February, 2010

Case Study — 1 Comment
24
Feb 10

Customer Case Study: Edd Manges, Environmental Planning Department Manager

Last fall, we sat down with Edd Manges, Environmental Planning
Department Manager, to talk NEPA, data gathering, the Census web site,
and Cubit.

Edd’s Project:

  • Tier 1 EIS Project studying a Toll Facility
  • 3 geographic study areas
  • 38 corridor sections with 31 alternatives

Edd’s Role:

  • Task Manager for the Tier 1 EIS
  • Had to complete the Socio-Economic analysis

Edd’s Problem:

Edd had a major data-gathering problem: “finding the socio-ec
data is easy enough, extracting it is the hard part.” How did
he normally do it? “I’d visit the Census web site, then
manually dumped the data into a spreadsheet. It takes days and days of
work. Plus, the census limits you in how much data you can pull at one
time.” For this project, Edd was looking at 38 corridor
sections with 31 alternatives. That’s a lot of data.
“The Census site has become a little easier to use over the
last couple of years. But even your GIS people sometimes have a hard
time.”

Edd’s Solution:

Edd used Cubit’s Socio-Economic report. “Your Socio-Ec
Data Report is amazing. As a long time environmental professional this
tool will save hours of work and effort. The report format is precise,
concise and usable as generated. There’s nothing missing, from
a NEPA perspective.”

NEPA News — No Comments
17
Feb 10

Sources of Delay and Frustration in the NEPA Process

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Frustration!

On FHWA’s Re:NEPA, there’s a survey based on a long discussion entitled NEPA: 50% faster? The purpose of the survey to identify 2 or 3 big issues that consistently result in frustration and/or delay in the NEPA process. With this information, the Re:NEPA community can then brainstorm ways to address these big issues.

Over 50 people have already responded to the Sources of Delay and Frustration Survey. So far, the 2 issues that are “in the lead” are:
* Changes in project scope or unclear project scope
* Increased documentation levels (i.e. EAs now EIS size)

Do you agree or disagree that these two issues are major sources of delay and frustration in the NEPA process? Please share your opinion via survey if you haven’t done so already: http://cubit.wufoo.com/forms/sources-of-frustration-delay-in-the-nepa-process/

If you’ve already completed the survey, please email the link above to people whose input should be included. I’ll be sure and post more detailed survey results in the near future.

Cubit News / Planning Data — No Comments
17
Feb 10

ACS Housing & Permit Data Now Available

The Housing and Regional Economic Report now has more recent housing data from the American Community Survey 2006-2008.  This report also has Building Permit data.  Check out the revised Housing and Regional Economic Report Sample.

Leave me a comment about what other data should be included in this report.

Social Media — 6 Comments
15
Feb 10

3 Reasons Why Environmental Professionals Should Use Twitter

Last Thursday, Anthony and I attended the Texas Association of Environmental Professional’s (TAEP) Environmental Challenges and Innovations Conference: Gulf Coast 2010 .  We volunteered to introduce environmental professionals to Twitter.

Check out the Twitter @ TAEP2010 video on YouTube.   Anthony and I had a great time showing Twitter off to environmental professionals.

At the conference, the majority of people who we talked to had heard of Twitter, but less than 5% knew what Twitter was.  Most people thought Twitter was the same as Facebook.  So if you’re not sure what Twitter is, you are not alone.  If you want to learn more about Twitter, check out the blog post “Why Planners Should Use Twitter.”

My favorite Twitter moment of the TAEP conference was when my new friend Bill sent out a tweet on my account (@cubitplanning). Within minutes of his tweet, one of my followers asked him question in response.  So I got to chase Bill down and bring him back to the Twitter table to reply.  It was a perfect demonstration of how Twitter results in conversations.  I wish I could claim that I planned it!

On the board behind our Twitter table, we provided 3 reasons why environmental professionals should use Twitter.  While there are many great reasons to tweet, here are the 3 reasons that we focused on:
1. Meet People
2. Find/Fill Jobs
3. 2 Volunteers to Help You Get Started

So a big thank you goes out to the TAEP Conference Planning Committee, especially Leslie Yoo of Perennial Environmental (@lyoo5) and Shannon Tyrell of ALS Laboratory Group. Thanks to Ryan Link of Michael Baker (@Ryan_Link), who had the original idea for a volunteer Twitter table at conferences.  And a huge thank you to all of the curious environmental professionals who let Anthony and I share our passion for Twitter and using social media for business last Thursday.

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So are we crazy for using Twitter as part of our business marketing?  Or are you an environmental professional and have questions about Twitter?  You should leave me a comment below.

Planning Data — No Comments
9
Feb 10

Road Miles by State

I find myself googling for this data once a month or so. I just can’t seem to remember where to find it on the Federal Highway Administration’s website. Below are states by total 2008 lane miles–which is the most recent dataset available today and is dated October 2009.

Road Miles by State: Sorted from Most to Least

STATE TOTAL LANE MILES
Texas 654,923
California 386,604
Illinois 292,789
Kansas 286,642
Minnesota 283,828
Missouri 268,201
Florida 267,793
Ohio 261,653
Georgia 257,077
Michigan 255,924
Pennsylvania 253,838
New York 242,769
Wisconsin 237,124
Iowa 235,460
Oklahoma 235,004
North Carolina 221,456
Arkansas 204,051
Alabama 201,752
Indiana 197,997
Tennessee 194,755
Nebraska 190,398
Colorado 183,498
North Dakota 175,960
Washington 174,731
South Dakota 166,814
Kentucky 163,988
Virginia 160,097
Mississippi 156,211
Montana 151,209
New Mexico 142,940
South Carolina 139,690
Arizona 131,356
Louisiana 128,532
Oregon 122,395
Idaho 98,132
Utah 93,914
New Jersey 84,281
West Virginia 79,144
Massachusetts 76,200
Nevada 71,315
Maryland 68,889
Wyoming 58,385
Maine 46,750
Connecticut 45,552
New Hampshire 33,002
Alaska 31,108
Vermont 29,641
Delaware 13,613
Rhode Island 13,520
Hawaii 9,523
Dist. of Columbia 3,541
U.S. Total 8,483,969

Helpful Links with Road Miles by State data
If you need historic data like lane miles for 1980 to 2007, check out Functional System Data; Estimated Lane – Length page. If you need Function System data for 2008 (i.e. interstates, freeways, arterial, collectors and local), check out FHWA’s Functional System Lane-Length – 2008 Lane-Miles page.

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