Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands (ATPPL) Program* Review : Summary and Results of Transportation Assistance Group (TAG) Activities Conducted to Date.

PDFResearch PaperNational parksTransportation planningPublic landPublic transitShuttle serviceParkingPublic private partnershipsIntelligent transportation systemsJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)AGR-PUBLIC AND TRIBAL LANDS-PUBLIC AND TRIBAL LANDSVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference CenterBeginning in late 2006, the Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands (ATPPL) Program \ue2\u20ac\u201d jointly administered by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) \ue2\u20ac\u201d conducted a number of site-specific Transportation Assistance Group (TAG) activities, aimed at providing recommendations to Federal land management agency (FLMA) staff on addressing transportation needs. These TAGs, coordinated by the U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center, were based on a series of successful activities, also known as TAGs, begun several years ago by the National Park Service (NPS) as part of its Alternative Transportation Program.Land units operated by NPS, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are eligible to submit project proposals for ATPPL funding. In some cases, potential applicants need assistance in scoping projects or in identifying their transportation problems and needs: few land units have transportation experts on staff, and ATPPL, as a new program, is not yet well understood. In other cases, land units may have transportation issues that could be effectively addressed by an effort much smaller than a months-long planning study. TAGs \ue2\u20ac\u201d usually a 2-3 day site visit by an interagency team of transportation professionals \ue2\u20ac\u201d are intended to respond to all of these cases: delivering technical assistance, strengthening project applications, raising awareness of the ATPPL program, and saving FTA, DOI, and the FLMAs a great deal of time, money, and effort.To date, ten TAGs have been conducted under the ATPPL program, as summarized in this document. Unit staff made logistical preparations for and actively participated in all phases of the TAGs, including reviewing final reports for each TAG and implementing the recommendations contained within the reports. Some TAGs have led to successful ATPPL project proposals; others suggested ways that units could address their transportation needs without the need for ATPPL funding