FHWA Resource Center
PLANNING TEAM
Why are Congestion Management Systems needed?
Congestion has been defined as: "The level at which transportation system performance is no longer acceptable due to traffic interference. The level of acceptable system performance may vary by type of transportation facility, geographic location and/or time of day. Growth in traffic has out paced the ability of State and local governments to be able to implement capacity solutions to eliminate congestion. In order to "manage" the level of congestion within metropolitan areas, congestion management systems (CMS) were created as a way to address this traffic and person travel growth. A CMS is "A systematic process for managing congestion that provides information on system performance and on alternative strategies for alleviating congestion and enhancing the mobility of persons and goods. A CMS includes methods to monitor and evaluate performance, identify alternative actions, assess and implement cost-effective actions and evaluate the effectiveness of implemented actions.
Travel Demand in 2020
- 34% increase in vehicle trips
- 47% increase in vehicle miles traveling
Regional Transportation Plan
- Long range
- Congestion reduction
- Balance capacity, demand and management solutions
Congestion Management Program
- Short range
- Congestion management
- Focus on demand and travel management solutions
SANDAG CMS Fact Sheet
CMP or CMS managing the gap between growth in travel demand and planned capacity
Even though the rest of the management systems were made optional by Congress with the NHS Designation Act, a CMS is still required by 23 USC 134 (i)(3) for those MPOs that have over 200,000 people and are classified as Transportation Management Areas.
Hot items
See the Training section about the new Resource Center refresher class on CMS.
Performance Measures
NCHRP and TTI produced 2 reports on congestion performance measures from NCHRP 398,a Final Report (Report NR398A), and a User's Guide (Report 398B), in 1997 link to TRB
TTI has produced a new report on measuring system reliability Selecting Travel Reliability Measures.
Strategies
The MPO for Kansas City, MARC, has a good "tool box" of CMS strategies.
Evaluation Methods
An example of the evaluation of effectiveness of CMS strategies can be found in the CMS handbook developed for the St. Louis MPO, chapter 6 & 7.
Training
The Resource Center has a 1 1/2 day workshop on Implementing Effective Congestion Management Systems. It is intended to be a refresher on how Congestion Management Systems are developed with some of the state of the art examples of CMS from around the country.
Brochure
Agenda
FY 2004 Schedule We have had requests to do workshops in Florida, Indiana, Texas, Michigan, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, Minnesota and 2 more in California. Once the reauthorization and travel picture for the next fiscal year becomes clearer, we will be scheduling workshops. If you would like to get on the schedule contact Ben Williams. Spaces are available in the other sessions if you just want to attend one. We can direct you to the local contact person for that session.
Handout materials for the workshop are located on the old SRC FTP server. For more information contact Ben Williams at 404-562-3671.
Questions for Division Certification Reviews
Section 13 of the new TMA Certification Handbook gives good examples of discussion items when looking at a CMS. Since the Handbook has yet to be public ally released yet we are duplicating the sample questions to think about when doing reviews of a CMS.
Sample Discussion Questions:
- How do I know a Transportation Management Area (TMA) has defined an area and network where they will be monitoring congestion and implementing the steps that are mentioned in the 23CFR §500.109(b).
- What kind of CMS complies with the Regulation?
- What kind of interaction with local transit, freight and traffic control operators, etc. have been established?
- Do these partners share data, performance measures, etc. and do they contribute strategies toward solving regional congestion problems?
- What is the output/outcomes of the CMS?
- Has the CMS been fully integrated into the overall metropolitan planning process?
- If the CMS is integrated into the regular planning process, can we see its process, evaluations and strategies in all of the planning products, e.g., UPWP, long range plan, corridor studies and TIP?
- How does the CMS affect the programming of projects? Does it account for points in project prioritization criteria?
- How often is the CMS updated?
- What CMS work activities are included in the UPWP? How much data are enough and what types of data are being collected?
- What are the performance measures and how many are appropriate?
- Does the MPO use measurements of congestion in the real world or are they modeled?
- If in a non-attainment area, is there documentation of the SOV analysis?
- Are TDM and operational commitments recommended by the CMS eventually implemented?
- What strategies are being implemented and how are they different from those resulting from the regular planning process?
- Who are the appropriate implementers of CMS strategies? (e.g., the State DOT, Transportation Management Associations, Transit Agencies, locals, etc.)
- Does the CMS claim credit for the strategies implemented by others?
- Is the reevaluation just updating the system performance measures or does it evaluate corridors and/or projects and strategies?
- How often are CMS strategies or projects reevaluated?
- What level of detail is used? Is it a corridor-based approach? Does the MPO have to look at every driveway or is the 50, 000 ft view acceptable?
- How much monitoring is enough and how often is it done?
Links
Texas Transportation Institute Urban Mobility Study
Access Management has been one of the most effective strategies at reducing congestion. TRB has developed a Access Management Manual.
FHWA Congestion WebSite
FHWA System Management and Operations: A Planner's Resource
FHWA Travel Time Collection Handbook
CMS Case Studies
Hampton Roads Planning District Commission
North Jersey MPO
South Western Regional Planning Agency
North Central Texas COG
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