Lesson 18: How to identify the most critical roads (5:15)
- Lesson 19: How accesses damage roads (8:52)
- Lesson 20: Warrants and how they are used on roads (8:56)
- Lesson 21: Level of Service (5:02)
- Lesson 22: Understanding the 85% speed (7:44)
- Lesson 23: Stroad to Road conversion (7:09)
- Preparing Your Plan and Additional Resources
- Lesson 24: Street Design: An Art, Not a Science (6:16)
- Lesson 25: What does it mean to build wealth? (5:22)
- Lesson 26: Boosting Your Return - Solving the Chicken/Egg Problem (6:28)
- Lesson 27: Boosting Your Return - Building Adjacent Wealth (5:17)
- Lesson 28: People: The Indicator Species of Success (6:34)
- Lesson 29: Establishing a Street Design Team (6:52)
- Lesson 30: Street Design Process (6:05)
- Lesson 31: Stroad to Street Conversion (4:56)
- Lesson 32: In Focus - Moving Curbs (2:59)
- Lesson 33: In Focus - Curb Cuts (2:32)
- Lesson 34: In Focus - Turn Lanes (3:32)
- Lesson 35: In Focus - Center Lanes (4:00)
- Lesson 36: Responding to Speeding (7:29)
- Lesson 37: Incorporating Public Safety (6:59)
- Lesson 38: Iterating Our Way To Safety (8:19)
- Lesson 39: Complete Streets (5:21)
- Lesson 53: The Goal of Transit (5:30)
- Lesson 54: Transit on Roads (4:09)
- Lesson 55: Transit on Streets (8:20)
- Lesson 56: Transit Stroad - Northstar (7:39)
- Lesson 57: Transit Stroad - Green Line (7:16)
- Lesson 58: Conventional Funding of Transit (11:12)
- Lesson 59: Value Capture (13:38)
- Lesson 60: Planning for Transit (6:49)
- Lesson 61: Phasing in a Transit Approach (6:51)
- Lesson 72: Understanding Transportation Budgeting (4:29)
- Lesson 73: Setting Priorities (6:44)
- Lesson 74: Using Debt for Transportation (5:58)
- Lesson 75: Designating State Aid Corridors (6:38)
- Lesson 76: Evaluating State and Federal Funding (6:57)
- Lesson 77: Evaluating Turnbacks (7:17)
- Lesson 78: The Proper Use of Assessments (8:40)
About the Instructor
Charles Marohn—known as "Chuck" to friends and colleagues—is the Founder and President of Strong Towns and the author of Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity. He is a civil engineer and a land use planner with decades of experience. He holds a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning, both from the University of Minnesota.
