Transportation choice is critical to ensuring a high quality of life, access to opportunities and economic vitality. Building new roads or lanes is expensive, long-term and creates more demand for driving in a single-occupancy vehicle. By changing preferences and travel behaviors, TDM programs increase the efficiency of existing infrastructure and allow travelers to better understand and increase their use available options. 

Accommodating growth, growing economic competitiveness and achieving goals of sustainability and equity are reliant upon our ability to create livable communities that support a variety of mobility options. Mobility-friendly land use and development patterns need clear intent through land use plans and development codes, both of which occur at the local level. Read on to see our mobility-friendly communities playbook.

Mobility is a challenge for each of our counties, cities, towns and communities. New developments are approved every day that drive increased interest in local businesses and attractions, and on top of that, our region is home to the fifth hottest real estate market in the country. This growth can be a good thing, but it can also present many challenges for transportation infrastructure and our overall ability to get around.  

To meet these challenges, Centralina has formed the Integrated Mobility Center (IMC). Read on to learn more and get in touch.

For years, self-driving vehicles have been touted as a potentially revolutionary transportation technology. For most of the general public, however, the concept of self-driving vehicles has either seemed impossible or possible in the far-distant future. Public and private sector agencies have already been investing resources into developing “‘Connected & Autonomous Vehicles” (CAV), and momentum around the emerging technology is building rapidly. As research continues and public embrace grows, communities must be prepared to adapt to the changing transportation ecosystem. Through the established Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Task Force, Centralina Regional Council is bringing together stakeholders from across the region in order to best prepare for this wave of change in transportation.

This year marks the 55th anniversary of the founding of Centralina Regional Council, formerly known as Centralina Council of Governments. Over the last five and a half decades, our organization has helped support the growth and prosperity of our region through various projects and initiatives. In honor of this historic year, we’re looking back at how our organization has evolved to where it is today.  

October 2023 marks the two-year anniversary of the adoption of the CONNECT Beyond Regional Mobility Plan. During this time, focus has been on the implementation of the plan’s key near-term recommendations. One of the most important and impactful recommendations is the development of a Regional Transportation Demand Management Plan and Program. Centralina is leading the effort on this recommendation.

Centralina Regional Council is a regional organization focused on addressing the needs of member communities in our nine-county area and working collaboratively on issues that impact our region. We examine national, state and local trends impacting our member governments and identify their potential impacts to determine best practices for meeting needs and addressing challenges. This brief dives into current regional trends and how they are currently being addressed by Centralina, as well as how they will continue to be addressed in upcoming years.

2023 marks 30 years since the establishment of the Clean Cities Program through the Department of Energy (DOE). Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition (CCFC) is one of over 75 coalitions nationwide that work at the local level to advance clean, affordable transportation fuel technologies and systems along with energy-efficient mobility systems. This past month, our CCFC team was out and about in our region and beyond, championing issues surrounding clean energy and enhanced mobility.

As innovations in transportation and energy advance, it is important to ensure all communities can benefit from these new developments. Historically, discriminatory zoning and lending practices have forced residents of color and low-income residents to live closer to sources of toxic pollution, such as highways and industrial sites. The impacts of systematically excluding communities of color and low-income communities from planning and decision-making around transportation and energy are still seen and felt.

CONNECT Beyond is a bold regional mobility plan that sets the vision for how to better connect the rural, suburban, and urban communities in our 12-county region. This plan will guide and coordinate future mobility investments for the next two decades and serve as a blueprint for implementing a robust, integrated public transit network that will combine high-capacity transit lines, enhanced bus services, local mobility options and innovative transportation technologies.