Congestion Management Process in Southeastern Wisconsin

Federal Statute and regulations require transportation management areas (TMAs), such as Southeastern Wisconsin, to develop and implement a congestion management process as part of the regional transportation planning process.  Federal regulations state that the congestion management process shall include methods to monitor and evaluate the performance of the multimodal transportation system, identify the causes of recurring and non-recurring congestion, identify and evaluate alternative strategies, provide information supporting the implementation of actions, and evaluate the effectiveness of implemented actions.

The preparation of the regional transportation plan for Southeastern Wisconsin, its reappraisal on a four year cycle, its major reevaluation and extension on a ten year cycle, and its refinement through more detailed planning and programming efforts, provide the congestion management process for Southeastern Wisconsin.  The adopted year 2035 regional transportation plan was completed in 2006.  The plan reappraisal began in 2009 and was completed in 2010.  The regional transportation operations plan, which provides refinement of the transportation systems management recommendations of the regional transportation plan, was initiated in 2011 and was completed in early 2012. And, a major reevaluation of the regional transportation plan has been initiated and will be completed in 2015.

SEWRPC Memorandum Report No. 203, “Congestion Management Process in Southeastern Wisconsin”, documents how the Federally required congestion management process for Southeastern Wisconsin has been incorporated into the year 2035 regional transportation plan, the regional transportation plan reappraisal, and the regional transportation operations plan. The congestion management process in Southeastern Wisconsin includes the following elements:

• The definition of congestion management objectives and performance measures (identified in the regional transportation plan and plan reappraisal);
• Assessment of historic and existing traffic congestion and congestion trends (identified in the regional transportation plan and plan reappraisal);
• Development, evaluation, and recommendation of actions to address existing and probable future traffic congestion (identified in the regional transportation plan, updated in the plan reappraisal and refined for systems management actions in the regional transportation operations plan);
• Identification of an implementation schedule and implementation responsibilities, and possible funding sources for each recommended action (identified in the regional transportation plan, and updated in the plan reappraisal and air quality conformity assessment, and for transportation systems management measures identified in the regional transportation operations plan); and
• An assessment of the effectiveness of recommended actions (identified in the plan reappraisal).