As required under 1990's Proposition 111, every county in California is required to develop a Congestion Management Program (CMP) that looks at the links between land use, transportation and air quality. In its role as the county's Congestion Management Agency, RCTC prepares and periodically updates the county's CMP to focus on meeting federal Congestion Management System guidelines. The current CMP was adopted by RCTC in November 2006. The next CMP update is scheduled for adoption by RCTC in February 2009.

Each county in California has developed a CMP with varying methods and strategies to meet the intent of the CMP legislation. The CMP legislation has been found consistent with the federal Congestion Management System (CMS) program. Therefore, counties with adopted CMP's are also complying with CMS requirements.

In 1997, RCTC significantly modified its original CMP to focus on meeting federal Congestion Management System (CMS) guidelines. This led to the development of an Enhanced Traffic Monitoring System in which real-time traffic count data can be accessed by RCTC to evaluate the condition of the CMS, as well as meet other traffic monitoring requirements at the state and federal levels.

The Enhanced Traffic Monitoring System consists of the installation of traffic counters at call box and Caltrans' traffic monitoring sites. This enables RCTC to have immediate access to traffic count data to effectively monitor the highway system for deficiencies. The count information can also be used for project evaluations and planning activities.

As a result, RCTC no longer requires Traffic Impact Assessments (TIA's) for development proposals. However, local agencies are required to maintain minimum level of service (LOS) thresholds included in their respective general plans and would require TIA's on developments through their local review processes.

Local agencies whose developments impact the CMP system by causing the LOS on a non-exempt segment to fall to "F" must prepare deficiency plans. These plans outline specific mitigation measures and a schedule for mitigating the deficiency.

Click here for the Congestion Management Program