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CHAPTER 3
Regional Scenario--Defining Community
Goals Across Jurisdictions
Scenario New York, region. The Albany urbanized area, also known as
the Capital District, consists of major highways, including I-87
In urbanized areas, MPOs provide a well-established forum and I-91, and key corridors, including NY Routes 7, 9, and 155.
for identifying community goals across multiple jurisdictions. CDTC uses core performance measures relating to aggre-
In many MPOs, goals and objectives traditionally consider gate system performance and supplemental performance mea-
the limited set of investments that MPOs have direct control sures relating to specific elements of the systems. CDTC has,
or influence over--primarily highway and transit capacity for many years, included system reliability, land use compat-
investments. A network performance approach can help to ibility, and a wide range of environmental impacts in its plan-
incorporate other major considerations, such as highway and ning process. CDTC and its members also have been active in
transit operations, nonmotorized programs, land use policy providing significant support for community planning, tran-
decisions, and other nontraditional concerns. This scenario sit service design, intermodal development, ITS deployment,
describes how MPOs can use network performance measure- demand management, and public participation.
ment to help define regional goals and the full range of strate-
CDTC uses performance measures to evaluate strategic
gies necessary to meet them.
goals and outcomes as well as operational and individual
The coordination of multiple agencies within a region
facility-level measures. It works with the public and many local
can help in determining and driving network performance.
governments in the long-range planning process to develop
However, multiagency coordination of performance data and
goals and strategies, and then works with local jurisdictions to
measures can be challenging. Moreover, it is often difficult to
implement the strategies through programs and projects.
share common network measures across systems if the differ-
Additional examples of multilevel agency coordination
ent agencies have divergent goals. The typically uncoordinated
have been taken from the San Diego Association of Govern-
interplay between local and regional transportation and land
ments (SANDAG), Sacramento Area Council of Governments
use planning compounds these issues.
(SACOG), and Minnesota Department of Transportation
Rather than developing data collection and performance
(MnDOT).
measures individually, agencies can collaborate and harmo-
nize measures and strategies across jurisdictions in order to
reach broader regional goals and outcomes. MPOs can play an Building Blocks
important role in facilitating this collaboration across local
Establish Partnership Agreements
involvement and public engagement in the planning stages.
State support from transportation agencies and strong working The fundamental building block for this scenario is the
relationships between state, regional, and local governments establishment of partnership agreements with the several
also are important in fostering the development of a systemwide agencies that have responsibility for transportation infra-
perspective that can help to improve network performance. structure within the region.
Case Studies Collaboration Across Levels of Government
The primary case study for this scenario is the Capital District Though all MPOs include participation by local govern-
Transportation Committee (CDTC), the MPO for the Albany, ments and state and regional agencies within the region, indi-
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vidual agencies often either are not active in the MPO process typical MPO planning efforts. For example, a major multi-
or do not collaborate to define regional goals. CDTC uses a col- strategy program CDTC undertakes is the Community and
laborative approach to understand the region's transportation Transportation Linkage Planning Program.1 This unique
network and move toward regional goals, such as livability. planning process engages regional economic entities, envi-
CDTC collaborates with the New York DOT, regional plan- ronmental groups, business leaders, university administra-
ning and transit organizations, and local jurisdictions to estab- tion, chambers of commerce, neighborhood associations, and
lish goals and to define and implement strategies. Examples regional community organizations.
include the following: In the planning process, CDTC widely engages the public
to help link strategies and measures to goals. CDTC staff
· CDTC has defined congestion management performance believes that all performance measures should be first approved
measures and tradeoff analysis through a Regional Opera- through public process. For example, public opinion polls have
tions Committee. shown that people are willing to tolerate traffic congestion
· CDTC contracts with the Capital District Regional Plan- levels, if there are improvements to transit, walking, biking,
ning Commission (CDRPC) and funds that agency's work safety, and landscaping. This interest in and understanding of
in demographic data and forecasts and in regional land use public opinion helps CDTC choose appropriate measures
policy discussions. that will facilitate aligning of network performance with com-
· CDTC includes land use measures in its CMP, including munity goals. For example, CDTC conducted public opinion
dislocation of existing residences and businesses and com- surveys about congestion and realized that reliability mea-
munity quality-of-life measures. sures are more important and meaningful to the public than
· CDTC works with local municipalities to implement joint
are other congestion measures, such as level of service (LOS),
planning studies. Because MPOs have no land use author- speed, and volume.
ity, CDTC established a program that funnels almost one-
third of its funding to communities for projects that
integrate land use and transportation planning. The pro- Define Performance
gram links regional plans with local projects and provides Measurement Framework
a tool to reach consensus on how the transportation net- MPOs typically already have in place the basic compo-
work should perform.
nents of a performance measurement framework that can be
expanded to address network performance. Most MPOs define
regional goals and objectives as part of their regional trans-
portation plan (RTP). This section describes how network
Since the early 1990s, MnDOT and the Metropol- performance can help MPOs in addressing a broader array of
itan Council (the MPO for the Twin Cities region) considerations in their planning processes.
have worked to build a multiagency partnership
around transit called "Team Transit" to improve Assess Network Performance in the Context
transit operations and increase transit usage. of Long-Range Goals
Other agencies involved have included the Cen-
ter for Transportation Studies at the University Long-range goals provide a key mechanism for developing
of Minnesota, the Minnesota State Patrol, repre- and communicating regional priorities. Integrating network
sentatives from the Twin Cities, and other munic- performance requires crafting goals that emphasize the
ipalities served by transit. Team Transit focuses performance of the network. CDTC focuses on the most
on maximizing the number of people moving important links in the system for achieving efficiency, rather
throughout the Twin Cities, rather than the than on individual system components/facilities. The agency
number of vehicles. has created a land use transportation compatibility index
based on traffic intrusions in residential areas and the com-
patibility between arterial and local access.
Extended Outreach to Local Governments
and Communities
Effective partnerships with local governments and com- 1
More information on CDTC's Community and Transportation Linkage Planning
munities often require a level of outreach that goes beyond Program can be found at http://www.cdtcmpo.org/linkage.htm.
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SANDAG publishes an annual performance mon- grated a Regional Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Trails
itoring report for its Regional Comprehensive Master Plan into its Metropolitan Transportation
Plan each year. The section on urban form and Plan. SACOG's goals include doubling the percent-
transportation includes indicators on smart age of bike/walk trips and reducing bicycle and
growth, transit, commute mode shares, travel pedestrian fatalities by 20% by 2020.
times, and volumes on key corridors (including
evaluation of corridor improvements on these
measures), annual hours of traffic delay per
traveler, and the percentage of the CMP net-
work that is deficient. Measures are derived SANDAG's Integrated Performance Management
from state, regional, and local data and are used (IPM) system provides a multimodal approach to
by SANDAG and its member governments to system management that recognizes the inter-
help choose strategies to meet regional goals dependence of travel modes. Ongoing monitor-
and improve the overall transportation system. ing helps assess consistency with regional policies.
ITS is a critical element of the IPM systems net-
work used to monitor performance. ITS helps to
interconnect the region's local transportation
Use Multiple Strategies to Achieve Goals management centers and integrates data from
the modal management systems. Completion of
A network performance focus on regional goals means
this network will enable the modal agencies to
considering multiple strategies. CDTC identifies transporta-
cohesively manage the overall performance of
tion strategies that are aligned with regional goals, including
the local and regional transportation systems.
· Reliability. CDTC analyses of congestion reveal that adding
capacity to major corridors may push bottlenecks further
up a roadway. Strategies to improve network reliability also Develop Measurement and Data
are considered, including intelligent transportation systems Collection Methodologies
(ITS) and traffic management systems, managed lanes, and
highway monitoring programs. Considering network performance requires developing
· Land use. In 2001, a CDTC- and Capital District Transit data sources and measures that can help transportation agen-
Authority (CDTA)-led Land Use and Transportation Con- cies conduct system-level evaluations.
cepts Plan for New York Route 5 led to a bus rapid transit
(BRT) concept that is now included in expanded form in Identify and Evaluate Nontraditional
the region's long-range plan. Performance Measures
· Corridor approach. CDTC's Integrated Transportation
Corridor Effort provides a stakeholder-driven approach to Network performance requires moving the CMP beyond
developing and evaluating major regional corridors. The simple measures of congestion and delay. CDTC and its
2008 Hudson River Crossing study considered mobility, planning partners have developed "aggregate" performance
operational efficiency, and community in a study of the measures targeted at improving overall network performance
bridge systems along the Hudson River using travel model (Table 3.1). Besides the traditional MPO focus on accessibil-
and microsimulation tools and suggested that the network ity, safety, and congestion (especially delay and LOS), CDTC
of bridges did not need widening to meet the needs of the includes measures of
region's travelers. · System reliability. Traditional MPO congestion manage-
ment planning tends to address recurring congestion, using
simple averages of travel-time delay and volume/capacity
SACOG's Bicycle and Pedestrian Funding Program (v/c) measures. These measures do not consider variations
awards local grants for bicycle and pedestrian in the experiences of travelers. For example, a network
improvements using performance measures, such approach might consider both average travel time and travel-
as changes in miles of bikeways and sidewalks and time variability. CDTC's CMP uses the planning time index
impact of bicycle and pedestrian investments on to capture network performance. The index uses express-
air quality and public health. SACOG recently inte- way speed and volume by lane in 15-minute increments in
key corridors.
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Table 3.1. CDTC core performance measures.
Area Core Performance Measures
Access · Percentage of p.m. peak-hour trips transit accessible
· Percentage of p.m. peak-hour trips with transit advantage
· Percentage of p.m. peak-hour trips accessible by bicycle and walking
Accessibility · Travel time between representative locations
Congestion · p.m. peak-hour recurring excess person-hours of delay
· Excess person-hours of peak-hour delay per person-miles traveled
· Excess person-hours of peak-hour delay per person
Flexibility · Reserve capacity on the urban expressway and arterial system (p.m. peak-hour vehicle
miles of capacity)
Safety · Estimated annual societal cost of transportation accidents ($M)
Energy · p.m. peak-hour fuel consumption (thousands of gallons)
Economic Cost · Annual vehicle ownership and operating costs for autos and trucks ($M)
· Other monetary costs of transport: highway and transit facilities and service, parking
facilities, environmental damage ($M)
Air Quality · p.m. peak-hour daily hydrocarbon (HC) emissions (kg)
· p.m. peak-hour daily nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions (kg)
Land Use · Land use transportation compatibility index (residential use traffic conflict: miles at LOS
"E" or "F" and arterial land access conflict: miles at LOS "E" or "F")
· Dislocation of existing residences and businesses
· Amount of open space
· Community quality-of-life factors that reflect community quality of life in the central cities,
inner suburbs, outer suburbs, small cities and villages, and rural areas
Environmental · Number of major environmental issues to be resolved to implement existing commitments
Economic · How does the transportation system support the economic health of the region?
Source: CDTC Congestion Management Process, 2007. http://www.cdtcmpo.org/rtp2030/materials/cm-doc.pdf.
tial effects of climate change in the region in a project's cost.
An analysis of global warming costs is applied to major sys-
Planning Time Index
tem decisions, such as the evaluation of transportation
Ratio of driving time on a "worse than average improvement plan (TIP) projects when applicable. CDTC
delay day" (95th percentile) to a "free-flow day": also has gone beyond state requirements and produced
GHG emissions specific to year, operating speed, and func-
· PTI >1.0: trip would take longer time;
tional class. This has allowed CDTC to mark progress
· PTI =1.0: trip would take no extra time; and
toward reaching regional environmental goals.
· PTI 55 mph even on the
"worst" day
The Minnesota I-394 Integrated Corridor Manage-
ment coalition is using measures to help reduce
· Community compatibility. CDTC is concerned with how
variations in travel time and improve reliability,
transportation system and land use decisions affect the
including a buffer index, maximum travel times
New Visions goal of becoming a "Quality Region" with a
experienced by travelers throughout the corridor,
strong sense of place. Since the 1990s, CDTC has employed
the range of travel times (and variability) experi-
qualitative measures of community compatibility and qual-
enced by travelers, and the percentage of "late"
ity of life in its transportation planning process, assigning
bus routes throughout the corridor. The coalition
Levels A through F for community impact in addition to
includes MnDOT, several municipal governments,
quantitative analysis.
and Metro Transit. The groups will develop a data
· Greenhouse gas emissions. CDTC incorporates analysis
hub used to connect multiple systems.
of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into its planning
process through "full cost analysis," including the poten-
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Through CDTC's TIP, the agency funds the Capital Dis-
Minnesota's Twin Cities region conducted an
trict Transportation Management Center, run by the New
extensive study of the effectiveness of the
York State Police and New York State DOT (NYSDOT). The
region's 430 ramp meters in 2000, including a
Center is a source of data on traffic volumes, speed, and inci-
shutdown of the system. The study revealed that
dents, which are incorporated into the CMP. Values for many
meters improve throughput by about 14%, yield
of CDTC's performance monitoring measures are estimated
2.6 million hours of systemwide delay savings,
using the regional travel model. With the excess delay mea-
reduce the number of crashes by about 4 each
surements methods, postprocessors will be used with STEP
day, and save 1,160 tons of emissions. Ramp
model data to generate values for excess delay, congested cor-
metering results in a net benefit of $32 million to
ridors, and bicycle and pedestrian accessibility (The Metro-
$37 million per year to the region's traveling
politan Congestion Management Process, May 2007).
public. Providing rigorous analysis of operations
CDTC coordinates with NYSDOT, New York State Depart-
and ITS investments helps justify expenditures on
ment of Environmental Conservation, and others to update
these strategies.
natural and cultural resource maps for environmental plan-
ning and uses geographic information system (GIS) applica-
tions, such as the regional bike-hike trail maps, bike and
pedestrian data mapping and analysis, and crash data mapping
Metadata Collection and Data Sharing and analysis for the Linkage studies. CDTC also works with
CDRPC to process GIS data and incorporate parcel-level data
Developing common databases and travel models across
and high-resolution orthophotography for the entire region.
jurisdictions or modes can be a significant challenge of multi-
level agency coordination. The CDTC has addressed this
issue on several fronts, including (1) using the Management
Information System for Transportation (MIST) database that SANDAG uses data collected by California DOT
records expressway speed and volume by lane every 15 min- (Caltrans) as part of the Freeway Performance
utes2 and (2) monitoring travel speed and delay on arterial Monitoring System (PeMS) to measure freeway
corridors using global positioning system (GPS) technology. speeds, delays, and reliability for the regional
New databases and performance measures are being used to freeway system. PeMS transmits data from
revise the critical congestion corridors articulated in the CMP automated detection devices every 30 seconds.
documents, which contain all long-range performance meas- SANDAG uses these data to identify and priori-
ures, including congestion measures. For example, nonrecur- tize transportation corridor improvements and
ring delay indicators are being used to redefine the definition
to monitor the regional comprehensive plan,
of critical congestion. The Regional Operations Committee is
rather than relying solely on travel times derived
using these performance measures to help CDTC evaluate the
from models.
performance of its ITS, incident management systems, and
operations systems.
CDTC maintains significant transportation system per-
formance data, including biennial data for nonstate federal-
aid system facilities, quadrennial sample data for local roads,
SACOG's multimodal, multijurisdictional "smart
supplemental data for all Albany county and city roads, and
corridor" initiative is a collaborative effort of
data for transit system infrastructure age, facilities, ITS, sig-
the County of Sacramento, the Regional Transit
nal systems, sidewalk inventories, Thruway, and operations
District, Caltrans, the State Highway Patrol, and
and maintenance systems. CDTC's data collection includes
American River Fire District. The Sacramento
automatic traffic recorder counts; intersection traffic counts;
Transportation Area Network (STARNET) will
vehicle, truck, and pedestrian trip generation; vehicle classi-
coordinate the interagency ITS network, includ-
fication counts; bicycle and pedestrian shared-path volumes;
ing providing web-based software that operators
transit ridership and park-and-ride lot usage; various safety
can access from any computer to see a map of the
data, including crash location and frequency; and other data
whole region showing the current status of all
as necessary. CDTC maintains these data for access by state
government, local municipalities, public and nonprofit agen- agencies' field devices, transit vehicles, and current
cies and groups, consultants, and other interested parties. incidents and events, thus providing a common
and comprehensive view of current conditions.
2
http://www.cdtcmpo.org/rtp2030/materials/wb-doc.pdf
