Congestion Management Program

A CMS documentation process is included in the TPB’s process for soliciting projects from implementing agencies for the CLRP and TIP. Starting with the FY99-04 TIP and 1997 CLRP update, the region’s transportation implementing agencies submit documentation of CMS strategies considered in conjunction with significant federally-funded CLRP or TIP projects. This documentation, for a given project or location, includes information on: the CMS strategies that the corridor or location is already benefiting from; additional CMS strategies considered for the corridor or location; CMS strategies to be implemented in conjunction with the project; and a statement as to whether CMS strategies could preclude the need for the project. The completed CMS documentation forms are included with the relevant project line items.

In addition to the CMS documentation forms for individual projects, the CMS in the Washington metropolitan area includes monitoring, forecasting, evaluation, and implementation components. Congestion on the transportation system of the region is monitored through the travel monitoring activities in the region's Unified Planning Work Program, as well as through activities of the operating agencies. The potential impacts of proposed transportation facilities and strategies are assessed through TPB's regional travel modeling process as well as through analyses conducted by member agencies in project planning studies. Evaluation and implementation of a full range of CMS strategies have been undertaken by TPB and its members.

SAFETEA-LU now requires a Congestion Management Process (CMP) and the TPB is currently working on how to address this requirement. It is anticipated that a Congestion Management Process will begin in 2007.

The Congestion Management Process is a systematic set of actions to provide information on transportation system performance, and to consider alternative strategies to alleviate congestion, enhancing the mobility of persons and goods. With the CMP, as with the CMS, the TPB aims to use existing and future transportation facilities efficiently and effectively, reducing the need for highway capacity increases for single-occupant vehicles (SOVs). The CMP addresses both specific projects and the regional transportation system in general. Federal regulations require consideration of congestion management strategies in cases where SOV capacity is proposed. Major SOV capacity-increasing projects in the CLRP include information on how alternatives to SOV capacity were considered in the study or proposal for the project.