ISTEA Planner's Workbook

Access, Accessibility

The opportunity to reach a given end use within a certain time frame, or without being impeded by physical, social or economic barriers. Enhancing mobility is one way of providing improved access.

Allocation

An administrative distribution of funds among the States, done for funds that do not have statutory distribution formulas.

Alternative Fuels

Any motor fuel other than ordinary gasoline, especially those that result in lower levels of air pollutants (i.e. reformulated gasoline, natural gas and liquid propane).

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)

Federal Law that requires public facilities, including transportation services, to be fully accessible for persons with disabilities. ADA also requires the provision of complementary or supplemental paratransit services in areas where fixed route transit service is operated. Expands definition of eligibility for accessible services to persons with mental disabilities, temporary disabilities, and the conditions related to substance abuse. The Act is an augmentation to, but does not supersede, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability against otherwise qualified individuals in programs receiving federal assistance.

Apportionment

A term that refers to a statutorily prescribed division or assignment of funds. An apportionment is based on prescribed formulas in the law and consists of dividing authorized obligation authority for a specific program among the States.

Appropriations Act

Action of a legislative body that makes funds available for expenditure with specific limitations as to amount, purpose, and duration. In most cases, it permits money previously authorized to be obligated and payments made, but for the highway program operating under contract authority, appropriations specify amounts of funds that Congress will make available to liquidate prior obligations.

Arterial

A class of street serving major traffic movement that is not designated as a highway.

Attainment Area

An area considered to have air quality that meets or exceeds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) health standards used in the Clean Air Act. An area may be an attainment area for one pollutant and a non-attainment area for others. Non-attainment areas are areas considered not to have met these standards for designated pollutants.

Authorization Act

Basic substantive legislation or that which empowers an agency to implement a particular program and also establishes an upper limit on the amount of funds that can be appropriated for that program.

Average Daily Traffic (ADT)

The average number of vehicles passing a fixed point in a 24-hour time frame. A convention for measuring traffic volume.

Base Year

The lead-off year of data used in a study.

Bikeway

A facility designed to accommodate bicycle travel for recreational or commuting purposes. Bikeways are not necessarily separated facilities; they may be designed and operated to be shared with other travel modes.

Budget Authority

Empowerment by Congress that allows Federal agencies to incur obligations to spend or lend money. This empowerment is generally in the form of appropriations. However, for the major highway program categories, it is in the form of "contract authority." Budget authority permits agencies to obligate all or part of the funds that were previously "authorized." Without budget authority, Federal agencies cannot commit the government to make expenditures or loans.

Build/No-Build

Refers to conformity requirement during Interim and Transitional periods whereby Metropolitan Planning Organizations must demonstrate that "building" or implementing a long range plan (LRP) and Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs) will provide more emissions reduction than "not building" or not implementing that same long range plan and TIP.

Bus Lane

A lane reserved for bus use only. Sometimes also known as a "diamond lane." See also "HOV."

Carbon Monoxide (CO)

A colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that impedes the oxygenation of blood. CO is formed in large part by incomplete combustion of fuel.

Central Business District (CBD)

The most intensely commercial sector of a city.

Clean Fuels

Fuels that, when burned, generate fewer pollutants than gasoline. Compressed natural gas (CNG), methanol, ethanol, and others are considered clean fuels. Also known under heading, "Alternative Fuels."

Collector-Distributor Street

A road generally parallel to an expressway which collects and distributes traffic at access points to the expressway involving through lanes.

Conformity

Process to assess the compliance of any transportation plan, program, or project with air quality control plans. The conformity process is defined by the Clean Air Act.

Congestion Management and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ)

A new categorical funding program created with the ISTEA. Directs funding to projects that contribute to meeting national air quality standards. CMAQ funds generally may not be used for projects that result in the construction of new capacity available to SOVs (single-occupant vehicles).

Congestion Management System (CMS)

ISTEA requires that each Transportation Management Area (see definition of TMA) develop a CMS that provides for effective management of new and existing transportation facilities through the use of travel demand reduction and operational management strategies. Unless a part of a CMS, future highway projects that significantly increase capacity for single occupant vehicles (SOVs) may be ineligible for federal funding.

Consolidation

Restructuring transportation services to serve the same market with fewer service providers.

Contract Authority

A form of budget authority that permits obligations to be made in advance of appropriations. The Federal-Aid Highway Program operates mostly under contract authority rules.

Coordination

When agencies share responsibilities related to transporting clients: carrying others' clients, arranging with other agencies to carry clients, or sharing vehicles or vehicle support services including maintenance, etc. Example: a provider whose major activity is transporting elderly clients may make midday schedule space to serve clients of an AFDC, WIC, or substance abuse prevention program.

Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE)

Refers to the federal fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.

Demand-Responsive

Descriptive term for a service type, usually considered paratransit, in which a user can access transportation service that can be variably routed and timed to meet changing needs on an as-needed basis. Compare with Fixed-Route.

Dial-a-Ride

Term for demand-responsive systems usually delivering door-to-door service to clients who make requests by telephone on an as-needed reservation or subscription basis.

Elderly and Handicapped (E&H)

Anachronistic designation for special transportation planning and services.

Emissions Budget

The part of the State Implementation Plan (SIP) that identifies allowable emissions levels, mandated by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, for certain pollutants emitted from mobile, stationary, and area sources. The emissions levels are used for meeting emission reduction milestones, attainment, or maintenance demonstrations.

Enhancement Activities

Refers to activities related to a particular transportation project that "enhance" or contribute to the existing or proposed project. Examples of such activities include provision of facilities for pedestrians or cyclists, landscaping or other scenic beautification projects, historic preservation, control and removal of outdoor advertising, archeological planning and research, and mitigation of water pollution due to highway runoff.

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Report which details any adverse economic, social, and environmental effects of a proposed transportation project for which federal funding is being sought. Adverse effects could include air, water, or noise pollution; destruction or disruption of natural resources; adverse employment effects; injurious displacement of people or businesses; or disruption of desirable community or regional growth.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

EPA is the federal source agency of air quality control regulations affecting transportation.

Expenditures (Outlays)

A term signifying disbursement of funds for repayment of obligations incurred. An electronic transfer of funds, or a check sent to a State highway or transportation agency for voucher payment, is an expenditure or outlay.

Expressway

A controlled access, divided arterial highway for through traffic, the intersections of which are usually separated from other roadways by differing grades.

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

Division of the U.S. Department of Transportation that funds highway planning and programs.

Financial Capacity, Capability

Refers to U.S. Department of Transportation requirement that an adequate financial plan for funding and sustaining transportation improvements be in place prior to programming federally-funded projects. Generally refers to the stability and reliability of revenue in meeting proposed costs.

Fiscal Year (FY)

Since FY 1977, the yearly accounting period beginning October 1 and ending September 30 of the subsequent calendar year. Prior to FY 1977, the Federal fiscal year started on July 1 and ended the following June 30. Fiscal years are denoted by the calendar year in which they end; e.g., FY 1991 began October 1, 1990, and ended September 30, 1991.

Fixed-Route

Term applied to transit service that is regularly scheduled and operates over a set route. Usually refers to bus service.

Fragmentation

A situation stemming from the lack of effective and efficient integration of programs, facilities and services.

Freeway

A divided arterial highway designed for the unimpeded flow of large traffic volumes. Access to a freeway is rigorously controlled and intersection grade separations are required.

Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

Division of the U.S. Department of Transportation that funds transit planning and programs.

Gasohol

An alternative motor fuel that is a blend of 90% ordinary gasoline and 10% ethanol which fermented from biomass (e.g., corn). It can be used interchangeably with gasoline in conventional cars.

Guaranteed Ride Home

Refers to employer-sponsored program that encourages employees to carpool, use transit, bike or walk to work by guaranteeing them a ride home in case they cannot take the same mode home (e.g., if they need to work late or if an emergency occurs).

High Occupancy Vehicles (HOVs)

Generally applied to vehicles carrying three or more people. Freeways, expressways and other large volume roads may have lanes designated for HOV use. HOV lanes may be designated for use by carpoolers, vanpools, and buses. The term HOV is also sometimes used to refer to high occupancy vehicle lanes themselves.

High-Speed Ground Transportation (HSGT)

Includes HSR (High Speed Rail) and magnetic levitation, or "Maglev" systems. Examples of HSR include the Japanese Shinkansen, or "bullet trains," and the French TGV, or Train a la Grande Vitesse. HSR systems use continuously-welded track, and range in travel speed from 120 m.p.h to a maximum tested by TGV of 320 m.p.h. Maglev systems are lifted, guided, and propelled by electrically powered magnets along elevated guideways and can travel securely at 300 m.p.h.

Highway

Term applies to roads, streets, and parkways, and also includes rights-of-way, bridges, railroad crossings, tunnels, drainage structures, signs, guard rails, and protective structures in connection with highways.

Home-Based Work Trip

A trip to or from home for the purpose of one's employment.

Hot-Spot Analysis

Analysis of particulate matter and/or carbon monoxide emissions at particularly polluted or high-emission areas or intersections.

Infrastructure

A term connoting the physical underpinnings of society at large, including, but not limited to, roads, bridges, transit, waste system, public housing, sidewalks, utility installations, parks, public buildings, and communications networks.

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)

Use of computer and communications technology to facilitate the flow of information between travelers and system operators. Includes concepts such as "freeway management systems," "automated fare collection," and "transit information kiosks." IVHS technologies are a subset of ITS technologies.

Intelligent-Vehicle Highway Systems (IVHS)

Narrow grouping of ITS technologies that focus on monitoring, guiding or operating motorized vehicles. See Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA)

Legislative initiative by the U.S. Congress that restructured funding for transportation programs. ISTEA authorized increased levels of highway and transportation funding and an enlarged role for regional planning commissions/MPOs in funding decisions. The Act also requires comprehensive regional long-range transportation plans extending to the year 2015 and places an increased emphasis on public participation and transportation alternatives.

Interstate System

The system of highways that connects the principal metropolitan areas, cities, and industrial centers of the United States. The Interstate System also connects the U.S. to internationally significant routes in Mexico and Canada. The routes of the Interstate System are selected jointly by the state department of transportation for each state and the adjoining states, subject to the approval of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

Land Use

Refers to the manner in which portions of land or the structures on them are used, i.e., commercial, residential, retail, industrial, etc.

Limitation on Obligations

Any action or inaction by an officer or employee of the United States that limits the amount of Federal assistance that may be obligated during a specified time period. A limitation on obligations does not affect the scheduled apportionment or allocation of funds, it just controls the rate at that these funds may be used.

Local Street

A street intended solely for access to adjacent properties.

Long Range

In transportation planning, refers to a time span of more that five years. The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is typically regarded as a short-range program, since ISTEA has changed the TIP from a five-year to a three-year document. See "Transportation Improvement Program."

Management Systems

Six systems required under ISTEA to improve identification of problems and opportunities throughout the entire surface transportation network, and to evaluate and prioritize alternative strategies, actions and solutions. The six management systems include: Pavement Management System (PMS), Bridge Management System (BMS), Highway Safety Management System (HSMS), Congestion Management System (CMS), Public Transit Facilities and Equipment Management System (PTMS) and Intermodal Management System (IMS).

Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)

The organizational entity designated by law with lead responsibility for developing transportation plans and programs for urbanized areas of 50,000 or more in population. MPOs are established by agreement of the Governor and units of general purpose local government which together represents 75 percent of the affected population or an urbanized area.

Mobility

The ability to move or be moved from place to place.

Mode, Intermodal, Multimodal

Form of transportation, such as automobile, transit, bicycle and walking. Intermodal refers to the connections between modes and multimodal refers to the availability of transportation options within a system or corridor.

Model

A mathematical and geometric projection of activity and the interactions in the transportation system in an area. This projection must be able to be evaluated according to a given set of criteria which typically include criteria pertaining to land use, economics, social values, and travel patterns.

Network

A graphic and/or mathematical representation of multimodal paths in a transportation system.

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

Federal standards that set allowable concentrations and exposure limits for various pollutants.

National Highway Systems (NHS)

A federal transportation program authorized by ISTEA that designates nationally significant Interstate Highways and roads for interstate travel, national defense, intermodal connections, and international commerce. Other eligible activities include bikeways and park-and-ride lots. The NHS is currently being developed as the first component of a larger, intermodal National Transportation System. See "National Transportation System."

National Transportation System (NTS)

ISTEA called for the development of a "National Intermodal Transportation System that is economically efficient and environmentally sound, provides the foundation for the Nation to compete in the global economy, and will move people and goods in an energy efficient manner." The NTS is intended to allow for the development of transportation planning, program management and investment strategies that will bring about a transportation system that will move people and goods more effectively and efficiently, and thereby advance our economic, environmental and social goals. Secretary Pena has launched an outreach initiative to identify the NTS.

Obligation Authority

See "Limitation on Obligations."

Obligations

Commitments made by Federal agencies to pay out money as distinct from the actual payments, which are "outlays." Generally, obligations are incurred after the enactment of budget authority. However, since budget authority in many highway programs is in the form of contract authority, obligations in these cases are permitted to be incurred immediately after apportionment or allocation. The obligations are for the Federal share of the estimated full cost of each project at the time it is approved regardless of when the actual payments are made or the expected time of project completion.

Oxygenated Fuels

Gasoline blended with alcohol or ether containing oxygen. Use of such fuels reduces carbon monoxide production and other emissions.

Ozone

Ozone is a colorless gas with a sweet odor. Ozone is not a direct emission from transportation sources. It is a secondary pollutant formed when hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) combine in the presence of sunlight. The ozone is associated with smog or haze conditions. Although the ozone in the upper atmosphere protects us from harmful ultraviolet rays, ground level ozone produces an unhealthy environment in which to live.

Paratransit

Alternatively known as special transportation when applied to social services systems. Applies to a variety of smaller, often flexibly-scheduled and routed nonprofit-oriented transportation services using low-capacity vehicles, such as vans, to operate within normal urban transit corridors or rural areas. These services usually serve the needs of persons that standard mass transit services would serve with difficulty, or not at all. Common patrons are the elderly and persons with disabilities.

Particulate Matter (PM), (PM-10)

Any material that exists as solid or liquid in the atmosphere. Particulate matter may be in the form of fly ash, soot, dust, fog, fumes, etc. Small particulate matter, or PM-10, is less than 10 microns in size and is too small to be filtered by the nose and lungs.

Peak Hour

The 60-minute period in the a.m. or p.m. in which the largest volume of travel is experienced.

Pedestrian Walkway

A secured path for walking.

Penalty

An action that does not allow a State to use the full amount of its apportioned funds. The action may be a withholding of project approvals or withholding of a percentage of the State's apportionment. The action may be taken when the State does not comply with a required provision of law.

Person-Trip

A trip made by one person from one origin to one destination.

Privatization

The supplying traditionally government-supplied goods and services through for-profit business entities to enhance public cost efficiency.

Provider

An agency that causes clients to be transported, as opposed to an agency whose role is limited to funding programs.

Public Authority

A Federal, State, county, town, or township, Indian tribe, municipal or other local government or instrumentality with authority to finance, build, operate, or maintain toll or toll-free transportation facilities.

Public Participation

The active and meaningful involvement of the public in the development of transportation plans and improvement programs. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and subsequent regulations require that state departments of transportation and MPOs proactively seek the involvement of all interested parties, including those traditionally underserved by the current transportation system.

Public Road

Any road or street under the jurisdiction of and maintained by a public authority and open to public traffic.

Rescission

A legislative action to cancel the obligation of unused budget authority previously provided by Congress before the time when the authority would have otherwise lapsed. Rescission may be proposed by the Executive Branch but requires legislative action to become effective.

Region

An entire metropolitan area including designated urban and rural subregions.

Regionally Significant

A term which has been defined in federal transportation planning regulations as "a project...that is on a facility which serves regional transportation needs...and would normally be included in the modeling of a metropolitan area's transportation network, including, at a minimum, all principal arterial highway and fixed guideway transit facilities that offer a significant alternative to regional highway travel."

Reverse Commute

Commuting against the main directions of traffic. Often refers to the central city to suburb commute.

Right of Way (R-O-W)

Priority paths for the construction and operation of highways, light and heavy rail, railroads, etc.

Scenic Byway Program

Program to establish scenic byways which are typically secondary roads having significant cultural, historic, scenic, geological, or natural features. They often include vistas, rest areas, and interpretive sites in harmony with the scenic characteristics of the road.

Shuttle

Usually a service provided with an up-to-20 passenger vehicle connecting major trip destinations and origins on a fixed- or route-deviation basis. Shuttles can provider feeder service to main transit routes, or operate in a point-to-point or circular fashion.

Single-Occupant Vehicles (SOVs)

A SOV is a vehicle used to get just one person to a destination.

Social Equity, Justice

The provision of affordable, efficient and accessible transportation services to all people regardless of race, ethnicity, income, gender, or disability. A socially equitable transportation system provides all people with convenient access to meaningful jobs, services and recreational opportunities.

Stage II Controls

Mechanisms on gasoline pumps designed to control and capture vapors during vehicle fueling.

Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA)

A Census Bureau delineation for major metro areas in the U.S.

State Highway Department

The department, commission, board, or official of any State responsible for highway construction, maintenance and management.

State Implementation Plan (SIP)

Required documents prepared by states and submitted to EPA for approval. SIPs identify state actions and programs to implement designated responsibilities under the Clean Air Act.

Surface Transportation Program

A new categorical funding program created with the ISTEA. Funds may be used for a wide variety of purposes, including: roadway construction, reconstruction, resurfacing, restoration and rehabilitation; roadway operational improvements; capital costs for transit projects; highway and transit safety improvements; bicycle and pedestrian facilities; scenic and historical transportation facilities; and, preservation of abandoned transportation corridors.

Telecommuting

The substitution, either partially or completely, of transportation to a conventional office through the use of computer and telecommunications technologies (e.g., telephones, personal computers, modems, facsimile machines, electronic mail). Implies either work at home or at a satellite work center that is closer to an employee's home than the conventional office.

Title III

Title of the Older Americans Act enabling expenditures for nutrition and transportation programs that service elderly persons.

Title IV

Title of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that ensures that no person in the United States will be discriminated against on the basis of race, color or national origin. The transportation planning regulations, issued in October 1993, require that metropolitan transportation planning processes be consistent with Title IV.

Transit

Generally refers to passenger service provided to the general public along established routes with fixed or variable schedules at published fares. Related terms include: public transit, mass transit, public transportation, urban transit and paratransit.

Transit Dependent

Persons who must rely on public transit or paratransit services for most of their transportation. Typically refers to individuals without access to personal vehicle.

Transportation Control Measures (TCMs)

Local actions to adjust traffic patterns or reduce vehicle use to reduce air pollutant emissions. These may include HOV lanes, provision of bicycle facilities, ridesharing, telecommuting, etc.

Transportation Disadvantaged

Those persons who have little or no access to meaningful jobs, services and recreation because of a transportation system that does not meet their needs. Often refers to those individuals who cannot drive a private automobile because of age, disability or lack of resources. See also "Social Equity, Justice."

Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)

This is a document prepared by states and planning commissions citing projects to be funded under federal transportation programs for a full-year period. Without TIP inclusion, a project is ineligible for federal funding.

Transportation Management Area (TMA)

Defined by ISTEA as all urbanized areas over 200,000 in population. Within a TMA, all transportation plans and programs must be based on a continuing and comprehensive planning process carried out by the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) in cooperation with states and transit operators. The TMA boundary affects the responsibility for the selection of transportation projects that receive federal funds.

Transportation Management Association (TMA)

A voluntary association of public and private agencies and firms joined to cooperatively develop transportation-enhancing programs in a given area. TMAs are appropriate organizations to better manage transportation demand in congested suburban communities.

Transportation System Management (TSM)

The element of a TIP (Transportation Improvement Program) that proposes non-capital-intensive steps toward the improvement of a transportation system, such as refinement of system and traffic management, the use of bus priority or reserved lanes, and parking strategies. It includes actions to reduce vehicle use, facilitate traffic flow, and improve internal transit management.

Travel Time

Customarily calculated as the time it takes to travel from "door-to-door." In transportation planning, particularly in forecasting the demand for transit service, measures of travel time include time spent accessing, waiting, and transferring between vehicles, as well as that time spent on board.

Trust Funds

Accounts established by law to hold receipts that are collected by the Federal Government and earmarked for specific purposes and programs. These receipts are not available for the general purposes of the Federal Government. The Highway Trust Fund is comprised of receipts from certain highway user taxes (e.g., excise taxes on motor fuel, rubber, and heavy vehicles) and reserved for use for highway construction, mass transportation, and related purposes.

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)

The principal direct federal funding and regulating agency for transportation facilities and programs. Contains FHWA and FTA.

Urbanized Area

Area which contains a city of 50,000 or more population plus incorporated surrounding areas meeting set size or density criteria.

Vehicle Miles of Travel (VMT)

A standard areawide measure of travel activity. Most conventional VMT calculation is to multiply average length of trip by the total number of trips.

Zone

The smallest geographically designated area for analysis of transportation activity. A zone can be from one to 10 square miles in area. Average zone size depends on total size of study area.

Sources:

Federal Register, "Statewide and Metropolitan Planning Regulations," Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration, United States Department of Transportation.

Financing Federal-Aid Highways, Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation.

"A Summary of Transportation Programs and Provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990," Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation.

"Talking the Talk," East-West Gateway Coordinating Council.