RES 00059 - Laserfiche WebLink

1. Introduction Metropoliton Transportation System (MTS) and Nalional Highway System (NHS) The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) defined a system, called the Metro- politan Transportation System, in the 1991 Regional Transportation Plan, and the system has been updated for the 1998 RTP. The purpose of the MTS is to define those facilities and services that are crucial to freight and passenger mobility in the Bay Area. The MTS includes streets and highways, transit systems, seaports, airports, truck terminals, rail yards, and transfer points. In addition to arterial streets and highways, the MTS in the Tri-Valley includes transit corridors along 1-680, 1-580, and Route 84; the Livermore airport; and the Altamom Pass railroad tracks, from the Altamom Pass to Fremont. The Plan also recom- mends adding the ACE commuter rail service as part of the next update of the MTS. The criteria for defining streets and highways in the MTS are as follows: . Serves a major Bay Area activity center . Provides important intercounty and/or interregional connections . Serves as a reliever for a freeway . Provides important connection in the MTS system . Serves as a major cross-town arterial for relieving congestion . Provides access to regional passenger and freight transfer facilities. Significance of MIS Designation. Roads that are part of the MTS may benefit from funding available to regional facilities. Any road not in the MTS is considered as serving primarily local travel. The Natianal Highway System (NHS). The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (lSTEA) caUs for rhe U.S. Congress TO designate a National Highwav Sysrem by December 1995. For the Bay Area, MTC has developed a recommended NHS, which is a subset of the MTS. The purpose of the NHS is to provide an interconnected system of principal arte- rial routes which will serve major population centers, international border crossings, ports, airports, public transportation facilities, and other intermodal transportation facilities and other major travel destination, meet national defense requirements, and serve interstate and interregional travel. The NHS was proposed to focus federal funds to improve a limired number of high priority routes. 18 April 2000 Page 3