2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan | Durham Chapel Hill Carrboro MPO, NC

Engagement

Approved Public Engagement Plan and Schedule

The DCHC MPO Board approved the Public Engagement Plan and schedule for use in developing the 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) at their Board meeting on September 9, 2020. A copy of the Plan and schedule are available at the links below. Note that some details of the plan and schedule could change, as needed, because of technical circumstances and the ongoing Covid-19 social distancing requirements.

Public Engagement

The public engagement period to review the draft versions of the Plan and schedule was from June 10, 2020 through August 13, 2020. The public provided feedback through the survey, written comments, and the public hearing at the August 12, 2020 Board meeting.

Compilation of written comments
Go to the following MPO web page for the August 12 DCHC MPO Board meeting minutes to read comments from the public hearing

Goals

Approved Goals and Objectives

The DCHC MPO Board approved a set of Goals and Objectives for use in developing the 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) at their Board meeting on September 9, 2020. A copy of these Goals and Objectives, which will drive the MPO’s policies and decision-making over the next several years, is available at the link below. The remainder of this web page provides information on the process to develop the Goals and Objectives.

Approved Goals and Objectives

Survey

As part of the Goals and Objectives development, the MPO conducted an online survey (in both English and Spanish) to understand support for proposed goals and policies. Over 2,100 respondents completed the survey, which was open from July 2nd through August 13th. The presentation at the link below provides survey results. These results are from a point that was a few weeks before the survey closed but are likely to similar to the final survey results (which are to be analyzed at a later date).

Survey Results

Public Engagement

The public engagement period was from June 10, 2020 through August 13, 2020. The public provided feedback through the survey, written comments, and the public hearing at the August 12, 2020 Board meeting.

Compilation of written comments
Go to the following MPO web page for the August 12 DCHC MPO Board meeting minutes to read comments from the public hearing

Deficiencies

The interactive maps below are showing congestion and population and employment growth.

Public Input

The DCHC MPO wants feedback on how this Deficiency and Needs Analysis does, or does not, identify needed transportation improvements. Is there a transportation deficiency that this analysis does not identify? Are the assumptions, such as population and employment growth, correct? Send your comments to andrew.henry@dchcmpo.org, or contact Andrew Henry directly at 919-503-4134.

Background

What is a Deficiency Analysis?

The Deficiency Analysis compares today’s travel conditions with that of the year 2050, assuming that no additional transportation infrastructure and services are realized. Thus, the Deficiency Analysis shows where investments in highways, transit and other travel modes are needed to address the future travel demands. It will guide the development and evaluation of the various transportation alternatives that will be considered in a subsequent step of the 2050 MTP development.

What Future Year is Used?

The measures and maps are based on a travel demand model that estimates conditions in two different years:

2016

This is 2016 population and employment using the existing transportation system of streets, transit, etc., and reflects the current travel conditions.

2050 E+C

This is the estimated 2050 population and employment using the existing transportation system plus any projects that are committed to construction or implementation. “E+C” means “Existing plus Committed.” This “no build” scenario allows us to see where future deficiencies are to be expected.

What is the Next Step?

With the MPO’s Goals and Objectives in mind, staff will use the deficiency data to create several alternatives to meet the future travel demand. This Alternatives Analysis will be released to the public and will include public meetings and a hearing to help gather people’s comments.

2050 MTP Deficiency Analysis

This Web page provides the detailed tables and maps that comprise the Deficiency Analysis and presents the Socioeconomic Data (SE Data) used to generate the analysis. The following link is a presentation that helps one understand the Deficiency Analysis data and graphics.

Presentation of Deficiency Analysis

MPO Goals and Objectives

It is important to note that the public input process for the MPO’s Goals and Objectives identified a strong interest in equity, the environment, non-motorized modes such as bicycling and walking, and high capacity transit. These topics must be kept in mind while examining the Deficiency Analysis data to develop a comprehensive, accurate survey of the region’s transportation needs. The Goals and Objectives summary below and the Goals section above provide additional information.

Goals and Objectives Summary

Congestion Maps

The congestion maps estimate the level of congestion in the year 2050 if no additional transportation projects are implemented. This is often called the No Build Scenario. In this case, the travel demand model puts the trip demand for the 2050 population and 2050 employment on to the current transportation network that might also have a few additional approved projects (e.g., East End Connector and Alston Avenue widening) that are close to beginning construction or completion. The maps depict the level of congestion by dividing the traffic volume by the road capacity. So, if the road has 8,000 vehicle trips per hour and the road capacity is 10,000 vehicles; the V/C (volume to capacity value) will be 0.80.

Note that the MPO's travel demand model uses a Level of Service (LOS) of "E" to depict the situation where the volume is equal to capacity, or V/C = 1. Most motorists would experience LOS E as very congested, especially in urban areas and those areas with intersections and driveways. Motorists would experience a V/C higher than 1 as highly congested (orange lines on map), and a V/C higher than 1.2 as long delays (red lines on map0.

The thumbnail maps at the top of this page provide 2016 and 2050 interactive maps for the daily congestion level.

Daily

The congestion maps below show the daily average V/C for both roadway directions. Roadways in which the V/C exceeds 1 are labeled with the actual V/C value.

Travel Time

The table below show the travel time between key destinations in the Triangle region in 2016 and 2050, and calculates the change in that travel time. These travel times are for the morning and afternoon peak hour.

Travel Time Table

Isochrone Maps

An isochrone map shows lines that connect the points that have the same travel time from a specified point. The isochrone maps below show the 2016 and 2050 travel time to key destinations in the Triangle region in fifteen-minute increments for the afternoon peak hour. The destinations are the downtowns or center of Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh and the Research Triangle Park.

Isochrone Maps

Performance Measures

The Performance Measures are a broad set of calculations that provide an indicator of the mobility, trip volume, mode choice and congestion in the overall transportation system. The measures are not specific to a travel corridor or transportation project but are useful for broad comparisons of different transportation system alternatives. The first table below compares the 2016 and the 2050 Existing plus Committed (E+C, also known as the No Build) models for the DCHC MPO. The second table provides the same data at the county level.

SE Data

The Triangle J Council of Governments (TJCOG), in partnership with the MPO, forecasts Socioeconomic Data, such as dwelling units, population and employment, to the year 2050. The guide totals document below shows the expected population and employment growth from 2016 through 2050 for Triangle counties. These guide totals are input to a land use model called Community Visualization that uses a set of development rules and available land information to further geographically distribute county-level population and employment growth. The sets of maps use a color intensity scale to depict the forecasted distribution for population and employment growth from 2016 to 2050. There is a set of PDF maps below, and the icon at the top of this Web page provides the same data in an interactive map.

Alternatives

2050 Population and Employment Density

Congestion Maps

Alternatives Analysis -- Overview

An Alternative is a combination of a transportation network and land use assumption that are used to create a scenario for public discussion. The following document provides a short description of the various Alternatives. The final 2050 MTP will be a combination of projects and policies from different Alternatives – it will not be the adoption of a single Alternative.

What are the three Alternatives?

Key Performance Measures

Note that in a separate process, county transit plans are being developed. See the following linked titles for information on public comment opportunities: Durham County Transit Plan; and, Orange County Transit Plan.

Public Engagement

The following links provide information on opportunities for the public to provide input on the 2050 MTP:

The DCHC MPO and Capital Area MPO (Wake County and parts of surrounding counties) conducted a short Alternatives Analysis.

Please send comments to the following address or email. The MPO Board will receive a copy of all comments:

Andy Henry
City of Durham/TJCOG
4307 Emperor Blvd
Durham, NC 27703
andrew.henry@dchcmpo.org

Public Hearing: The MPO Board conducted a public hearing at their regular meeting on September 1, 2021, 9AM.

The MPO conducted live Online workshops where you could view a short presentation and ask staff questions. August 19, 12 noon to 1:30pm and 4:30pm to 6:00pm.
- Listen to a recording of the workshop here.
- View the presentation slides here.
Staff will make presentations to local elected officials and boards. A list of these opportunities is here.

Comment Period: The public comment period for the Alternatives Analysis will run from July 19, 2021 through September 15, 2021.

Contact Us

For more information, citizens can contact:

Andy Henry
(919) 503-4134
andrew.henry@dchcmpo.org

Transportation Networks and Land Use

The Alternatives Analysis – Overview section above discusses how each Alternative is composed of a mobility foundation (transportation network) and development foundation (land use assumption). The following maps provide details on these foundations:

Transportation Network – the thumbnail at the top of this Web page presents an interactive map of the roadways, commuter rail and bus rapid transit facilities included in each of the Alternatives, i.e., scenarios. This map is coming soon!
Land Use Assumption – the thumbnail at the top of this Web page presents an interactive map of the distribution of population and employment density for the year 2050 in the All Together scenario. The other scenarios have a similar, but somewhat more spread out distribution.

Additional demographic and land use information

Alternatives Analysis Data and Maps

Performance Measures (PMs)

The DCHC MPO developed a set of Goals and Objectives that are aligned with Performance Measures. As the MPO develops the data for the Performance Measures, the links below will present that data. The roman numerals in parenthesis references the Performance Measure table.

Table of linked Goals, Objectives and Performance Measures
Summary of Key Performance Measures
Equity Measures (people of color, low-income, zero-car households)
Emissions & VMT (I. A., B., C.)
Safety (V. A.)
Safety - Bike & Ped - Equity Measure (V.A.)
Travel Time Reliability (VII. A., VII. B.)
Individuals provided TDM support (See TDM Executive Summary) (VII. B.)

Congestion Maps

The interactive map at the top of this Web page provides the daily congestion values for the principal roadway segments in the MPO for all three scenarios. The following document is a primer to understanding the congestion maps.

Understanding Congestion Maps

Travel Choice Neighborhoods (TCN)

Travel Choice Neighborhoods (TCN) focus on the change in mode choice in areas that are expected to experience significant transit investment.

Background, tables and graphs

Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs)

These measures are not specific to a particular roadway or travel corridor but instead cover the entire transportation system, and therefore are useful for comparing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the different transportation Alternatives. Most of the data used for calculating the Performance Measures comes from the Triangle Regional Model (TRM), which is the travel demand model for the entire region.
Measures of Effectiveness Table
Measures of Effectiveness Key Graphs

Travel Time – Activity Centers

The tables in the document below compare the travel time between key destinations in the Triangle for the No Build (2050 E+C) and Balanced and Equitable (All Together) scenarios.

Travel Time Tables

Isochrone Maps

The document link below presents the isochrone travel market maps for different centers and Alternatives.

Isochrone Maps

Preferred Option

How to Participate

The DCHC MPO has released the Preferred Option for the 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) for a 42-day public comment period that will run from October 27, 2021 through December 7, 2021. The public can provide input by:

Public Hearing: The MPO Board will conduct a public hearing on November 10, 2021, 9am, by an online meeting. The public can speak directly to the Board on the Preferred Option by sending a request to address the Board at the hearing to andrew.henry@dchcmpo.org.

Comments: The public sent comments on the Preferred Option. Staff compiled the public comments, forwarded them to the MPO Board, and drafted a response to the comments. The comments and responses are compiled in the document below:

Compiled Comments (as of 2/8/2022)

Contact

For more information, the public can contact:

Andy Henry
DCHC MPO/Central Pines Regional Council
4307 Emperor Blvd
Durham, NC 27703
(919) 503-4134
andrew.henry@dchcmpo.org

Next Steps

At their December 8, 2021, meeting, the MPO Board will make final changes to the 2050 MTP and approve a draft to be used in the Air Quality Conformity Determination process. The Board can adopt the 2050 MTP at either their January 12 or February 9, 2022 meetings. The public can always request to speak directly to the Board at these meetings.

Preferred Option

Links to the full report and report sections are shown below. Interactive maps of the highway and major transit projects are at the top of this Web page.

Preferred Option (complete report)

Report by sections:

Table of Contents

Creating the Preferred Option

Goals and Objectives

Land Use (Socioeconomic Data)

Highways

Transit

Bicycle and Pedestrian

Financial Plan

Measures of Effectiveness

Public Comments

The DCHC MPO has conducted many events to receive comments from the public over the last few months of MTP development. Links to a compilation of those comments are below:

September 2021 Public Hearing

Compilation of Comments Provided by Email

Survey Results and Low Income/Minority Focus Groups

Focus Groups Report

Performance Measures

Performance Measures

The DCHC MPO and Capital Area MPO jointly developed the 2050 MTP. The MPOs also adopted very similar goals and objectives, and identified performance measures for each objective. The table in the first document below shows the alignment of the goals, objectives and performance measures. The subsequent documents present an explanation for each of the measures and the resulting values for both MPOs. The measures are listed in the order that they appear in the alignment table and a parenthetical contains the roman numeral reference to that table. The MPO is not able to produce all of the proposed performance measures often because the data is not available or not reliable, or requires a disproportionate level of staff resources. Those measures that will be produced for the 2050 MTP are listed below and those measures that will not be produced are still listed in the alignment table with the intent of producing them in the future.

The MPOs also produce a set of detailed Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs) using the Triangle Regional Model (TRM) for the 2050 MTP. The DCHC MPO’s MOEs area presented on the 2050 MTP Adopted web page.

Goals-Objectives-Performance Measures table

Emissions (I.a, I.b)
Investment in existing highways (I.c)
Vehicle miles traveled (I.c)
Environmental Justice report (II.a) – see section 9.3 in the 2050 MTP report
Public Involvement Plan (II.b) – see Public Engagement Plan for 2050 MTP
Average transit travel time (III.a) – under development
Transit job access (III.a)
Average vehicle travel time (III.b) – under development
Transit service hours (IV.a) – under development
Transit boardings (IV.c) – under development
Travel Choice Neighborhoods (IV.c)
Safety (V.a)

Bike/Ped Safety in Communities of Concern

Transit safety (V.a)
Infrastructure (VI.a)
Transit infrastructure (VI.b)
Travel reliability (VII.a)
Travel delay (VII.a)
Peak hour mode share (VII.b)
Travel Demand Management (VII.b)

Adopted

DCHC MPO Adopts 2050 MTP

The DCHC MPO adopted the 2050 MTP on February 9, 2022.

Contact

For any questions concerning the 2050 MTP, contact Andy Henry at andrew.henry@dchcmpo.org, 919-503-4134.

2050 MTP Report

The final report contains the roadway and transit projects, financial plan, and policies of the 2050 MTP. The report also contains performance measures and analysis on the extent to which the plan and process meet other standards such as environmental justice, federal planning criteria, and air quality conformity.

Single document

2050 MTP Report

By Chapters

Resumen Ejecutivo

By Appendices

Maps

The icons at the top of this web page provide links to interactive highway, regional transit, congestion, and population and employment maps. PDF versions of the highway and transit maps are available below:

Public Comments

The public comments received in response to the 2050 MTP final report and the staff responses are compiled in the document below.

2050 MTP report – Compilation of Public Comments

Congestion Maps

The interactive map at the top of this web page provides the daily congestion values for the principal roadway segments in the MPO for the current, no-build, and adopted 2050 MTP. The following document is a primer to understanding the congestion maps.

Understanding Congestion Maps

Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs)

The DCHC MPO produces measures of effectiveness (MOE) that are based on the output data of the Triangle Regional Model (i.e., travel demand model). The document below provides background on the MOEs, graphics of the most important measures, and a table of all the measures. The MPO also produces a separate set of performance measures that are aligned with the MPO’s goals and objectives. See the 2050 MTP/Performance Measures web page for those measures.

Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs)

Land Use – Population & Jobs

The population and employment map at the top of this page displays the projected 2050 population and employment (jobs) in the Triangle area. The document below briefly describes the methodology for forecasting population and employment, land use assumptions, and provides county-level forecasts. Additional information on land use can be found in chapter six of the report, which is available in a section above.

Land Use and Forecasts

Amendments

Amendment #1

The DCHC MPO Board released Amendment #1 to the 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) for a public comment period from June 27 through August 7, 2023. The DCHC MPO Public Involvement Policy requires this minimum public input period of 42 days for a major MTP amendment. It was noted that the MTP identifies the future highway, public transportation, bicycle, pedestrian and other transportation projects and that projects cannot be funded in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) unless they are included in the MTP. The DCHC MPO adopted the FY 2024-2033 TIP on August 9, 2023, and thus the following projects required amendment in the 2050 MTP to allow these projects to go forward in the TIP:

I-40 auxiliary lanes - Add this project to the 2050 MTP. A single auxiliary lane, approximately 0.75 mile in length, will be constructed from the end of the I-885/I-40 westbound ramp to the NC 55 exit ramp. This auxiliary lane will be on only one side of the roadway and the 12-foot shoulder is capable of accommodating Bus on Shoulder System (BOSS) operations. This widening is in the FY2024-2033 STIP but not in the 2050 MTP for a few different reasons. The MPO included very few road widening projects in the 2050 MTP to support goals related to the natural environment and climate change. Also, staff consider this improvement as an operational improvement because of the limited extent and the intent to more effectively use the existing travel lanes. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) considers a lane addition of 1 mile or less an operational improvement, as well. Operational improvements are not specifically defined and listed in the Transportation System Management section of the MTP. The estimated cost is from the STIP.

NC 55 Southbound Lane - Add this project to the 2050 MTP and include bicycle, pedestrian and transit facilities in the description. A single auxiliary lane, approximately 0.10 mile in length, will be constructed from Meridian Parkway to the I40 ramps. This auxiliary lane will be on only one side of the roadway. The project will need to comply with NCDOT Complete Streets policy and the Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) includes bike lanes and a multiuse path (MUP) in this section. This widening is in the FY2024-2033 STIP but not in the 2050 MTP for a few different reasons. The MPO included very few road widening projects in the 2050 MTP to support goals related to the natural environment and climate change. Also, staff consider this improvement as an operational improvement because of the limited extent and the intent to more effectively use the existing travel lanes. Operational improvements are not specifically defined and listed in the Transportation System Management section of the MTP. The estimated cost is from the STIP.

NC 98 (Holloway Street) - Segment the current 2050 MTP project into three separate projects to match the funding sequencing in the FY2024-2033 STIP. The funded segment, i.e., Junction Road to Lynn Road, will move to the 2040 horizon in the MTP, and have a safety project description that includes a median, and bicycle, pedestrian and transit facilities. The remaining two segments will stay in the 2050 horizon and include the same description. The estimated cost for the Junction Road to Lynn Road segment is from the STIP. The estimated cost for the other two segments is a proportional distribution based on the project length from the original 2050 MTP cost.

The documents below include the approved amendment and public feedback: