An Easier Commute in Pittsburgh (by Jim Hassinger)

Based on a report from the Texas Transportation Institute released on September 18th, our region’s overall traffic congestion levels compare favorably to other major metropolitan areas.  The congestion that does exist on corridors around the region familiar to commuters is the focus of a new Congestion Management Program underway at the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

SPC's Congestion Management Process, or CPM, is the regional program to address and manage congestion within the 10-county Southwestern Pennsylvania region in order to facilitate the movement of people and goods. The CMP is a broad, regional level planning tool designed to help manage congestion by identifying congested corridors and recommending multimodal strategies for congestion mitigation. The goal of the CMP is to provide information that helps transportation planners, professionals and others to understand the overall congestion climate in individual corridors and the region.

Specific data on the congestion climate helps SPC, in partnership with other agencies, to formulate congestion management strategies. Data and information from the CMP benefits the transportation planning process by helping the region focus limited federal transportation dollars where they can have the greatest impact. Currently, the CMP network includes 113 corridors covering approximately 540 miles.  These corridors include numerous interstates and principal arterials as well as a few minor arterials. More detailed information on congestion in individual corridors of our region by visiting the congestion management pages of our website (http://www.spcregion.org/trans_cong.shtml).

As the region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s regional transportation planning efforts are focused on increasing mobility and transportation options for both people and goods. SPC, in partnership with the people of Southwestern Pennsylvania, PennDOT, transit agencies, non-profit organizations and community groups, recently released Our Region’s Plan—the new long range transportation and development plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania. Our Region’s Plan is focused on the preferred vision scenario that was created through the most expansive community engagement and consensus-building process that our region has ever seen.  That regional vision is supported by a range of policy statements, several of which are focused on improving mobility and reducing congestion:

• Maintenance of the existing transportation system will be a regional priority.
• Transportation and development choices will reflect a priority on multimodal and intermodal networks for both people and goods.
• The region’s transportation system will be actively managed and operated to allow the system to function at its full potential.
• The region’s transit system will connect people with resources throughout the entire region.

More information on Our Region's Plan, including an Executive Summary brochure and video, is available at http://www.projectregion.org/.

Jim Hassinger, President & CEO

Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission