The Georgia Department of Transportation's Multi-modal Transportation Plann
ing Tool (MTPT) facilitates multimodal planning in rural areas. Using open
databases that are available agencywide, the tool can aid in the analysis o
f transportation requirements of rural areas, identify potential implementa
tion constraints early in the planning process, and develop a prioritized p
roject list by mode for an analysis region. The MTPT addresses highways, tr
ansit, intercity bus, commuter and passenger rail, aviation, and bicycles.
An integrated geographic information system plays an important role in the
presentation of the results. This paper discusses the development of the MT
PT and describes program functionality. The paper will be of particular int
erest to state transportation agencies interested in using statewide databa
ses for multimodal planning purposes. Described techniques identify how dat
a that are typically collected and maintained for an entire state (e.g., tr
affic volumes, posted speeds, designated bike routes, roadway functional cl
asses, crash information, and county-based socioeconomic data) can be combi
ned with field verified default factors, widely accepted planning and analy
sis methods, and additional regionally calibrated planning algorithms to pe
rform system-level planning at the city, county, multicounty, or state leve
ls.