Congestion Management Program

Every year, Alameda CTC collects and analyses systemwide data on the multimodal transportation system and demand to produce a Performance Report that identifies important regional and countywide trends. Typically, this report is organized in six fact sheets: Transportation System, Transit, Freeways, Arterials, Goods Movement, and Active Transportation.

The 2021 Performance Report, published and presented to the Commission in March 2021, focuses on key trends during the dynamic COVID-19 pandemic and draws from a combination of data sources to better understand rapidly emerging trends in transportation. That report utilizes different data sources and methodologies from previous reports.

The last set of Performance Report Fact Sheets was published in January 2020:




Alameda County Transportation System
Fact Sheet
Print Version		 Alameda County Active Transportation
Fact Sheet
Print Version		 Alameda County Freeway System
Fact Sheet
Print Version
Alameda County Goods Movement Fact Sheet  
Alameda County Goods Movement
Fact Sheet
Print Version		 Alameda County Highways, Arterials and Major Roads
Fact Sheet
Print Version		 Alameda County Transit System
Fact Sheet
Print Version

Previous Performance Reports are available on Alameda CTC's Reports webpage, under Performance Report.
Every two years Alameda CTC collects and analyses detailed multimodal data on a 553-mile network of bridges, freeways, highways, and arterials. This includes average speed and congestion data on major roads and managed lanes (carpool and express lanes), transit speed and performance on roads, and biking and walking activity within Alameda County.

2020 Multimodal Monitoring Report
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 monitoring cycle was moved from the normal spring window to the fall, and did not include transit performance data. The full 2020 Multimodal Monitoring Report and Technical Appendices were published in May 2021 and are available below:

Previous Monitoring Reports
Previous Multimodal Monitoring Reports, formerly known as Level of Service Monitoring Reports, can be found here.
2021 Congestion Management Program Update
The most recent Congestion Management Program (CMP) was approved by the Commission in October 2021. Previous versions can be accessed below. Chapter 6, the Land Use Analysis Program was amended in June 2020 to address a conflict between existing CMP legislation and the implementation of SB 743.

Previous CMP Updates
What is the CMP?
Since 1991, Alameda CTC (previously, the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency) has been required to update the CMP every two years, pursuant to state legislation. The CMP is a technical document that describes strategies and procedures to:

  1. Measure the performance of the county’s multimodal transportation system
  2. Address roadway congestion and improve the performance of a multimodal system
  3. Connect transportation and land use

Fundamentally, the CMP is aligned with other long-range planning efforts including the Countywide Transportation Plan and the most recent Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy (Plan Bay Area 2040). The CMP specifically describes strategies to monitor and improve the performance of every mode of travel in Alameda County. This includes monitoring congestion, transit performance, bicycle and pedestrian activity throughout the county, and major new land use developments. Alameda CTC also maintains a countywide travel model in compliance with the most recent Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy (Plan Bay Area 2040), and CMP legislation.

The elements of the CMP are presented below and information on SB 743 and tools related to measuring and reducing vehicle miles travelled, can be found on the SB 743 and VMT Tool webpage. CMP legislation defers considerable authority to the agencies that prepare CMPs so long as they incorporate the five core elements of the CMP described below:

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.
The CMP must contain performance measures that evaluate multimodal performance. The CMP describes the frequency, routing, and coordination of transit services within Alameda County and establishes specific performance measures that support mobility, air quality, land use, and economic objectives. Combined with LOS standards, the multimodal performance element provides a basis for evaluating whether the transportation system is achieving the broad mobility and congestion management goals in the CMP. More information on performance monitoring can be found on the Performance Report tab.
CMP legislation requires a TDM element to reduce pressure on existing roadway infrastructure and parking capacity by using incentives and disincentives to influence travel choice. More information can be found in the TDM Program Fact Sheet or on the Commute Options and Benefits webpage.
The goals of the Land Use Analysis Program are to:

  • Better integrate local land use and regional transportation investment decisions.
  • Better assess the impacts of development in one community on another community.
  • Promote information sharing between local governments when the decisions made by one jurisdiction will impact another.

Alameda CTC conducts the following activities as part of the Land Use Analysis Program:

Development Project Review
Alameda CTC integrates its project review with the California Environmental Quality Act project review timeline. Alameda CTC reviews land use projects that will cause a net increase of 100 or more p.m. peak hour trips. Projects can include development projects as well as plans such as specific plans or master plans.

Alameda CTC has established guidelines regarding which land use projects must conduct a CMP analysis as well as types of impacts that should be studied, and acceptable/preferred methodologies. More information is available for project sponsors and local jurisdictions about CMP Land Use Analysis Program Traffic Impact Analysis requirements.

Transportation-Land Use Integration
Alameda CTC oversees and develops a variety of initiatives and planning activities that strengthen connections between transportation and land use. For more information about these activities, see the Transportation-Land Use Integration webpage.

Strategic Monitoring
Alameda CTC monitors trends in performance measures and uses results of this monitoring to inform planning and funding decisions. Monitoring efforts related to transportation-land use coordination include:

The Capital Improvement Program reflects Alameda CTC’s efforts to maintain or improve the performance of the multimodal transportation system for the movement of people and goods and to mitigate regional transportation impacts identified through the Land Use Analysis Program.
The CMP and SB 743
Current CMP legislation is in conflict with SB 743. The metric used to measure performance is at the heart of this conflict. CMP legislation requires use of a delay-based metric, Level of Service, to measure roadway performance. However, recently amended CEQA guidelines based on SB 743 require vehicle miles-traveled (VMT) as the primary metric for traffic impacts. This move away from LOS to VMT supports Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction goals, multimodal performance measurement, and is in line with the Complete Streets practice. Alameda CTC is evaluating strategies to resolve this legislative conflict.
The Alameda Countywide Travel Demand Model is an essential tool for transportation planning in Alameda County. The model allows Alameda CTC and its partner agencies to anticipate and forecast the potential impacts of local land development decisions and changes to infrastructure on travel patterns 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 (MTC)’s regional travel demand model.

The most recent Alameda Countywide Travel Demand Model was completed in May 2019 and includes land use and transportation assumptions updated to be consistent with Plan Bay Area 2040. For more information on Plan Bay Area 2040, please go to https://www.planbayarea.org/plan-bay-area-2040.

Alameda CTC is working on a new model that will be consistent with Plan Bay Area 2050 and that will be a version of the activity-based model that MTC has developed. This new model is a joint effort with the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) for use in both Alameda and Contra Costa counties. This new model is anticipated to be ready for use by the end of 2022.

Key features of the current model

Information on SB 743, including the Alameda CTC VMT Reduction Estimator Tool and VMT Mapping Tool, can be found on the SB 743 webpage here.