Long Range Transportation Plan

The Long Range Plan sets priorities for spending federal funds on transportation projects in our region. This includes highways, roads, bridges, transit facilities and service, bicycle and pedestrian routes, and related enhancements.

The LRTP is the communities overarching guide to the development of a regional transportation system that meets the current and future mobility needs of the regions residents. This transportation plan covers all modes of transport including automobile, transit, bicycle, pedestrian, railroad, freight, and intermodal movements.

A long range regional transportation plan is a federally required document for all metropolitan areas, and it must be updated at least once every five years in order for the region to stay in compliance with federal regulations. The long range plan serves two major functions. First, it records the communities collective vision and goals for the regional transportation system. Second, it is the plan that guides the project prioritization and expenditure of federal transportation funding. The region’s long-range plan looks beyond today’s transportation system and into the year 2045. It forecasts mobility needs of the region’s population  over the next 25-years and charts a course for providing transportation infrastructure and services to meet that demand. It also identifies deficiencies in the current transportation system and currently unmet mobility needs in the region. Furthermore, it is an objective way to decide which transportation projects are scheduled for implementation and recommended for funding.

The CHATS MPO is also federally require to develop and implement a Congestion Management Process (CMP) as part of the planning process. The CMP is intended to be a systemic way to:

• Identify, monitor and measure causes of current and future congestion.
• Evaluate and implement strategies to manage or address congestion and congestion-related issues.
• Monitor the effectiveness of strategies implemented to manage congestion.

The report is designed to help decision makers and interested citizens understand what the data tells us about the performance of our transportaion network including current and expected levels of congestion, crashes, transit performance, and quality of the walking and bicycling environments . The CHATS Long-range Transportation Plan builds on the Congestion Management Process by integrating CMP strategies into its implementation as as well as recommending specific infrastructure improvements intended to address system deficiencies.

This plan shapes the future of the transportation system in the Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester region for years to come. Your continued input is vital to the process. As a user of the transportation system, your perspective is important to determine the highest priorities for improvements.

For a copy of prior long-range plans or more information contact Kathryn Basha.

FAQs – Information about the Long Range Plan and the update process