Metropolitan Transportation Commission, San Francisco Bay Area

"The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) uses an objectives-driven, performance-based approach in its transportation planning for the San Francisco Bay Area. This approach focuses attention on transportation investments of highest priority. The agency assesses not only project-level performance, but also wide-ranging regional performance in relation to ambitious targets set by the agency. Project-level analysis using metrics defined for regional objectives results in a quantitative assessment of a project's costs and benefits. To date, management and operations strategies, such as the agency's Freeway Performance Initiative, have proven the most cost-effective. This type of freeway and arterial coordination can yield major benefits, though numerous challenges remain including data inconsistencies and reaching consensus on appropriate analysis tools. The agency recognizes that a range of strategies is needed to improve traffic in one of the Nation's most congested areas."