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Access, Accessibility
The opportunity to reach a given end use within a certain time frame, or without being impeded by physical, social or economic barriers. Typically, accessibility is the extent to which transportation improvements make connections between geographic areas or portions of the region that were not previously well connected.
Air Quality
The cleanliness of the air; the fewer pollutants in the air, the better the air quality.
Alignment
The route that an improvement, such as a bus or light rail line, could take through a corridor.
Alternative
A feasible transportation improvement that is under consideration
Amtrak
The nation’s intercity passenger rail system. Amtrak is the brand name of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, a quasi-governmental agency created in 1971.
Average Daily Traffic (ADT)
The total volume of traffic in both directions on a highway during a time period of greater than one day but less than a year, then divided by the number of days for which traffic data were collected.
Arterial
A major street, primarily for through traffic, usually with unlimited access to adjacent streets.
Capacity
The maximum amount of traffic on any transportation facility that can be accommodated and still function.
Collector
A road that collects and distributes traffic. Sometimes built next to an expressway to collect traffic from the area and then funnel it onto the expressway. Generally fewer lanes than an arterial.
Containerized Cargo
Cargo is commercial goods that are being transported. Containers are standard-size, metal boxes that carry cargo and can be moved between modes, like between a ship, railcar or truck. Container on Flatcar (COFC) and Trailer on Flatcar (TOFC) are containers or truck trailers that sit on and are transported by flatbed railcars.
Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS), IDOT program
An interdisciplinary approach that seeks effective, multimodal transportation solutions by working with stakeholders to develop, build and maintain cost-effective transportation facilities which fit into and reflect the project's scenic, economic, historic, and natural surroundings.
Demographics
Descriptive characteristics of populations. Examples include age, race and ethnicity, gender, income, employment and household status.
Destination
The place where a trip ends.
Environment
Surrounding conditions or circumstances. Usually used as a reference to nature (the natural environment) but also can include man-made conditions (the built environment).
Environmental Factors
In transportation, these factors include air, water and living (eco)systems, as well as community and social factors such as aesthetics/visual, archeology, culture, economics, history and noise.
Environmental Mitigation
Methods, strategies or actions to reduce the negative effects, direct, indirect and cumulative, of a transportation project on the environment.
Expressway/Freeway
A controlled-access, divided highway for through traffic. Intersections with other roads are separated by different road levels.
Fatality
Any death on the transportation system that occurs as a result of a moving vehicle.
Freeway/Expressway
A controlled-access, divided highway for through traffic. Intersections with other roads are separated by different road levels.
Freight
Commercial goods carried by a vehicle, usually a truck, plane, train or ship; cargo.
Forecast
A calculation or estimate of future conditions.
Functional Classification
A method of cataloging a road’s purpose and design. Roads are generally classified as Interstates, Freeways / Expressways, Arterials (principal or minor, urban or non-urban), Collectors (major or minor, urban or non-urban), and local roads (urban or non-urban).
Highway
Term used to describe higher capacity roads; also includes rights of way, bridges, railroad crossings, tunnels, drainage structures, signs, guardrails, and protective structures in connection with highways.
High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV)
A vehicle, usually privately owned, with two or more passengers.
Human Services Transportation
Transportation services for disabled, low income and older persons (see Paratransit).
IDOT Bureau of Railroads
The Bureau of Railroads administers rail service programs for both passenger and freight rail service. The Bureau supplements the approximately 38 national Amtrak trains that provide rail passenger service on the national system with 20 state sponsored rail passenger trains between Chicago and Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, Quincy and Milwaukee. Under the rail freight program, IDOT administers low-interest loans to finance rail improvements that will preserve freight service critical to keeping and expanding industry and employment.
IDOT Division of Aeronautics
This division works with local airport agencies to maintain and upgrade the state’s airport system, in addition to developing safety programs, aerospace education programs, and administrative assistance to the Civil Air Patrol. They oversee more than 20,000 registered pilots and more than 10,000 registered airplanes.
IDOT Division of Highways
The largest IDOT division is responsible for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the state highway system and the administration of the state's local roads and streets program.
IDOT Division of Public and Intermodal Transportation
This division provides technical assistance and administers state and federal funding to 50 public transit systems throughout the state.
IDOT Division of Traffic Safety
This division is responsible for highway safety activities and compiles crash data and evaluates and analyzes the information to identify highway improvements in problem areas. The division is also responsible for inspection of school buses, trucks and ambulances and overseeing the transportation of hazardous materials.
IDOT Office of Planning and Programming
This office is responsible for managing the planning and programming of the state’s transportation system. Planning activities include the State Transportation Plan, coordinating with the 14 metropolitan planning organizations and working with the non-metropolitan areas in addressing the state’s transportation needs.
Infrastructure
A term connoting the physical underpinnings of society at large, including, but not limited to, roads, bridges, transit, water and waste systems, public housing, sidewalks, utility installations, parks, public buildings and communications networks.
Interstate System
The system of highways that connects the principal metropolitan areas, cities, and industrial centers of the United States. The Interstate system also connects the US to internationally significant routes in Mexico and Canada. The routes of the Interstate System are selected jointly by the state department of transportation for each state and the adjoining states, subject to the approval of the US Secretary of Transportation.
Land Use
Refers to how land and the structures (development) on it are used. For example, different land uses include agriculture, commercial, residential, industrial, retail, and public uses.
Level of Service (LOS)
A qualitative measure describing operational conditions and the perception of transportation users of the existing conditions. Generally using six levels of service ranging from A to F, with level of service A representing the best operating conditions and level of service F the worst. Initially used to define the road network, the concept has been expanded to include bicycle and pedestrian conditions.
Local Street
A low-volume, high-access road intended solely for access to adjacent properties.
Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP)
In transportation planning, typically covers a twenty-year time span. Projects expecting to use federal funding must be included in the LRTP.
Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
The organizational entity designated by law with responsibility for developing transportation plans and programs for urbanized areas of 50,000 or more in population. There are 14 MPOs in Illinois.
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
Census Bureau delineation for major metro areas in the US. Also includes standard (SMSA) and consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA).
Mobility
The ability to move or be moved from place to place. Typically, mobility is the ease with which movement can occur between geographic areas or parts of the region.
Mode, Intermodal, Multimodal
Forms of transportation, such as personal motorized vehicle, public transit, bicycling and walking. Intermodal refers to the connections between modes, and multimodal refers to the availability of transportation options within a system or corridor.
Network
The sum of the separate multimodal segments of a transportation system.
Operations, Operational Strategies
How a transportation network functions; operational strategies are techniques that influence how a network functions. For example, traffic signals and signs are operational activities that control traffic.
Paratransit, Demand Response or Dial-a-Ride
A service generally provided for the disabled or elderly which provides trips in response to customer calls. Generally not a scheduled, fixed-route service.
Peak Period
The time period, usually in the morning or afternoon, when demand for transportation is high.
Planning Factors
As defined by federal legislation, the items that a transportation plan must consider or address. The seven planning factors that SAFETEA-LU requires in statewide transportation planning are the following:
- (A) Support the economic vitality of the United States, the States, non-metropolitan areas, and metropolitan areas, especially by enabling global competitiveness, productivity, and efficiency;
- (B) Increase the safety of the transportation system for motorized and non-motorized users;
- (C) Increase the security of the transportation system for motorized and non-motorized users;
- (D) Increase the accessibility and mobility of people and freight;
- (E) Protect and enhance the environment, promote energy conservation, improve the quality of life, and promote consistency between transportation improvements and State and local planned growth and economic development patterns;
- (F) Enhance the integration and connectivity of the transportation system, across and between modes throughout the State, for people and freight;
- (G) Promote efficient system management and operation; and
- (H) Emphasize the preservation of the existing transportation system.
Port
A place or area on a waterway for loading or unloading freight. Sometimes airports have a ‘port’ designation for commercial freight activity.
Public Participation
The active and meaningful involvement of the public in the development of transportation plans and improvement programs.
Public Road
Any road or street under the jurisdiction of and maintained by a public authority and open to public traffic.
Public Transit
Generally refers to passenger service provided to the general public along established routes with fixed or variable schedules at published fares. Related terms include transit, mass transit, public transportation or paratransit. Transit modes include commuter rail, heavy or light transit, bus, or other vehicles designated for commercial transportation of non-related persons.
Quality of Life
A term used to describe the lifestyle conditions of an area. Conditions include the scale and depth of opportunities or choices in housing, employment, transportation, the natural environment, education, health care, and recreational and entertainment activities.
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)
The federal transportation law enacted in 2005 that guides and funds the various programs that affect the nation’s transportation system. The law will need to be renewed in 2010. Previous laws were the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) in 1998 and the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) in 1991.
Socio-Economic
A term used to describe social and economic factors, generally resulting from an analysis of demographics of a population.
Transportation (or Travel) Demand Management (TDM)
Strategies and collective efforts designed to achieve reductions in vehicular travel demand. In general, TDM does not require major capital improvements. It includes ridesharing, land use policies, employer-based measures, and pricing/subsidy policies.
Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
This is a document prepared by states and MPOs citing projects to be funded under federal transportation programs, typically for a three to five year period. Without TIP inclusion, a project is ineligible for federal funding.
Travel Time
Customarily calculated as the time it takes to travel from “door-to door.” In transportation planning, the measures of travel time include time spent accessing, waiting, and transferring between vehicles as well as time spent traveling.
U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT)
The principal direct federal funding and regulating agency for transportation facilities and programs. FHWA and FTA are administrations of the US DOT.
Urbanized Area
An area that contains 50,000 or more persons plus incorporated surrounding areas meeting set size or density criteria.
Vehicle Hours of Travel (VHT)
The sum of time all vehicles spend traveling, calculated most typically over a 24-hour period. This statistic is most commonly summed over some area like county but can also be calculated for specific routes or trip purposes like work.
Vehicle Miles of Travel (VMT)
A standard area-wide measure of travel activity. The most conventional VMT calculation is to multiply the average length of trip by the total number of trips.
Waterway, Navigable
A river, canal or other body of water that allows for navigation of vessels
Further definitions can be found in the Transportation Dictionary sponsored by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, at http://ntl.bts.gov/reference_shelf.html
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