Comparative analysis of traffic-and-transportation-planning-related indicators in sustainable transportation infrastructure rating systems

A sustainable transportation infrastructure rating system (STIRS) generally encompasses a wide range of indicators for the comprehensive evaluation of the sustainability of transportation projects. Appropriate traffic and transportation planning solutions may increase the performance of transportation projects. However, no investigation has been conducted to assess the significance of traffic-and-transportation-planning-related indicators (TTPIs) in STIRSs. This study first identified the five most up-to-date rating systems from 12 existing STIRSs. TTPIs were extracted from different categories of the five STIRSs, and similar feature indicators were regrouped into different traffic-and-transportation-planning-related features (TTPFs). The comparative analysis approach was adopted to investigate the priority and significance of TTPFs and TTPIs in the selected rating systems. The findings revealed that among the selected rating systems, Green Guides for Roads allocates the highest percentage of total points (37%) to TTPIs, whereas the Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation Sustainability Tool allocates the lowest percentage of total points (20.9%) to TTPIs. With respect to the TTPFs of transportation projects, pedestrian paths and sidewalks, bicycle facilities, and traffic facilities are believed to contribute considerably to project sustainability, whereas freight traffic, parking spaces, and project consistency are believed to make relatively low contributions to project sustainability.