Transportation Planning Awards

2009 Transportation Planning in Washington

Bellingham received the 2009 American Planning Association / Planning Association of Washington Award for Transportation Planning in Washington State for the Multimodal Transportation Concurrency program (BMC 13.70) featuring a new multimodal level of service standard and new multimodal performance measures that include sidewalks, bike lanes, and transit riders, as well as automobiles. The Multimodal Transportation Concurrency program is designed to help the City achieve Comprehensive Plan goals directing growth to Urban Villages and to complete sidewalks and bicycle lanes throughout the City.

Moving Beyond the Automobile; Practicing Planner, Volume 7, Number 3, September 2009 (PDF)

2010 Transportation Planning Council Best Program Award

Bellingham's "Multimodal Transportation Concurrency Program" is a runner-up for the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Transportation Planning Council's 2010 Best Program Award (PDF) The winner is Montgomery County, Maryland - 2009-2011 Growth Policy.

The runners-up are:

Denver, CO Regional Transportation District "FasTracks Program, Quality of Life Study(Light Rail)
Bellingham, WA Multimodal Transportation Concurrency Program
The Abu Dhabi Vision - World Class City-World Class Transport, Abu Dhabi Department of Transport T

National and State Publications

Bellingham's innovative multimodal transportation planning programs have been profiled in several national and state transportation publications.

Planning and Engineering Conference Presentations

Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) - 2011 Regional Technical Forum, December 14, 2011; Seattle, WA. Presentation Title "Multimodal Transportation Concurrency in Bellingham, WA"
Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Washington Chapter - 2011 Autumn Quarterly Meeting, October 11, 2011; Snohomish, WA. Presentation Title "Bellingham's Experience with Transportation Impact Fees (TIF) 1995 to 2011"
Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) - 2011 Western District Annual Meeting, July 11 - 13; Anchorage, AK. Technical Session 3A Planning for the Environment II. Presentation Title "Connecting Policy and Performance: Bellingham's Approach to Integrated Multimodal Transportation and Land Use Planning."
Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) - 2011 Regional Technical Forum, December 14, 2011; Seattle, WA. Presentation Title "Multimodal Transportation Concurrency in Bellingham, WA"
American Planning Association (APA) – 2011 National Planning Conference, April 9-12, 2011; Boston, MA. Technical Session S436 Mastering Mobility. Presentation Title “Bellingham’s Integrated Multimodal Transportation and Land Use Planning.”
American Planning Association (APA) of Washington – 2010 Statewide Conference, October 5-6, 2010; Kennewick, WA. Technical Session W10 Making Connectivity a Part of Your Smart Growth. Presentation Title “Testing Connectivity Metrics in Bellingham Washington.”
American Planning Association (APA) of Washington – 2009 Statewide Conference, November 12-13, 2009; Vancouver, WA. Technical Session T1 Changing Approaches to Transportation Concurrency: Moving Beyond the Automobile. Presentation Title “Bellingham’s Multimodal Transportation Concurrency.”
Planning Association of Washington (PAW) – 2009 Statewide Conference, April 9 – 10, 2009; Semiahmoo Resort, WA. Technical Session 2B Good Transportation Means Walkable Communities. Presentation Title “Moving Beyond the Automobile: Bellingham’s Multimodal Transportation Concurrency Program.”
Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers (CITE) – 2008 District and Quad Regional Conference, April 27 – 30, 2008; Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Technical Session 6B Development Approvals. Presentation Title “Implementing Transportation Concurrency: The City of Bellingham Experience.”

Staff has received inquiries from planners all over North America who are interested in adopting similar performance measures. Bellingham is honored to be recognized as a leader in transportation planning in Washington State.