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Glossary

Glossary of Transportation Planning Acronyms and Terms

Jump to glossary
term:
ABAG
Article XIX
Restriction
BAAQMD
BATA
Bay Area
Partnership
Caltrans

Capital
Funds
Census Data

CMAs

CMAQ

Committed
Revenues
Conformity

CTC

Environmental
Justice
Equity
Analysis
FHWA
Financial
Constraint
Flexible
Funding
FTA
FY
HIP
HOV Lane
Intermodal

Lifeline
Network
LIFT
MPO
MTC
MTS
Ozone Attainment
Strategy
Paratransit

Performance
Measures
Potential New
Revenues
Program

Proposition
42
RACC
RTEP
Resolution
3434
Return to
Source
RTIP
RTP
SAFE
Sales Tax
Authority
Self-Help
Counties
Smart Growth

SOV

STA

STIP

STP

System
Management
TCM
TCRP
TDA
TEA
TEA 21
Title VI

TIP

TLC

TOD

Transportation
2030 Plan
Travel Demand
Model
Tribal Government

Consultation
Uncommitted
Revenues
U.S. DOT

Value
Pricing
VMT

The transportation arena has a language all its own. Just as getting
from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’ in the San Francisco Bay Area is often easier
said than done, navigating your way through the complex web of
transportation terminology can likewise be a challenge. While MTC strives
to use plain language, acronyms and jargon invariably will creep into many
discussions about transportation. For this we apologize and offer the
following glossary of transportation planning acronyms and terms.

ABAG

Association of Bay Area Governments
A voluntary
association of counties and cities in the nine-county San Francisco Bay
Area. ABAG provides demographic, financial, administrative, training and
conference services to local governments and businesses. A member sits on
MTC.

Article XIX Restriction

A provision in the California Constitution that limits the use of state
gasoline tax revenues to projects related to roadway (including bicycle
and pedestrian projects) or fixed guideway (rail or trolley coach)
improvements.

BAAQMD

Bay Area Air Quality Management District
(Also
known as the Air District, since the acronym seems to take longer to say
than the full name.) Regulates industry and employers to keep air
pollution in check and sponsors programs to clean the air. In a joint
effort known as the Regional Agency Coordinating Committee (RACC), the Air
District works with MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments on
issues that affect transportation, land use and air quality.

BATA

Bay Area Toll Authority
BATA, acting as a separate
legal entity of MTC, administers the base $1 toll from the Bay Area’s
seven state-owned toll bridges (as opposed to the second dollar, a
surcharge to cover seismic retrofit costs, which is administered by
Caltrans). The state Legislature created BATA in 1998 to take over this
responsibility from the California Transportation Commission (CTC).

Bay Area Partnership

Often referred to simply as “The Partnership,” this is a confederation
of the top staff of various transportation agencies in the region,
including MTC, public transit operators, county congestion management
agencies (CMAs), city and county public works departments, ports, Caltrans
and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) as well as environmental
protection agencies. The Partnership works by consensus to improve the
overall efficiency and operation of the Bay Area’s transportation network,
including developing strategies for financing transportation
improvements.

Caltrans

California Department of Transportation
The state
agency that maintains and operates California’s highway system.

Capital Funds

Moneys to cover one-time costs for construction of new projects — such
as roads, bridges, bicycle/pedestrian paths, transit lines and transit
facilities — to expand the capacity of the transportation system, or to
cover the purchase of buses and rail cars.

Census Data

Information used by transportation planners to make projections about
future Bay Area travel patterns, housing needs and the like. Required by
the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Census is a complete enumeration of the
population conducted every 10 years by the U.S. Census Bureau (the last
one was completed in 2000).

CMAs

Congestion Management Agencies
Countywide agencies
responsible for preparing and implementing a county’s Congestion
Management Program. CMAs came into existence as a result of state
legislation and voter approval of Prop. 111 in 1990. Subsequent
legislation made them optional. Most Bay Area counties still have them.
Many CMAs double as a county’s sales tax authority.

CMAQ

Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement
Program
A federal source of funding for projects and
activities that reduce congestion and improve air quality, both in regions
not yet attaining federal air quality standards and those engaged in
efforts to preserve their attainment status.

Committed Revenues

Revenues that are dedicated by law, ballot measure or prior MTC
programming actions to specific transportation investments. Committed
revenues comprise the vast majority of all funds identified in the
long-term regional transportation plan. (Also see “Uncommitted
Revenues.”)

Conformity

A process in which transportation plans and spending programs are
reviewed to ensure they are consistent with federal clean air
requirements; transportation projects collectively must not worsen air
quality.

CTC

California Transportation Commission
A state-level
commission, consisting of nine members appointed by the governor, that
establishes priorities and allocates funds for highway, passenger rail and
transit investments throughout California. The CTC adopts the State
Transportation Improvement Program, or STIP, and implements state
transportation policy.

Environmental Justice

This term stems from a Presidential Executive Order to promote equity
for disadvantaged communities and promote the inclusion of racial and
ethnic populations and low-income communities in decision-making. Local
and regional transportation agencies must ensure that services and
benefits, as well as burdens, are fairly distributed to avoid
discrimination.

Equity Analysis

Consistent with federal requirements for environmental justice, MTC
conducts an equity analysis covering the 25-year regional transportation
plan to determine how the benefits and burdens of the plan’s investment
strategy affect minority and low-income communities.

FHWA

Federal Highway Administration
U.S. Department of
Transportation agency responsible for administering the federal highway
aid program to individual states, and helping to plan, develop and
coordinate construction of federally funded highway projects. FHWA also
governs the safety of hazardous cargo on the nation’s highways.

Financial Constraint

A federal requirement that long-range transportation plans include only
projects that have a reasonable expectation of being funded, based upon
anticipated revenues. In other words, long-range transportation plans
cannot be pie-in-the-sky wish lists of projects. They must reflect
realistic assumptions about revenues that will likely be available during
the 25 years covered in the plan.

Flexible Funding

Unlike funding that flows only to highways or only to transit by a
rigid formula, this is money that can be invested in a range of
transportation projects. Examples of flexible funding categories include
the Surface Transportation Program (STP) and the Congestion Mitigation and
Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program.

FTA

Federal Transit Administration
U.S. Department of
Transportation agency that provides financial and planning assistance to
help plan, build and operate rail, bus and paratransit systems. The agency
also assists in the development of local and regional traffic reduction
programs.

FY

Fiscal Year
Annual schedule for keeping financial
records and for budgeting transportation funds. California’s fiscal year
runs from July 1 through June 30, while the federal fiscal year runs from
Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

HIP

Housing Incentive Program
A program initiated by
MTC to provide seed money to municipalities and their development partners
to encourage the development of compact residential communities near
public transit hubs.

HOV Lane

High-Occupancy-Vehicle Lane
The technical term for
a carpool lane, commuter lane or diamond lane.

Intermodal

The term “mode” is used to refer to a means of transportation, such as
automobile, bus, train, ship, bicycle and walking. Intermodal refers
specifically to the connections between modes.

Lifeline Transportation Network

An MTC initiative to enhance low-income residents’ access to key
destinations such as job centers, government buildings and medical
facilities during both peak commute periods and off-peak hours. While most
of the Lifeline network identified by MTC is already served by existing
transit routes, some low-income communities and/or destinations are not
served by transit or lack service at specific times of day. MTC is working
with transit operators and potential funding partners to fill these gaps
in the network.

LIFT

Low-Income Flexible Transportation
An MTC program
that provides financial assistance for services to help low-income
residents get to and from work and other locations. Examples of eligible
LIFT projects include new and expanded public transit services,
transportation to child care centers, development of child care facilities
at transit hubs, rideshare activities and “guaranteed ride home”
programs.

MPO

Metropolitan Planning Organization
A federally
required planning body responsible for the transportation planning and
project selection in its region; the governor designates an MPO in every
urbanized area with a population of over 50,000. MTC is the Bay Area’s
MPO.

MTC

Metropolitan Transportation Commission
The
transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine
counties of the San Francisco Bay Area.

MTS

Metropolitan Transportation System
A defined
network of streets and roads, highways, mass transit routes, bikeways,
transfer points, airports and seaports considered essential to regional
mobility.

Ozone Attainment Strategy

This plan details the strategy by which the Bay Area will comply with
federal ozone — or “smog” — standards. The Ozone Attainment Strategy is
prepared by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the Association
of Bay Area Governments and MTC, then submitted for review and approval by
the California Air Resources Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. The plan also provides a transportation “emissions budget” that
identifies allowable levels of pollution from motor vehicles traveling in
the Bay Area. (Also see “Conformity.”)

Paratransit

Door-to-door bus, van and taxi services used to transport elderly and
disabled riders. Sometimes referred to as dial-a-ride service, since trips
are made according to demand instead of along a fixed route or according
to a fixed schedule.

Performance Measures

Indicators of how well the transportation system or specific
transportation projects will improve transportation conditions.

Potential New Revenues

Funds that may be available for transportation investment in the future
if proposed new revenue sources are approved. Current legislative
proposals include a $1 increase in the base toll on state-owned bridges
and indexing the federal gasoline tax to inflation. These potential
revenues are not included in the financially constrained portion of the
long-term transportation plan.

Program

(1) verb, to assign funds to a project that has been approved by MTC,
the state or another agency and (2) noun, a system of funding for
implementing transportation projects or policies, such as through the
State Transportation Improvement Program. (Also see “STIP.”)

Proposition 42

A state constitutional amendment passed by California voters in March
2002 that permanently dedicates 100 percent of the state sales tax on
gasoline for transportation investments, although the Legislature is able
to suspend these provisions in times of fiscal crisis.

RACC

Regional Agency Coordinating Committee
A
nine-member committee — composed of three representatives each from MTC,
the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Association of Bay
Area Governments — that coordinates activities of the three agencies on
issues that affect transportation, land use and air quality.

RTEP

Regional Transit Expansion Program
An identified
list of high-priority rail and express/rapid bus improvements to serve the
Bay Area’s most congested corridors. The program was adopted in December
2001 pursuant to MTC Resolution 3434 to establish clear priorities for the
investment of transit expansion funds over the next decade.

Resolution 3434

See Regional Transit Expansion Program.

Return to Source

A requirement with some funding programs (such as TDA) that the money
flow back to the county where it originated from tax revenues, regardless
of need.

RTIP

Regional Transportation Improvement Program
A
listing of highway, local road, transit and bicycle projects that the
region hopes to fund; compiled by MTC every two years from priority lists
submitted by local jurisdictions. The California Transportation Commission
(CTC) must either approve or reject the RTIP in its entirety. Once the CTC
approves an RTIP, it is combined with those from other regions to comprise
75 percent of the funds in the State Transportation Improvement Program or
STIP. (Also see “STIP.”)

RTP

Regional Transportation Plan
A master plan to
guide the region’s transportation investments for a 25-year period.
Updated every three years, it is based on projections of growth in
population and jobs and the ensuing travel demand. Required by state and
federal law, it includes programs to better maintain, operate and expand
transportation. The Bay Area’s 2005 update of its long-range
transportation plan, now under way, is known as Transportation 2030.

SAFE

Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways
As
the region’s SAFE, MTC, in partnership with the California Highway Patrol
and the California Department of Transportation, oversees the installation
and operation of call boxes along Bay Area freeways and highways, and
administers a roving tow truck service to quickly clear incidents from the
region’s most congested roadways. State legislation in 1987 created the
MTC SAFE, which is funded in part through a $1 surcharge on motor vehicle
registrations.

Sales Tax Authority

An agency that administers a voter-approved county transportation sales
tax program; in most Bay Area counties, the congestion management agency
(CMA) also serves as the sales tax authority.

Self-Help Counties

A term used to describe counties that have taken the initiative to
supplement available state and federal funds by enacting local
voter-approved funding mechanisms — such as half-cent sales taxes — to pay
for transportation improvements. In the Bay Area, five counties have
passed such measures: Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and
Santa Clara.

Smart Growth

A set of policies and programs designed to protect, preserve and
economically stimulate established communities, while protecting valuable
natural and cultural resources and limiting sprawl.

SOV

Single-Occupant Vehicle
A vehicle with one
occupant, the driver, who is sometimes referred to as a “drive
alone.”

STA

State Transit Assistance
Provides funding for mass
transit operations and capital projects.

STIP

State Transportation Improvement Program
What the
California Transportation Commission (CTC) ends up with after combining
various RTIPs, as well as a list of specific projects proposed by
Caltrans. Covering a five-year span and updated every two years, the STIP
determines when and if transportation projects will be funded by the
state. Projects included in the STIP must be consistent with the
long-range transportation plan.

STP

Surface Transportation Program
One of the key
funding programs in TEA 21. STP moneys are “flexible,” meaning they can be
spent on mass transit, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, as well as on
roads and highways.

System Management

A coordinated series of programs involving MTC and partner agencies
such as the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans to make the region’s
existing transportation system work more efficiently. These efforts
include congestion relief initiatives such as the roving Freeway Service
Patrol tow trucks, and traveler information programs such as the toll-free
511 phone service and the http://www.511.org/ Web page.

TCM

Transportation Control Measure
A strategy to
reduce driving or smooth traffic flows in order to cut auto emissions and
resulting air pollution. Required by the Clean Air Act, TCMs for the Bay
Area are developed by MTC. Examples of TCMs include carpool lanes, roving
tow truck patrols to clear stalls and accidents from congested roadways,
new or increased transit service, and ridesharing services to get people
into carpools and vanpools.

TCRP

Traffic Congestion Relief Program
A five-year
state transportation investment plan passed by the California Legislature
and signed into law by Governor Gray Davis in 2000. The plan originally
called for $6.8 billion of spending (with $1.7 billion to the Bay Area)
from fiscal 2000–01 to 2005–06, but subsequent refinancing agreements
postponed the funding until fiscal 2002–03 to 2007–08.

TDA

Transportation Development Act
State law enacted
in 1971. TDA funds are generated from a tax of one-quarter of one percent
on all retail sales in each county; used for transit, special transit for
disabled persons, and bicycle and pedestrian purposes. TDA moneys are
collected by the state and allocated in the Bay Area by MTC to fund
transit operations and programs. In non-urban areas, TDA funds may be used
for streets and roads under certain conditions.

TEA

Transportation Enhancement Activities
A TEA 21
funding category. Ten percent of STP moneys must be set aside for projects
that enhance the compatibility of transportation facilities with their
surroundings. Examples of TEA projects include bicycle and pedestrian
paths, restoration of rail depots or other historic transportation
facilities, acquisition of scenic or open space lands next to travel
corridors, and murals or other public art projects.

TEA 21

Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century

Passed by Congress in May 1998, this federal transportation
legislation retains and expands many of the programs created in 1991 under
the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). Reauthorizes
federal surface transportation programs for six years (1998–2003) and
significantly increases overall funding for transportation.

Title VI

Refers to Title VI of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, and
requires that transportation planning and programming be nondiscriminatory
on the basis of race, color and national origin. Integral to Title VI is
the concept of environmental justice. (Also see “Environmental
Justice.”)

TIP

Transportation Improvement Program
A short-term
(covering three years) program of transportation projects that will be
funded with all federal funds expected to flow to the region; the projects
contained in the TIP are drawn from, and consistent with, the long-range
transportation plan.

TLC

Transportation for Livable Communities
Program
created by MTC in 1998 to fund small-scale, community- and
transit-oriented projects that improve neighborhood vitality.

TOD

Transit-Oriented Development
A type of development
that links land use and transit facilities to support the transit system
and help reduce sprawl, traffic congestion and air pollution. It includes
housing, along with complementary public uses (jobs, retail and services),
located at a strategic point along a regional transit system, such as a
rail hub.

Transportation 2030 Plan

The long-range transportation planning effort now under way in the
nine-county Bay Area to guide transportation policy and investment
decisions through the year 2030.

Travel Demand Model

Used by transportation planners for simulating current travel
conditions and for forecasting future travel patterns and conditions.
Models help planners and policy-makers analyze the effectiveness and
efficiency of alternative transportation investments in terms of mobility,
accessibility, and environmental and equity impacts.

Tribal Government Consultation

A formal process between MPOs and federally recognized Indian tribes,
which are recognized as sovereign nations, that calls for
government-to-government consultation regarding transportation planning
and programming efforts.

Uncommitted Revenues

Anticipated transportation revenues available for new investments after
accounting for revenue committed by law, ballot measure or MTC programming
actions. These revenues account for about 10 percent of all revenues
forecasted to be available over the 25-year period of the regional
transportation plan, and are the major focus of the update process. (Also
see “Committed
Revenues.”)

U.S. DOT

United States Department of Transportation
The
federal cabinet-level agency with responsibility for highways, mass
transit, aviation and ports; it is headed by the Secretary of
Transportation. The DOT includes the Federal Highway Administration and
the Federal Transit Administration, among others. There also are state
DOTs (known in California as Caltrans).

Value Pricing

The concept of assessing higher prices for using certain transportation
facilities during the most congested times of the day, in the same way
that airlines offer off-peak discounts and hotel rooms cost more during
prime tourist seasons. Also known as congestion pricing and peak-period
pricing, examples of this concept include higher bridge tolls during peak
periods or charging single-occupant vehicles that want to use carpool
lanes.

VMT
Vehicle Miles Traveled

One vehicle (whether a car carrying one passenger or a bus carrying 30
people) traveling one mile constitutes a vehicle mile. VMT is one measure
of the use of Bay Area freeways and roads.

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