Congestion continues to grow in America¿s urban areas. This report presents details on the 2004 trends, findings and what can be done to address the growing transportation problems. Trend data from 1982 to 2002 for 85 urban areas provides both a local view and a national perspective on the growth and extent of traffic congestion. The 2004 Report provides clear evidence that the time for improvements has arrived. Communicating the congestion levels and the need for improvements is a goal of this report. The decisions about which, and how much, improvement to fund will be made at the local level according to a variety of goals, but there are some broad conclusions that can be drawn from this database. Tables.

"These guidelines are intended for transportation practitioners involved in the planning, design, and operation of congestion-pricing projects. They will help agencies select or develop measures to evaluate these projects, collect the necessary data, track performance, and communicate the results to decision makers, users, and the general public. These guidelines will be valuable to all agencies who are using or considering congestion pricing to manage their roadway capacity."--Foreword.

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 required states to develop and implement 6 systems for managing highway pavement, bridges, highway safety, traffic congestion, public transportation facilities and equipment, and intermodal transportation facilities and systems. In 1995, the National Highway System Designation Act made the systems optional. This report identifies: the status of the states' development and implementation of the transportation management systems; how the states expect to use the systems; and the factors that have facilitated or hindered the development and implementation of the systems.

This synthesis report will be of interest to department of transportation ( DOT) administrators, planning supervisors, managers, and staffs, as well as to planning consultants that work with them. It provides information for practitioners interested in the results of attempts to apply multimodal considerations at the statewide level and identifies key research findings. It covers post-ISTEA (Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991) processes and projects and both passenger and freight activities. The report examines the application of three multimodal aspects: alternatives, modal mix, and integration into three statewide planning functions, which include state planning, corridor studies, and financing, budgeting, and programming. The emphasis is on implementation. This report of the Transportation Research Board documents processes and research currently under development, using three approaches: a literature review, results of a survey of state DOTs, and five case studies. It cites the following states with exemplary practices in multimodal/intermodal transportation based on a 1998 report by the policy research project at the University of Texas on Multimodal/ Intermodal Transportation: Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

This guidebook provides methods for integrating performance measures from individual transportation modes and multiple jurisdictions and for developing new measures, if needed, to monitor transportation network performance. These network performance measures can be used to improve system management, planning, and investment decisions and can be applied to various scenarios. The guidebook should be of immediate use to practitioners in state, regional, or local governments; specially designated authorities; or those in the private sector who are responsible for measuring, operating, and investing in the performance of multimodal and/or multijurisdictional transportation networks.

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) required states to develop and implement six systems for managing highway pavement, bridges, highway safety, traffic congestion, public transportation facilities and equipment, and intermodal transportation facilities and systems. In 1995, the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 - often called the NHS Act - made the systems optional, except the congestion management system in certain areas, and prohibited the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) from withholding funds from states that elected not to implement any system. In addition, the NHS Act required the General Accounting Office (GAO) to examine issues concerning the states' implementation of the management systems. GAO agreed to identify (1) the status of the states' development and implementation of the systems, (2) how the states expect to use the systems, and (3) the factors that have facilitated or hindered the development and implementation of the systems.

Federal planning legislation and regulations now mandate that state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations consider the needs of freight when planning and programming transportation investments. While there are standard techniques used to forecast the movement of people, less attention has been paid to forecasting freight movements, and there are consequently fewer standardized techniques that state and local agencies can adapt to their local situation. This Toolkit is designed to provide transportation planners with the information they need to prepare forecasts of freight transportation by highlighting techniques successfully developed by state agencies across the country.