A critical element of the GBNRTC CMP advancing the strategies identified and assessed consistent with CMP objectives and performance measures. GBNRTC implements CMP strategies at three levels. GBNRTC engages with and obtains input from stakeholders including the general public for all levels of strategy implementation. This approach ensures that pragmatic responses to address delay are considered and integrated on an equal basis with other transportation needs and priorities.

3 Strategy Levels: Regional, Corridor, and Project

Regional

Strategies to address congestion across the Buffalo Niagara are formulated for all modes in Moving Forward 2050 and regional modal plans for transit, freight, and bicycling.

Moving Forward 2050 serves as the overarching guiding framework for transportation planning and investment decisions in Buffalo Niagara. It also lists specific projects to advance based on expected funding and additional projects should funding be available. Projects are developed based on the 14 key strategies contained in Moving Forward 2050. Step 6 describes the strategies specific to the CMP. Implementation of the projects addresses congestion across all surface transportation modes (roadways, transit, non-motorized, and freight) and in the various types of places in the region.

Individual modal plans are developed in accordance with the framework established by Each modal plan identifies strategies in the form of projects and programs that can directly reduce congestion. As an example, the prioritizes nearly 200 recommended bikeway corridors using six criteria. The most heavily weighted criteria are regional connectivity and safety, which accounts for 50 of a possible 100 points. The creation of a connected, safe bicycling network provides a convenient, attractive alternative to the private automobile, which provides the opportunity to reduce the number of automobiles on the region’s roadways.

Corridor

The majority of congestion on the Buffalo Niagara transportation network occurs on the facilities that comprise the GBNRTC CMP Network. Planning at the corridor level – either the full length of the facilities or a subset – allows for the identification of coordinated strategies that result in a synergy that can provide greater benefits than individual plans to address specific segments or intersections/interchanges.

Buffalo Niagara Integrated Corridor Management

The Buffalo Niagara Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) includes the major interstates in and around the City of Buffalo and the surrounding suburbs (I-90, I-190, and I-290), as well as connections to Southern Ontario. Strategies include:

• Dynamic traveler information

• Incident detection and service patrol

• Ramp metering

• Variable speed limits and queue warning

• Variable toll pricing

• Signal coordination.

The ICM strategies were simulated to assess them against performance metrics including travel time benefits and user time saved from prevented crashes. Key components of the ICM are deployment priorities, implementation plans, monitoring and reporting, which are incorporated into the capital programming processes as part of the GBNRTC CMP elements of “Program and Implement Strategies” (see Project level discussion below) and “Evaluate Strategy Effectiveness”.

GBNRTC recognizes that congestion occurs on facilities other than those on interstates and other expressways and that solutions extend beyond improving throughput on roadways. GBNRTC continues to support the NFTA Metro Rail Expansion Project, which would extend the current light rail system into the Towns of Amherst and Tonawanda. This support includes technical assistance for design and analysis of the proposed rail extension and serving as project manager for transit-oriented development planning to further promote suitable land uses and density around existing and proposed NFTA Metro Rail stations.

Project

CMP strategy funding is primarily accomplished through the GBNRTC Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The TIP contains projects and programs consistent with Moving Forward 2050 to be advanced using federal funds provided primarily by Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration.

TIP Process

Moving Forward 2050 projects are updated every 5-years and the TIP is updated every 3-years. The programs and projects identified are fiscally constrained and reasonably expected funded is noted. GBNRTC Member Agencies and staff, Regional Strategic Stakeholders, and other organizations, the public, and businesses are responsible for creating Moving Forward 2050 and TIP.

Regional modal plans and corridor plans/studies are developed by subsets of the same agencies and stakeholders and other interested/affected parties on schedules dictated by the breadth and complexity of the scope of the plan or study. In all instances, potential funding sources are identified to implement the strategies of regional modal plans and corridor plans/studies.

The implementation of CMP strategies offers the opportunity for GBNRTC to assess how well the strategies met their intended purpose and adjust their processes for identifying and selecting future strategies.