Transportation 2035 - State of Rhode Island: Division of Planning

December 2012APPENDIX A – CONGESTION MANAGEMENT PROCESSINTRODUCTIONMoving Ahead for Progress in the 21 st Century or MAP 21 requires that the transportation planning processaddress congestion management through a process that provides for effective management and operation, basedon a cooperatively developed and implemented metropolitan-wide strategy, of new and existing transportationfacilities eligible for funding under this title and chapter 53 of title 49 through the use of travel demand reductionand operational management strategies. This Metropolitan Transportation Plan (the Plan) includes such strategiesto improve the performance of the existing transportation facilities to relieve vehicular congestion and maximizesafety and mobility for people and goods. In addition, the previous legislation, SAFETEA-LU, required the sameprocess to address congestion management. These two provisions of federal law establish a clear and continuingdirective to incorporate such strategies into the long-range planning for a region and to ensure ongoing dialogue toensure that these strategies are carried out in a meaningful way.CONGESTED FACILITIESRhode Island is the second most densely populated state in the nation and suffers from congestion as do mostmedium and large metropolitan areas. Until recently, planners have been concerned primarily with highwaycongestion; however, in the last couple years, certain public transit routes have become congested as well.Congested facilities are discussed briefly below.CORRIDORS AND ROAD SEGMENTSAlong road segments, congestion is expressed as a volume to capacity ratio (v/c). The v/c ratio is a measure of aroad's traffic, on a numerical scale, where a zero ratio equals no traffic and a ratio above 1.0 exceeds capacity. Av/c ratio above 0.8 is considered congested in the Rhode Island region. The region’s travel demand forecastingmodel is used to evaluate the volume to capacity ratios for all road segments in the network in future years. Theresults of the effort are on the two maps below that show the state’s highway system that are currently orexpected to be congested through the year 2035.• Congested Highways 2012• Congested Highways 2035Transportation 2035 (2012 Update)State Guide Plan Element 611Rhode Island Statewide Planning ProgramA-1