Bellingham receives award for transportation planning system

JARED PABEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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BELLINGHAM - The city of Bellingham has won an award for its new system of measuring development impacts on the transportation system and ensuring developments don't overtax the system.

Bellingham Public Works officials accepted the 2009 American Planning Association/Planning Association of Washington award on Friday, Nov. 13, in Vancouver, Wash.

State law requires cities to adopt standards for congestion to ensure their transportation system keep up with growth, but most cities look only at automobile transportation. Bellingham's new standards, developed with the help of consultants and approved last year, includes measuring the ability of sidewalks, bike lanes and transit services to move people.

The system has been profiled in several transportation publications, and the city has received inquiries from all over North America from planners interested in adopting similar programs.