Impact Assessment Guidelines for Evaluating the No-Build Alternative in Transportation

The general objective of no-build research has been to strengthen the techniques and procedures available to transportation planners and engineers in three areas: The definition of no-build alternatives; the prediction and measurement of the consequences of no-build alternatives; and, the use of no-build alternatives in plan evaluation. This objective has been partially met with the development of a set of interim quidelines and a Phase I research report. The quidelines are organized as follows: introduction and summary; the role of the no- build alternative; definition of alternatives; impact assessment; plan evaluation. Four technical appendices include: techniques dictionary: glossary; notes on the impact assessment process; and, references. These guidelines will be of use to all professionals concerned with the analysis of transportation alternatives, and all will benefit from gaining an understanding of the role of the no-build alternative and how it may be structured.