Congestion Management System (CMS)

A CMS is a systematic process for managing congestion that provides information on transportation system performance and on a range of strategies for minimizing congestion and enhancing the mobility of people and goods. It is a requirement of the federal transportation law, TEA-21. The CMS is a medium-range planning approach that is coordinated with the DVRPC Long Range Plan, corridor studies, and Transportation Improvement Program, and with the work of other agencies.

The current CMS consists of two reports, one for the New Jersey portion of DVRPC and one for the Pennsylvania portion. These reports were published in 1997. The process and reports are being updated for completion in Fall, 2005. The update includes defining congested regional corridors, analyzing the problems, and evaluating multi-modal strategies to improve how these corridors function.

The update of the CMS is coming along well. An Advisory Committee of the nine DVRPC counties, relevant state and federal agencies, and others (including the Regional Citizens Committee) has been guiding the project along. Click here for an overview of the project as of May, 2005.

The status of the CMS update is:

• Analysis of the multimodal transportation system was performed in keeping with the agreed-upon methodology, resulting in a set of congested corridors and a supplemental set of emerging/regionally significant corridors. A region-wide map is included in the overview document available above. The development of corridors took into account parallel roads, transit services and intermodal facilities, freight movement, and land uses (reflecting the 2030 Long Range Plan).
• Current tasks include working with a full range of strategies and breaking the congested corridors into subcorridors where similar transportation strategies are likely to be appropriate.
• Over the summer, appropriate strategies will be agreed upon for each subcorridor and the draft results will go through an appropriate broader public participation process. These appropriate strategies provide an approved framework for corridor studies and projects.
• Other tasks in this project include tracking the completion and effectiveness of related transportation projects and providing planners and engineers with useful products for their work.
• The CMS will be updated regularly.

To participate or request further information, please contact Senior Transportation Planner Zoe Neaderland at ZNeaderland@dvrpc.org.