Active Transportation
CMRPC serves as a forum for bicycle and pedestrian planning activities throughout the region. Staff partners with local organizations and groups to identify needs and support their bicycle and pedestrian planning efforts. Staff meets with WalkBike Worcester, a local advocate of bicycle and pedestrian planning, and with the public health community to address bicycle and pedestrian issues.
Asset Management
The CMRPC staff has developed an Asset Management System (AMS) to assess conditions, funding needs, and recommend repair strategies for the region’s road system. The asset management process is conducted with the intent to keep the road system in the best possible condition with the most efficient use of available funds.
Complete Streets
CMRPC’s Complete Streets Program is focused on helping our communities adopt the principles of Complete Streets and participate in the MassDOT Complete Streets Funding Program.
Congestion Management
A Congestion Management Process (CMP) is a systematic and regionally-accepted approach for managing congestion that provides accurate, up to date information on transportation system performance and assesses alternative strategies for congestion management that meet both state and local needs.
Corridor Profiles
A Corridor Profile combines information produced by the transportation Management Systems along a particular highway corridor and analyses performance-based data, suggests both operational and physical improvements, and often identifies candidate projects for further study.
Emerging Technology
CMRPC Transportation staff have been working on the development of public EV charging stations in the region. Moving forward, CMRPC plans to help our communities fund the installation of public EV charging stations equitably, and help contribute to the economic development of the region.
Environmental Planning
Transportation projects are commonly in close proximity to, or cross environmentally sensitive areas. In various ways, transportation infrastructure poses a big impact on the natural environment, specifically by causing changes in land cover, forest fragmentation, impacts to water quality (polluted runoff), high levels of noise, and increased air pollution. The relationship between transportation and the environment is central to our transportation planning efforts.
Freight Planning
Highway trucking activities in the greater region are monitored by the staff. As part of the traffic counting program, vehicle classification is determined so that the overall percentage of heavy vehicles can be monitored on a routine basis.
Performance Management
The CMMPO System Performance Report summarizes the planning area’s performance on regionally-meaningful indicators that reflect the condition of various aspects of the transportation network. It also serves as a communication tool to an external audience of interested stakeholders while also providing a transparent overview on how transportation investments are made in the CMMPO region.
Transit Planning
CMRPC transit staff work with the Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) in our region to offer technical assistance, data collection, service planning, and support for public outreach.
Transportation Safety Planning
Massachusetts is required to have a State Highway Safety Program (SHSP) that identifies and analyses safety problems and opportunities in order to use Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds for new eligible activities under 23 USC 148. Fast Act continues the HSIP to achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads.
Travel Demand Modeling
The Regional Travel Demand Forecast Model is an important planning tool both for the evaluation of proposed regional transportation improvements and the projection of mobile source air emissions for significant regional projects. The model is the most effective and comprehensive way to project transportation needs within a 20-year planning horizon as required by Federal regulation.
