The concept of context sensitive solutions (CSS) has been evolving in the transportation industry since the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 required transportation agencies to consider the possible adverse effects of transportation projects on the environment. The CSS concept gained significant momentum in 1998 when the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) jointly sponsored the “Thinking Beyond the Pavement” national conference, which generated the first working definition of context sensitive design (CSD) along with a set of 15 principles, including qualities of excellence in transportation design and characteristics of the process contributing to excellence, that were intended to guide the application of CSD in state transportation programs.
In the fall of 2006 AASHTO’s Center for Environmental Excellence and FHWA sponsored two national meetings to examine the implementation of CSS in transportation agencies. On September 6-8, in Baltimore, Maryland, the AASHTO/FHWA Peer Exchange on Context Sensitive Solutions engaged 262 participants from 46 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Nova Scotia. The result of that conference has generated the following definition of CSS:
Context sensitive solutions (CSS) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all stakeholders in providing a transportation facility that fits its setting. It is an approach that leads to preserving and enhancing scenic, aesthetic, historic, community, and environmental resources, while improving or maintaining safety, mobility, and infrastructure conditions.
–Results of Joint AASHTO/FHWA Context Sensitive Solutions Strategic Planning Process Summary Report, March 2007
These core CSS principles apply to transportation processes, outcomes, and decision-making: 1. Strive towards a shared stakeholder vision to provide a basis for decisions; 2. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of contexts; 3. Foster continuing communication and collaboration to achieve consensus; 4. Exercise flexibility and creativity to shape effective transportation solutions, while preserving and enhancing community and natural environments.
Congress, the Federal Highway Administration, governors, state legislatures, professional organizations, and state and local transportation agencies have all played an important part in the development of CSS, including addressing tort liability issues. Meanwhile, public interest groups have made developing better methods of road design a major part of their agendas.
As an approach to transportation, CSS has spread rapidly since 1998. In large part this is because CSS practitioners and advocates understand and embrace its many important benefits.
View a list of CSS training programs available around the country, both at the state and national level.
Article / Paper / Report
How CSS Developed - CSS Quick Facts
The roots of CSS go back to the landmark National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (signed into law in 1970). NEPA established a framework for environmental planning and decision-making by Federal agencies based on a set of fundamental objectives that include environmental protection, interagency coordination and cooperation, and public participation in planning and project development. All of these are key elements of CSS. Since 1969 there have been several events that have been instrumental in the development and expansion of CSS concepts, including federal transportation legislation (ISTEA, TEA-21 and SAAFETEA-LU), the “Thinking Beyond the Pavement Conference” sponsored by FHWA and AASHTO in 1998, and the 2006 Peer Exchange sponsored by AASHTO and FHWA.
Book
Flexibility in Highway Design
A guide about designing highways that incorporate community values and are safe, efficient, and effective. It is written for highway engineers and project managers who want to learn more about flexibility available to them when designing roads and illustrates successful approaches used in other highway projects. The guide aims also at provoking innovative thinking for fully considering the scenic, historic, aesthetic, and other cultural values of communities, along with safety and mobility needs.
NCHRP Report 480: A Guide to Best Practices for Achieving Context Sensitive Solutions
This guide demonstrates how state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other transportation agencies can incorporate context sensitivity into their transportation project development. This guide is applicable to a wide variety of projects that transportation agencies routinely encounter. While the guide is primarily written for transportation agency personnel who develop transportation projects, other stakeholders may find it useful in better understanding the project development process.
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Transportation Research Board (TRB)
Website
FHWA CSS National Website (opens in a new window)
This web site provides information on Context Sensitive Design/Thinking Beyond the Pavement efforts throughout the United States. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) are working in cooperation with a group of partners to maintain and update the site.
