CSD/CSS vision and principles for excellence in transportation design.

The seminal national workshop held in Maryland in 1998 developed a strong vision for the CSD/CSS movement. The vision developed by the workshop participants addressed both the outcome (qualities of the project) and the process (characteristics).

A vision for excellence in transportation design includes these qualities:

• The project satisfies the purpose and needs as agreed to by a full range of stakeholders. This agreement is forged in the earliest phase of the project and amended as warranted as the project develops.
• The project is a safe facility both for the user and the community.
• The project is in harmony with the community and preserves environmental, scenic, aesthetic, historic, and natural resource values of the area.
• The project exceeds the expectations of both designers and stakeholders and achieves a level of excellence in people's minds.
• The project involves efficient and effective use of resources (time, budget, community) of all involved parties.
• The project is designed and built with minimal disruption to the community.
• The project is seen as having added lasting value to the community.

A vision of the process which would yield excellence includes these characteristics:

• Communicate with all stakeholders in a manner that is open and honest, early and continuous.
• Tailor the highway development process to the circumstances. Employ a process that examines multiple alternatives and that will result in consensus on approaches.
• Establish a multi-disciplinary team early with disciplines based on the needs of the specific project and include the public.
• Seek to understand the landscape, the community, and valued resources before beginning engineering design.
• Involve a full range of stakeholders with transportation officials in the scoping phase. Clearly define the purposes of the project and forge consensus on the scope before proceeding.
• Tailor the public involvement process to the project. Include informal meetings.
• Use a full range of tools for communication about project alternatives (e.g. visualization).
• Secure commitment to the process from top agency officials and local leaders.