Integrated Transportation Planning

Transportation planning plays an important role in the development and maintenance of the transportation system in British Columbia. As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we are updating our approach to better align transportation and land use planning in British Columbia.

An integrated approach to transportation planning ensures that capital improvements create added value connected to provincial priorities wherever possible. This means planning smarter and more collaboratively to achieve:

• Seamless, interconnected transportation systems
• Increased road safety
• Increased mobility
• Improved reliability performance

Strategic planning and project planning are key aspects of the integrated planning process. Each type of planning plays a key role in achieving overall vision, goals, and objectives for a geographic area or a detailed project. While strategic planning sets the overarching direction and priorities for an organization, project planning is the process of implementing the strategies laid out in the strategic plan through specific, detailed projects.  

As a part of our work to update our transportation planning approach, we are developing a “Guide to Integrated Transportation Planning”. This guide will provide a best-practice approach to support Ministry staff and other governments in adopting an integrated planning framework to their organization.

Guidelines, tools, and datasets that are used throughout the project planning life cycle are outlined below. Additional resources are being developed as a part of the province’s shift to a more integrated approach and will be added as they are completed in the near future.

• Business Cases
• Benefit Cost Analysis
• Cost Estimating
• Highway Safety, Planning
• Highway Classification

The Capital Asset Management Framework, developed by the Ministry of Finance, describes government's objectives and policies for planning and managing publicly-funded capital assets.

Who performs planning

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has full-time staff working on planning. Planning staff from across the province collaborate with other business areas:

• Engineering (design, traffic, bridge, environmental)
• Properties and land management
• Rehabilitation and maintenance
• Project management

Consulting engineers are often retained for a variety of planning services including:

• Strategic area, corridor, and project planning studies
• Business case preparation
• Travel demand forecasting