The CMAP congestion management process (CMP) is a systematic method of managing congestion that provides information on transportation system performance and on alternatives for alleviating congestion and enhancing mobility. The CMP is required by federal legislation and is governed by federal rules. Legislation requires that any federally-funded transportation project that significantly increases the capacity for single-occupant vehicles in our area has to be derived from a CMP.  

The CMP is integrated into the transportation development process. Planning, programming and project development efforts by the region's highway and planning agencies have standardized process components that either directly investigate congestion reduction strategies or address other issues, such as air quality, that result in congestion mitigation.

The process is largely technical in nature.  Formal approvals of the process by the Board of CMAP and the MPO Policy Committee are not required by the Federal Highway Administration.  The document below, now in draft format, provides documentation of the process for to provide public information and improve stakeholder understanding.

Current Policy Resources

Congestion Management Documentation. Draft, January, 2013.  (PDF, 5MB).  The document includes the introduction and sections on objectives, area and systems of application, performance measures, and monitoring plans. 

IDOT Transportation Management Compliance Template for MPOs (PDF, 47 KB)

Prior Years' Process Documentation

The Congestion Mitigation Handbook (PDF, 820 KB) is an important reference for the identification of strategies that should be considered as part of project development efforts.

The Congestion Management System (PDF, 2MB) lay out the current congestion management System for northeastern Illinois as developed under ISTEA, the prior federal transportation authorization legislation.

The Congestion Management System Technical Supplement (PDF, 5MB) provides greater detail about the process.