Land Use and Transportation Modeling Research Program(LUTMRP)

The Land Use and Transportation Modeling Research Program (LUTMRP) is a basic and applied research facility in the University of Florida, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, College of Design, Construction and Planning. The Program is designed to advance the state-of-the-art of transportation/land use modeling technology for shaping a new generation of transportation and urban policies that will build cohesive, livable, and economically viable communities. 

LUTMRP's mission is to provide a wide range of services designed to make the intellectual resources of the academic community available and relevant to the transportation and urban planning profession and regional and local policy makers. Connecting expert knowledge and practical experience providing a wide variety of useful information, analytical tools and services. 

Our objective is to fully integrate a strong and coordinated research program with the educational and technology transfer of state-of-the-art analytical techniques to planning professionals, researchers and policy makers. We are especially dedicated to assisting local planning agencies in the integration of land use and transportation planning. 

The LUTMRP program is closely tied with the GeoPlan Center and places a strong emphasis on the application of GIS spatial analysis and visualization functions for identifying developable land, environmental impact and community impact assessments in the planning process. The experience and expertise of the GeoPlan Center staff and the availability of the Florida Geographic Data Library (FGDL) provides a strong capability in the development and application of GIS as a land use and transportation planning tool. 

The LUTMRP program includes the following research activities: 

• To examine development trends, declining and redevelopment of urban cores and sprawling of suburbia. 
• To examine the role of private market forces on land development patterns.
• To examine land use and transportation impacts on communities and the environment.
• To establish and quantify the interaction and interrelationship of land development and transportation infrastructure programs. 
• Our focus is to identify what analytical techniques and policies work and to determine how they can be made to work better.

The LUTMRP program provides the following professional and technical services: 

For visualizing transportation and land use interactions and to provide planning professionals with more effective tools as well as to help policy makers to better gauge evolving community needs, the LUTMRP program engages in the following transportation/land use modeling study and development activities: 

• To conduct research projects in a variety of urban environments that provide innovative and pragmatic approaches to real world problems. 
• Study fundamental theories of various land use and transportation models.
• Conduct case studies and validation of various land use and transportation models.
• Develop enhancements to the land use allocation models and techniques currently used by state and local planning agencies. 
• To assist local planning agencies in the development and review of input data required by various land use and transportation models.
• To assist local agencies in the application of land use and transportation modeling applications in the planning process.
• To review and evaluate local land use and transportation model results.
• Provide training, education and professional development in the use of land use and transportation modeling techniques.

• To take a pro-active role to promote the application of land use visioning techniques and promote the testing and evaluation of land use alternatives as a part of the land use and transportation planning process. 
• To support the research and development of enhancements to the current land use and transportation models and the development of new analytical tools when needed.
• To develop new analytical tools for local planning professionals and policy makers to manage growth, ensure the quality of life, preserve the natural environment, create "Livable Communities," promote economic development, redevelopment and community revitalization and to evaluate the fiscal impacts of land use and transportation policies.