Author Archives: Don

Health Impact Assessment

Kostelec Planning has teamed with Chris Danley of Vitruvian Planning in Boise, Idaho to develop a model for conducting Health Assessments or Health Impact Assessments (HIA) as an integral part of land use, transportation and parks/recreation planning. The partnership of Kostelec Planning / Vitruvian Planning has completed or is developing four HIAs associated with planning efforts.

Through this partnerships, we have found that HIAs not only serve a vital role as part of a comprehensive planning exercise, but also a critical method by which to gather stakeholders and individuals for input in the planning process who might not have otherwise been involved. HIA is already generating interest from partners of BicycleHaywoodNC interested in pursuing recommendations contained in the plan and generated through the HIA. Our work on HIAs has received accolates from the Federal Highway Administration as part of their Transportation Planning Excellence Awards and the North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association through their Marvin Collins Awards.

Kostelec Planning & Vitruvian Planning have developed this model for conducting Health Assessments as part of active transportation and are working on methods on how to model similar efforts for project design. We are also working to identify performance metrics that merge health and planning interests.

Below are links to various HIA documents and presentations.

We are also conducting research on the best application of HIAs in a transportation context, which was the subject of our poster session at the Transportation Research Board’s Annual meeting in January 2012.

Health Impact Assessments: Typologies for Transportation Projects & Planning (P12-6319)
By Don Kostelec of Kostelec Planning & Chris Danley of Vitruvian Planning
Poster materials from 2012 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting:

2012 North Carolina Bike Summit

Kostelec Planning was a proud sponsor of the first-ever Bike Summit for the State of North Carolina. The state’s review by the League of American Bicyclists suggested the state organize the summit as a way to continue to promote the need for bicycling projects, programs and policies.

Don Kostelec, who is also a Board Member of the NC Active Transportation Alliance,  presented the worked conducted by Kostelec Planning, Liberty Bikes and Vitruvian Planning on Health Impact Assessments (HIA). We have completed or are in the process of conducting three HIAs in the active transportation realm, including the first HIA to be completed in North Carolina as part of the Haywood County Comprehensive Bicycle Plan.

Below is a link to the presentation from the NC Bike Summit as well as links to other HIA work by the team of Kostelec/Vitruvian:

Transportation Demand Management Strategies

The techniques to promote  Transportation Demand Management (TDM) programs and strategies are evolving rapidly from the founding principles of encouraging ridesharing through outreach to employers and marketing programs. The role of TDM now includes non-traditional strategies such as off-peak travel, non-motorized modes, special event TDM, parking management and considerations for alternative fuel vehicles.

Kostelec Planning has worked on several multi-faceted and innovative TDM plans and projects that build upon traditional measures combined with an infusion of innovative techniques. This includes incorporation of TDM into long-range planning, land use planning and other specialized plans, including freight, as well as recommendations for “park-n-pedal” lots as part of bicycle and greenway plans.

Don Kostelec has practiced TDM in his daily commute routines for much of his 12-year career and was program director of Commuteride—the regional TDM service in the Boise, Idaho region—for three years. Don is currently appointed to a three-year term on the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Transportation Demand Management (ABE50).

Don has been Project Manager or Task Manager on these projects with TDM themes over the past four years:

  • French Broad River MPO Long Range TDM Plan (Ongoing).
  • Haywood Community College / Clyde (NC) Park-n-Pedal Lot (Ongoing).
  • Haywood County Comprehensive Bicycle Plan (2011).
  • Commuteride (Boise, ID) Small Vanpools Program &Policy (2011).
  • Al Gharbia Regional Mobility Masterplans (Abu Dhabi, UAE) (2010/2011; Transpo Group).
  • Joint Base Lewis-McChord (BRAC / Lakewood, WA) TDM Analysis (2010; Transpo Group).
  • Pierce County (WA) Coordinated Transportation Plan Update (2010/2011; Transpo Group).
  • Sound Transit (WA) Multi-Modal Access to  Commuter Rail Stations (2010; Transpo Group).
  • New River Regional Transit Plan, Jacksonville (NC) MPO (2008/2009; Louis Berger Group).
  • Western North Carolina Inland Port Feasibility Study (2008/2009; Louis Berger Group).