Operationalizing Sustainable Transportation - The Arizona Department of Transportation Approach

Though many states and local public agencies are encouraging and implementing sustainability plans or efforts, integration of an entire sustainable transportation program inside a state Department of Transportation (DOT) can be a particularly complex undertaking. Traditional planning, design, and construction dynamics, where any given discipline is focused solely on their respective area of expertise, is not always conducive to adopting and/or integrating a collaborative sustainability process. Amongst these challenges, developing a state DOT sustainable transportation program from the ground up, that encompasses an agency wide approach including administration, project planning, design, construction, and systems operations and maintenance, is a particularly daunting effort. Developing a process to operationalize such a far reaching sustainable transportation program that properly reflects these new and novel economic, social, and environmental considerations and maintains executive management buy-in, was experimental at the state DOT level. The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) presented their initial experience with sustainability tools and process identification at the 2015 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Since that time, ADOT has made measurable inroads in understanding the sustainability playing field as it encompasses transportation systems, has begun completing the initial program framework, and initiated subsequent operationalization of these activities. This paper presents how ADOT piloted this process.