Transportation Glossary

Accessibility
The ability to reach a location; a way or means of approach

Berkshire Transportation Forum  (BTF)

an open group for public participation by all interested people who live, work, or otherwise care about transportation in the Berkshires.

Capacity

The volume of vehicles the road was designed to carry in a unit of time, such as an hour; can also be applied to transit or bicycle/pedestrian paths

Corridor Access Management
A range of ways to preserve the safe, efficient traffic operations and character of roads through application of land use control measures, design approaches, and coordination of transportation and land use planning.

Environmental Justice (EJ)

The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, culture, education, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. In transportation, this requires review of whether the benefits and burdens of transportation investments appear to be distributed evenly across the regional demographic profile and, if necessary, mitigation of such effects.

Intermodal

The integration of various modes in a whole transportation system or facility

Level of Service (LOS)

A rating of A through F (similar to report card grades) that summarizes transportation operating conditions. It is usually used to describe a section of road or an intersection as experienced by drivers, but can also be applied for users of other modes of transportation.

Metropolitan Planning Organization  (MPO)
The Berkshire MPO consists of the following:

• Executive Office of Transp. & Construction (EOTC) Secretary
• Mass. Highway Department (MassHighway) Commissioner
• Berkshire Regional Transportation Authority (BRTA) Chair
• Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) Chair

Mobility
The ability to move or be moved easily.

Mode

A way people or goods get from one place to another, such as using cars and trucks, freight and passenger trains, walking, bicycling, and riding buses.

Paratransit

Use of small buses or vans on flexible routes, usually serving people who cannot easily get around

State Implementation Plan (SIP)
The statement of how the transportation, environmental, and health communities expect to meet federal air quality safety standards.

Transportation Improvement Program  (TIP)
The multi-year capital program of transportation projects updated each year

Regional Transportation Plan  (RTP)
The guiding document for all federally funded transportation planning efforts,  with a twenty year horizon and updated every three years.

Traffic Calming
Measures to reduce the negative effects of vehicles, and improve conditions for walking or bicycling. A familiar example is the orange barrels with the warning to stop for pedestrians.

Traffic Model
A traffic model is a tool for representing and analyzing the major ways people get around. Usually this tool is a software package which incorporates a road network, land use data, and a mathematical formula to distribute and route trips. The model is calibrated to existing traffic counts. Then it can be used to forecast traffic and test the effect of changes in the road network.

Travel Demand Management (TDM)
TDM is a combination of strategies or actions whose goal is to encourage travelers to use alternatives to driving alone. TDM strategies may be developed for a single work site, specific corridor, or area.

Travel System Management (TSM)
TSM is a combination of low-cost strategies that use a total approach to transportation system management. The goal is to shift emphasis from expanding capacity to making better use of existing transportation systems.

Travel Time
The time it takes to travel door-to-door.

Unified Work Program  (UWP)
The statement of transportation planning tasks to be completed for the year & the budget for them

Vehicle Miles of Travel (VMT)
The sum of all the miles traveled by vehicles (not people) in a specified amount of time

Volume
The number of vehicles that actually pass through a given mile of road in a unit of time such as a day; can also be applied to transit or bicycle/pedestrian paths.

Sources

1. Talking the Talk: A Guide to the Language of Transportation Planning (St. Louis, MO: East-West Gateway Coordinating Council, 2000). ftp://ftp.ewgateway.org/library/trans/talkingthetalk.pdf
   
2. Glossary of Transportation Terms and Acronyms (Texas Department of Transportation, 2002). www.dot.state.tx.us/insdtdot/geodist/ans/mis/i35mis/i35gloss.htm