VTA serves as the Congestion Management Agency (CMA) for Santa Clara County and maintains the county’s Congestion Management Program (CMP), in accordance with California Statute, Government code 65088.
The intent of the Congestion Management Program legislation is to develop a comprehensive transportation improvement program among local jurisdictions that will reduce traffic congestion and improve land use decision-making and air quality.
Congestion Management Program Document
The purpose of the document is to give the reader a comprehensive knowledge of the elements and goals of the VTA CMP. The CMP document is organized into nine chapters including the CMP system definition and a chapter describing each element of the CMP. A number of appendices providing additional information are included at the back of the document. Appendix A provides a glossary of key terms, Appendix I includes the full text of the CMP Statute and related Statutes, and the remaining appendices provide additional technical or descriptive information.
A new CMP document is adopted by the VTA Board of Directors at the end of every odd-numbered year:
VTA prepares and maintains technical guidelines as part of its role as Santa Clara County's Congestion Management Agency.
Monitoring and Conformance Report
As the Congestion Management Agency for Santa Clara County, VTA is required by California State statute to monitor roadway traffic congestion and the impact of land use and transportation decisions on a countywide level, at least every two years.
VTA conducts Congestion Management Program monitoring and produces the program's Monitoring & Conformance Report on an annual basis. To minimize the cost of data collection, the scope of work is reduced every other year during odd-numbered years as a “mini report.”
The following components are included in the Monitoring Report:
- Traffic level of service for freeways, rural highways and program-designated intersections
- Land use element to analyze impacts of land use decisions from residential and commercial approvals
- Travel time surveys of the expressway system
- Bicycle and pedestrian counts at ten intersections throughout the county
- Implementation status reports from Cities with adopted Deficiency Plans
REPORTS
Transportation System Monitoring Program
The programming of the Transportation System Monitoring Program (TSMP) was adopted by the VTA Board of Directors in September 2008 with the first report completed in March 2010. The primary purposes of the TSMP is to serve as an asset management tool for the county’s transportation system infrastructure and to provide a comprehensive report on the conditions and performance of Santa Clara County’s key transportation systems in a single report format.
These reports can be downloaded below:
Multimodal Performance Measures & Level of Service
The development of appropriate performance measures is critical to demonstrate and compare the effects of alternative transportation plans or land use decisions. Performance measures provide a common framework in which to evaluate investments and strategies that might otherwise be difficult to compare. They allow an apples-to-apples comparison, illustrating tradeoffs between the alternatives analysis and mitigation measures.
Transportation problems are traditionally defined in terms of congestion at specific locations (measured in terms of traffic level of service—or LOS), and traffic solutions are typically developed to reduce congestion at these specific locations to improve traffic LOS. However, the solutions that improve traffic LOS may simply shift congestion to another location, not necessarily improving the operation of the overall transportation system.
The CMP statute was amended in 1994 (Assembly Bill (AB) 1963, Katz) to require that the CMP include multimodal transportation system performance measures. For a number of years, VTA has included a Multimodal Performance Measures chapter in its biennial Congestion Management Program document. However, recent trends such as the release of the Highway Capacity Manual 2010 (HCM 2010) and the 2010 update to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Transportation checklist have led VTA and other CMAs to look again at Multimodal Performance Measures.
Since 2011, VTA has been conducting education, outreach and testing to identify how new Multimodal Performance Measures could be applied in the VTA CMP in Santa Clara County. Below are some key materials from this effort:
- Introduction to Transportation Level of Service & Highway Capacity Manual 2010 (August 2011)
- Pilot Applications of MMLOS in Santa Clara County and Beyond (July 2012 workshop)
- Measuring Success: Steps for a Healthier, Wealthier, more Equitable Future (July 2012 workshop)
VTA serves as the Congestion Management Agency (CMA) for Santa Clara County and maintains the county’s Congestion Management Program (CMP), in accordance with California Statute, Government code 65088.
The intent of the Congestion Management Program legislation is to develop a comprehensive transportation improvement program among local jurisdictions that will reduce traffic congestion and improve land use decision-making and air quality.
Congestion Management Program Document
The purpose of the document is to give the reader a comprehensive knowledge of the elements and goals of the VTA CMP. The CMP document is organized into nine chapters including the CMP system definition and a chapter describing each element of the CMP. A number of appendices providing additional information are included at the back of the document. Appendix A provides a glossary of key terms, Appendix I includes the full text of the CMP Statute and related Statutes, and the remaining appendices provide additional technical or descriptive information.
A new CMP document is adopted by the VTA Board of Directors at the end of every odd-numbered year:
VTA prepares and maintains technical guidelines as part of its role as Santa Clara County's Congestion Management Agency.
Monitoring and Conformance Report
As the Congestion Management Agency for Santa Clara County, VTA is required by California State statute to monitor roadway traffic congestion and the impact of land use and transportation decisions on a countywide level, at least every two years.
VTA conducts Congestion Management Program monitoring and produces the program's Monitoring & Conformance Report on an annual basis. To minimize the cost of data collection, the scope of work is reduced every other year during odd-numbered years as a “mini report.”
The following components are included in the Monitoring Report:
- Traffic level of service for freeways, rural highways and program-designated intersections
- Land use element to analyze impacts of land use decisions from residential and commercial approvals
- Travel time surveys of the expressway system
- Bicycle and pedestrian counts at ten intersections throughout the county
- Implementation status reports from Cities with adopted Deficiency Plans
REPORTS
Transportation System Monitoring Program
The programming of the Transportation System Monitoring Program (TSMP) was adopted by the VTA Board of Directors in September 2008 with the first report completed in March 2010. The primary purposes of the TSMP is to serve as an asset management tool for the county’s transportation system infrastructure and to provide a comprehensive report on the conditions and performance of Santa Clara County’s key transportation systems in a single report format.
These reports can be downloaded below:
Multimodal Performance Measures & Level of Service
The development of appropriate performance measures is critical to demonstrate and compare the effects of alternative transportation plans or land use decisions. Performance measures provide a common framework in which to evaluate investments and strategies that might otherwise be difficult to compare. They allow an apples-to-apples comparison, illustrating tradeoffs between the alternatives analysis and mitigation measures.
Transportation problems are traditionally defined in terms of congestion at specific locations (measured in terms of traffic level of service—or LOS), and traffic solutions are typically developed to reduce congestion at these specific locations to improve traffic LOS. However, the solutions that improve traffic LOS may simply shift congestion to another location, not necessarily improving the operation of the overall transportation system.
The CMP statute was amended in 1994 (Assembly Bill (AB) 1963, Katz) to require that the CMP include multimodal transportation system performance measures. For a number of years, VTA has included a Multimodal Performance Measures chapter in its biennial Congestion Management Program document. However, recent trends such as the release of the Highway Capacity Manual 2010 (HCM 2010) and the 2010 update to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Transportation checklist have led VTA and other CMAs to look again at Multimodal Performance Measures.
Since 2011, VTA has been conducting education, outreach and testing to identify how new Multimodal Performance Measures could be applied in the VTA CMP in Santa Clara County. Below are some key materials from this effort:
- Introduction to Transportation Level of Service & Highway Capacity Manual 2010 (August 2011)
- Pilot Applications of MMLOS in Santa Clara County and Beyond (July 2012 workshop)
- Measuring Success: Steps for a Healthier, Wealthier, more Equitable Future (July 2012 workshop)