Client Projects
Transportation Planning: Context Sensitive Solutions
Cal Trans Planning Division
UC Davis Extension developed a three-day course on context sensitive solutions (CSS) for transportation and planning professionals. The course was delivered to nine regional offices in 2004.
The need: Cal Trans policy requires that transportation projects be developed with sensitivity to external factors such as environment, economy, local community values and safety. Training in CSS was needed to equip Cal Trans staff with practical tools to incorporate all of those concerns into the planning process.
The solution: Working closely with a Cal Trans steering committee, UC Davis Extension designed a course that explained CSS concepts and helped staff apply those concepts during the transportation planning process. Using case studies and group exercises, participants received expert training relevant to projects they were working on.
Student feedback included: "Good tips on communication outreach and negotiating with public," and, "Instructors were knowledgeable and engaging, and presented just the right mix of planning/engineering expertise. Given the mix of engineers and planners in the class, the instructors were the 'right stuff' for the job."
Meet the instructors:
Jeff Loux, Ph.D., is the chair of the Science, Agriculture and Natural Resources Department at UC Davis Extension, and adjunct faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture, UC Davis. Loux has 25 years of experience in land use planning and natural resources policy, much of it as a facilitator or mediator of complex multi-party negotiations.
Brian Ray is a principal engineer at Kittelson and Associates with more than 20 years of experience in transportation planning and roadway design. He has performed location design and engineering evaluations for a variety of corridor studies and environmental impact review documents across the U.S.
Paul Zykofsky, M.S., AICP, is director of the Center for Livable Communities, an initiative of the Local Government Commission. Established in 1993, its mission is to help communities be proactive in their land use planning and to encourage the adoption of programs and policies that lead to more livable, sustainable land use patterns.
