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Participatory Multicriteria Evaluation of Metropolitan Transportation Planning System Scenarios: Navigating Trade-Offs for Collaborative Design of Sustainable Communities

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Enabling Collaborative Governance through Systems Modeling Methods

Part of the book series: System Dynamics for Performance Management & Governance ((SDPM,volume 4))

Abstract

Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) in the US policy context represent an example of a polycentric governance innovation to mediate persistent conflict between the local and state government agencies. The MPOs are required by federal law to develop a long-range Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), at least every 5 years. Regional-scale priorities in MTP constrain economic growth and environmental sustainability options of local communities. These priorities set up synergies and trade-offs between regional, state, and federal transportation planning systems vis-a-vis local community goals.

This chapter presents an example of a novel policy and planning tool inspired by a participatory Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach as applied to evaluate alternate MTP scenarios in the Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Area (CCMPO). This empirical application demonstrates the use of participatory MCDA approaches in formal and informal planning processes. This approach navigates value trade-offs and builds consensus and collaboration on collective action problems among network actors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

    Asim Zia

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

    Asim Zia

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  1. Asim Zia
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Correspondence to Asim Zia .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Sciences CED4 – System Dynamics Group, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Carmine Bianchi

  2. Department of Public Administration & Policy, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, USA

    Luis F. Luna-Reyes

  3. Department of IS & Business Analytics, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, USA

    Eliot Rich

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Zia, A. (2020). Participatory Multicriteria Evaluation of Metropolitan Transportation Planning System Scenarios: Navigating Trade-Offs for Collaborative Design of Sustainable Communities. In: Bianchi, C., Luna-Reyes, L.F., Rich, E. (eds) Enabling Collaborative Governance through Systems Modeling Methods. System Dynamics for Performance Management & Governance, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42970-6_9

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