Planning :: Alameda CTC

Planning

Countywide Transportation Plan

The Countywide Transportation Plan (CWTP) is a long-range policy document that guides decisions and articulates the vision for the County’s transportation system over a 25-year planning horizon. It lays the groundwork for an investment program that is efficient and productive. The plan serves as Alameda County's input to the Regional Transportation Plan.

Key Countywide planning efforts: In the past year, Alameda CTC's primary planning focus has been on updating the CWTP, developing a new sales sax Transportation Expenditure Plan (TEP) and crafting a Vehicle Registration Fee measure that passed on November 2, 2010. For more information, visit the CWTP-TEP Planning page. For information regarding upcoming CWTP-TEP Community Workshops in October-November 2011, please visit How to Get Involved.

Other Planning Efforts

Alameda CTC also conducts special studies and manages planning programs, as needed.

Congestion Management Program

Updated every two years, the Congestion Management Program (CMP) sets forth the fundamentals for implementing the long-range CWTP. The CMP deals with day-to-day problems congestion causes, including:

Setting level of service (LOS) standards for roadways.
Analyzing the impact of land development on transportation.
Exploring ways to manage travel demand.
Developing a five-year Capital Improvement Program.

Countywide Travel Demand Model

The Alameda countywide travel demand model is an essential tool for the CMP planning process. The model allows the Alameda CTC to anticipate and forecast the potential impacts of local land development decisions on the major roadways in the county. The model is periodically updated to be consistent with the most recent land use and socio-economic database of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and assumptions of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s regional travel demand model. The most recent Alameda countywide travel demand model completed in August 2011 includes land use assumptions updated to ABAG’s Projections 2009 and several revised features.

Level of Service Report

Prepared biennially, the CMP requires that level of service (LOS) standards be established and monitored on the CMP-designated roadway system. LOS is a measure of driving conditions and vehicle delay. The objectives of this monitoring effort are to:

Determine the average travel speeds and existing LOS.
Identify roadway segments in the county that are operating at LOS.
Identify long-term trends in traffic congestion on the CMP network.

Central Alameda County Freeway Study

Over four decades ago, Caltrans initiated a project known as the Hayward Bypass—a proposed four-lane highway east of SR-238, from the I-580 interchange to Industrial Parkway. A number of properties were acquired, but the project never advanced, largely due to a lack of community support. State legislation allows that monies from the sale of these properties be used to address congestion on state highways in the area.

The purpose of the study was to develop a list of priority projects to be funded from the property sale proceeds. The list constitutes the Local Alternative Transportation Improvement Program, which includes 19 projects and is currently estimated to cost $570 million in 2007 dollars. The Planning Area Committee approved the list in June 2008. It was then submitted to the California Transportation Commission and received approval in May 2010.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans

Alameda CTC is also coordinating updates to the 2006 Countywide Bicycle Plan and the 2006 Countywide Strategic Pedestrian Plan. These plans describe the status of walking and biking in Alameda County and set countywide priorities to guide the bicycle/pedestrian safety grant program, as well as other funding for walking and biking improvements.

The goal is to complete the two plan updates by mid-2012 and incorporate them into the CWTP update. Read more about these updates here.

Alameda County Transportation Commission