Glossary
Acronyms and
Abbreviations
AADT - Average Annual Daily
Traffic:
Estimate of typical daily traffic on a road segment for all days of the week
over a period of one year.
ARISE - A Regional Initiative Supporting Empowerment: a faith-based community-organizing project covering the Capital Districts four counties.
ATMS Advanced Traffic
Management System (ITS)
CAAA90 - Clean Air Act
Amendments of 1990: Federal law which stresses the relationship of transportation
and air quality and the attainment of national ambient air quality standards.
CBD - Central Business District: Core area of urban center where
commercial activity is concentrated.
CDRPC Capital District Regional Planning Commission
CDTA Capital District Transportation Authority
CDTC Capital District Transportation Committee
CEG
Center for Economic Growth: not-for-profit
organization established in 1988 by a group of business, academic, and opinion
leaders to promote the economic growth of
CFR - Code of Federal Regulations: a codification of the rules and
guidance published in the Federal Register by the Executive departments and
agencies of the Federal Government.
CMAQ - Congestion Mitigation/Air
Quality Improvement Program: category of FHWA funds to help improve air quality in
non-attainment and maintenance areas.
CMS - Congestion Management
System:
management system required in TMAs; CMS addresses congestion on the highway and
transit systems.
CNG - Compressed Natural Gas - one of the alternate fuels to
gasoline.
CO - Carbon Monoxide: a criteria pollutant that is
the product of incomplete fuel combustion.
COE -
CSS Context Sensitive Solutions:
EJ - Environmental Justice: effort to assure that the
planning and decision-making process does not have a disproportional high
impact on minority and low-income populations.
EPA -
ESTA -
FHWA -
FTA - Federal Transit
Administration
HBRR -
HC - Hydrocarbons: gaseous compounds made of
carbon and hydrogen (used interchangeably with VOC).
HOV - High Occupancy Vehicle: vehicle carrying a large number
of passengers, such as buses, carpools, and vanpools.
ISTEA - Intermodal Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991: federal law passed by Congress
covering federally funded highway and transit programs for the period
1992-1997.
ITS - Intelligent Transportation
System:
Development and use of technology to enhance ground travel, to improve safety
and the environment. This includes the gathering and dissemination of traveler
information, traffic management and vehicle management in an overall manner.
JARC Job Access Reverse Commute: FTA grant program that assists states and localities in developing new or expanded transportation services that connect welfare recipients and other low income persons to jobs and other employment related services.
LOS - Level of Service: Traffic engineering term
describing the operating conditions a driver experiences while traveling a
particular street or highway.
MAB - Metropolitan Area Boundary: Federally approved
transportation planning boundary of a MPO; the MAB covers the area presently
urbanized and that area expected to be urbanized during the next 20 years
sometimes called the MPA.
MIS - Major Investment Study: Stand-alone analysis required
under ISTEA for major corridor or subarea study. TEA-21 replaced the stand alone MIS
requirement with the directive that the planning analyses be integrated with
NEPA.
MPA Metropolitan Planning Area:
the MPOs study area (see MAB)
MPP - Metropolitan Planning
Program: FTA=s planning funds supporting MPOs.
MPO - Metropolitan Planning
Organization:
Federally mandated organization of coordinating transportation planning. Each urbanized area with a population of over
50,000 must have an MPO.
MSA Metropolitan Statistical
Area: a core area containing a substantial population
nucleus, together with adjacent communities having a high degree of social and
economic integration with that core.
Defined by the Office of Management and Budget
NAAQS - National Ambient Air
Quality Standards:
Emissions standards established under the CAAA90 and subsequent rulings by EPA.
NEPA - National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969
NHS -
NOx - Nitrogen Oxides: a collective term for all
compounds of nitrogen and oxygen.
NYSDEC - New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation
NYSDOT - NYS Department of Transportation
NYSERDA - NYS Energy Research
& Development Authority
PL - Metropolitan Planning Funds: a category of FHWA funds
established specifically for metropolitan transportation planning purposes.
PM-10 - Particulate Matter with a
diameter less than 10 micrometers: a criteria pollutant from many sources; diesel engines
are a major contributor.
Section 3010 - FTA-funded discretionary
program for New Starts.
Section 3037 - FTA-funded discretionary program
supporting Access to Jobs initiatives.
Section 5303 - FTA-funded discretionary
program supporting continuing planning activity and special transit studies.
Section 5307 - FTA-funded formula grant
program for capital improvements and operating assistance to mass transit.
Section 5308 - FTA-funded discretionary program
supporting Clean Fuels programs.
Section 5309 - FTA-funded discretionary
program for capital improvements to mass transit.
Section 5310 - FTA-funded program for capital
projects to meet the special needs of elderly and handicapped (formerly 106(b)(2)).
SEQRA - State Environmental
Quality Review Act:
Article 8 of the
SHPO - State Historic
Preservation Officer
SIP - State Implementation Plan
for air quality:
A document required by CAAA90 to be produced and updated. The document details required levels of
pollution emission reductions and sets deadlines to meet emission reduction
targets.
SOV - Single Occupant Vehicle: A vehicle occupied by one
person, the driver.
STIP - Statewide Transportation
Improvement Program: State document combining the federally funded highway and
transit projects contained in all MPO TIPs plus those projects planned in rural
areas of a State.
STP - Surface Transportation
Program: a
category of FHWA funds.
TANF - Temporary Assistance to
Needy Families:
US Department of Health and Human Services program that replaced the Aid to
dependant Children and several other social aid programs.
TAZ Traffic Analysis Zone: The smallest geographical unit used in the travel-demand
forecasting model.
TCM - Transportation Control
Measure: Means
established by ISTEA and CAAA90 to reduce single occupant vehicle use or total
vehicle miles of travel (e.g., HOV lanes, new parking restrictions, tolls).
TCSP - Transportation and
Community and System Preservation Program: FHWA demonstration program to help control urban sprawl.
TDM - Transportation Demand
Management activities: Strategy designed to improve travel by reducing demand through
techniques such as ridesharing.
TE - Transportation Enhancement: a subcategory of STP funding;
set aside for strengthening the cultural, aesthetic and environmental aspects
of the intermodal transportation system.
TEA-21 - Transportation Equity Act
for the 21st Century: Federal legislation June 1998; authorizes
the Federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and
transit for the six-year period 1998-2003.
TIP - Transportation Improvement
Program:
Five-year program of capital and operating projects, as required by federal
regulation.
TITLE VI - Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964
TMA - Transportation Management
Area: An
urbanized area that contains over 200,000 population
according to the Bureau of the Census.
TOA NYS Transit
Operating Assistance.
TSM Transportation System
Management:
strategies to improve travel through low-cost techniques such as signalization
and channelization.
UAB Urbanized Area Boundary: sometimes called the FHWA UAB . Boundary
resulting from an MPOs smoothing/adjusting of the Census UZA
UZA Urbanized Area Boundary:
urbanized area boundary according to the Bureau of the Census.
UPWP - Unified Planning Work
Program: The
annual or biennial document that guides the federally funded transportation
planning activities within the MPO area.
URA - Uniform Relocation Act: Federal regulations regarding
land use and right-of-way matters.
USDOT - United States Department
of Transportation
VHD - Vehicle Hours of Delay: Measure of delay indicating the
number of hours the traffic stream is delayed.
VMT - Vehicle Miles of Travel: One vehicle traveling one mile.
VOC - Volatile Organic Compounds: gaseous compounds made of
carbon and hydrogen (used interchangeably with HC).
4(f) - Section 4(f) of the USDOT
Act of 1966:
requires special effort to preserve public parks, recreational areas, wildlife
and waterfowl refuge areas and historic sites.