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Population growth and increased accessibility of formerly remote destinations have created new needs for planning mobility to and within recreational areas.

Transportation planners studying recreational travel face unusual travel-demand peaks, travelers who are often unfamiliar with their surroundings, and a uniquely important need for traveler and community communication. Planners must consider what characteristics of an individual area make it attractive to visitors, as well as local goals for the special resources of the area.

This presentation will characterize unique facets of mobility in recreational areas, and pose approaches to planning transportation systems to serve them.

Anne Dunning, Ph.D., has studied transportation systems for recreational communities since 2001 when she worked in Montana's Glacier National Park as a National Park Foundation Transportation Scholar. She contributed to the environmental impact statement for rehabilitating the historic Going-to-the-Sun Road. The Glacier work led to a dissertation examining implementation and impacts of public transit in seven national parks. She has published papers and book chapters on planning transportation for recreational areas, including a chapter in the current edition of the Transportation Planning Handbook of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). Dr. Dunning earned a master's of city planning, a master's of science in civil engineering, and a doctorate in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.