Research Idea Details

Research Idea Scope

The study would evaluate the Illinois Department of
Transportation’s sustainability initiatives from a geographic perspective and
identify gaps, statewide gaps in sustainability. The study would work in tandem
with the department’s sustainability scorecard which tracks the sustainable
components of all department external projects and internal operational
practices. The scorecard provides a point based evaluation of projects across
each mode and category of internal practice (building retrofit, recycling,
energy use, etc.). The study would then seek to spatially distribute projects
across the state by modal category and scorecard ranking and identify
geographic corridors or quads that lack sustainable projects. The results could
be used to prioritize specific sustainability projects in targeted geographic
areas. The map could also factor in geographic sustainability criteria such as
attainment areas with the intent to prioritize projects in areas with air
quality worse than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Key tasks to complete this would be the implementation of
the sustainability scorecard tool and the use of GIS-savvy staff to develop
mapping systems that can spatially depict data results.

Urgency and Payoff

This would be a natural progression of IDOT’s
sustainability agenda and would allow the department to positively use
scorecard data to prioritize new sustainability projects. The payoff would be
immediate as areas that are in particular need of sustainable transportation
projects would be identified and addressed through the GIS system.