Tempe Transportation Plan 2050

The Tempe Transportation Plan 2050 is a strategic document that outlines how people and goods will move in the City. It serves as Tempe's roadmap for developing and managing the City's roads, public transit, bicycle, rolling and pedestrian systems.

Key Elements of the Tempe Transportation Plan 2050:

• Goal setting: the City's transportation goals derive from the Tempe Tomorrow General Plan 2050, and address the overall transportation system.
• Data collection: data on the current transportation conditions, traffic volumes, transit usage, pedestrian, rolling and cycling activity, and infrastructure condition is collected and evaluated. In addition, projections for future growth and demand are developed. This data provides a baseline for understanding the current and future state of the transportation system.
• Analysis and modeling: using analytical tools existing conditions and future transportation demand forecasts are evaluated, identifying needs and potential solutions.
• Plan development: the Plan will outline strategies, projects, and policies to achieve the identified goals. The Plan will include multimodal infrastructure improvements, policy changes, and programs to encourage safe, equitable and sustainable transportation solutions.
• Collaboration: transportation planning requires collaboration among various stakeholders, including the City, community organizations, businesses, and the public.

The Tempe Transportation Plan 2050 affects a wide range of individuals and groups, both directly and indirectly. Some of the groups affected and issues considered include:

• General Public / Commuters: changes in travel times, availability of public transit, bike lanes, or pedestrian access.
• Local Communities and Neighborhoods: improvements in connectivity and safety.
• Businesses and Employers: access to customers and employees, delivery routes, shipping logistics.
• Tempe Transit and the Transportation and Sustainability Department: responsible for implementing the plan, maintaining infrastructure, and adapting services.
• Low-Income and Underserved Populations: more reliant on affordable transit services and may be disproportionately impacted by changes.
• Advocacy Groups: advocate for business, specific modes.

The Tempe Transportation Plan 2050 is important because it impacts how people and goods move through the City, impacting everything from daily life to long-term regional development. Benefits of the Plan include:

• Improves Mobility and Access: ensuring people can get to work, school, healthcare, and other essential services efficiently; helps reduce travel time and makes options like walking, biking, and public transit more viable.
• Enhances Safety: the Plan will update Tempe's Vision Zero policy to identify roads and intersections with the highest level of fatal and or transit areas and proposes design and policy changes to reduce crashes and injuries.
• Supports Economic Growth: support businesses and investment by improving the flow of goods and workforce access.
• Reduces Traffic Congestion: with the goal of reducing bottlenecks by encouraging smarter land use, optimizing traffic flow, enhancing alternative modes, and greater public transit adoption.
• Protects the Environment: the Plan encourages more sustainable options like public transit and active transportation (bicycling and walking or rolling) to cut emissions and reduce environmental impact.
• Promotes Equity : the Plan will consider how transportation investments are distributed to vulnerable or underserved communities.
• Enhances Funding Opportunities: clearly identifying transportation objectives supported by up-to-date data and demonstrated needs positions the City to be more competitive in pursuing regional, state and federal funding opportunities.

The outcomes of the Tempe Transportation Plan 2050 affect how people live, work, travel, and interact with the City, including:

• Improved mobility and accessibility making travel across the City and region more efficient
• Better access to jobs, schools, healthcare, and services
• Increased transportation options
• Improved safety
• Environmental benefits including lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced air and noise pollution
• Economic development
• Greater equity and inclusion
• Long-term resilience
• Planning for future growth, climate change, and new technology (e.g., autonomous vehicles)
• Land use and urban design impacts