Corridor System Management Plans
What is a Corridor System Management Plan?
Corridor System Management Plans (CSMPs) provide for the integrated management of travel modes and roadways so as to facilitate the efficient and effective mobility of people and goods within California's most congested transportation corridors. Each CSMP presents an analysis of existing and future traffic conditions and proposes traffic management strategies and transportation improvements to maintain and enhance mobility. CSMP's will address State Highways, local roadways, transit, and other transportation modes.
The corridor management planning strategy is based on the integration of system planning and system management.
System Planning is the long-range transportation planning process of Caltrans that evaluates the current and future operating conditions and deficiencies on the State transportation system. Improvements are recommended to maintain mobility by minimizing or alleviating the identified deficiencies. The process considers the entire transportation system on and off the State Highway System (SHS), including the highways and local arterials, inter- and intra-city transit services, railroads, airports, seaports, non-motorized modes of transportation such as bicycling and walking, goods movement, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), and local land use and environmental issues.
System Management is the process of maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the existing transportation infrastructure through use of proven methods and technologies, which generally involve low capital or no cost activities. A few examples include ramp metering, traffic information collection and dissemination, incident management, high occupancy vehicle lanes, use of local arterial roadways that provide parallel service within the corridor, and demand management strategies, such as transit and rideshare marketing, flexible work hour schedules, and telecommuting.
Why develop Corridor System Management Plans?
CSMPs are an efficient and effective method of maximizing the productivity of our existing transportation resources and planning and deciding which improvements should be funded and in what priority order. The immediate priority is to develop CSMPs throughout the State for corridors within which funding is being used from the Corridor Mobility Improvement Account created by the passage of the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006, approved by the voters as Proposition 1B on November 7, 2006. Caltrans' intent is to eventually develop CSMPs for all congested urban corridors.
What State Highways will have Corridor System Management Plans?
Within District 5, CSMPs are under development for corridor segments of:
- US Route 101, in Monterey County
Within District 5, CSMPs are finalized for corridor segments of:
- US Route 101 (Map), in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties
- US Route 101 (Map), in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties
- State Route 46 (Map), in San Luis Obispo County
- State Route 1 & 183 (Map), in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties
The precise limits of each CSMP will be determined through a collaborative cooperative process involving the major transportation planning organizations and service providers functioning within the corridor.
How will each CSMP be developed?
Development of each CSMP involves a six-step process:
- Defining the Corridor System Management Plan transportation network including, but not limited to, State Highways, major local streets and roads, intercity rail service, regional rail service, primary regional transit service, and key regional bicycle facilities.
- Summarizing existing travel conditions along the corridor.
- Evaluating existing system management practices along the corridor.
- Forecasting future travel conditions along the corridor, including modal performance.
- Preparing a corridor management strategy, including proposed detection and monitoring strategies, needed capital improvement projects, and the roles and responsibilities of each jurisdiction in the corridor management process.
- Acceptance by the applicable regional transportation planning agency.
Which Modes and Roads will be included in each CSMP?
A critical step in the CSMP process is the definition of the corridor transportation network which will be the focus of CSMP corridor improvement and management activities.
Larry Newland, Senior Transportation Planner
San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties
Brandy Rider, Senior Transportation Planner
Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties