DES MOINES, IA Development of the new long-range transportation plan, Iowa in Motion 2045, has been ongoing throughout 2016. The Iowa Department of Transportation has been gathering input from the public, holding meetings internally, and making presentations on what is being learned from input and analysis thus far.

As the agency continues to gather public input via an online survey, a basic framework of the plan has been formed to align with what the public wants and expects with regard to the future of our transportation system.

During February 2016, the Iowa DOT posted an online survey asking questions about our transportation system and what investment areas should be targeted to address perceived needs. There were a total of 520 visitors who submitted responses, almost double the number of responses (264) to the survey conducted for the 2012 iteration of Iowa in Motion.

Andrea White, Garrett Pedersen, and Sam Sturtz, as well as all of the Iowa DOT's Office of Systems Planning, are leading the public input effort.

"We were encouraged by the level of input from the February survey and we are looking forward to digging into the data being collected now through the end of September," said White.

Using the information from the survey, an internal DOT working group refined the vision for the updated long-range plan. This statement captures the overall vision for Iowa's future transportation system.

Four broad investment areas have been identified to help guide strategies and improvements that will assist with implementing the vision.

These are:

Stewardship through maintaining a state of good repair
Modification through right-sizing the system
Optimization through improving operational efficiency and resiliency
Transformation through increasing mobility and travel choices

Among these four investment areas - stakeholder input, public input, and initial department analysis have all pointed in the same direction of a dominant theme of stewardship, particularly as it relates to highway investment. This is reflected in the initial visual representation of the investment areas, which shows the overlap among them and the emphasis on stewardship.

The current round of public input will help with refining the types of strategies and improvements to target within these investment areas.

White said, "Once the current survey is complete, we'll incorporate information gained into the planning effort and share with the Iowa Transportation Commission for their review and input. We will continue to work with the Commission to develop an action plan for Iowa's transportation future which uses specific strategies and improvements to support the vision."