Transportation Glossary

The following is a listing of transportation-related terminology and phraseology developed by CCMPO.
Click here to view a list of Acronyms only...

ALL < A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z > NUMERIC

Term	Acronym	Definition
Access Management	AM	Techniques of Transportation infrastructure management intended to; reduce congestion and accident rates, lessen need for highway widening, conserve energy, and reduce pollution. Examples include; limiting entrance and exit of traffic on highways, use of medians and turn lanes, placement and timing of signals, as well as implementation of supportive local ordinances.
Accessibility		The facilities and services that make it possible to get to any destination, measured by the availability of physical connections (roads, sidewalks, etc.), travel options, ease of movement, and proximity of destinations.
Act 200		Otherwise known as the Vermont Growth Management Act of 1988, Act 200 originally contained 4 "Process Goals" and 32 "Planning Goals", which were paired down to 12 Goals in 1990, then increased to 13 in 2003. This law established mechanisms to help integrate Local, Regional, & State perspectives during the planning process, as well establish consideration of the "spillover effects" of land use decisions of one municipality upon another. A major objective of Act 200 was to ensure that decisions were made at the most local level possible.
Act 250		A Vermont State land use law that requires a permit from the District Environmental Commission or the Vermont Environmental Board prior to commencing a major development or subdivision on a property.
Advanced Traffic Management System	ATMS	ITS applications designed to enhance traffic movement usually along transportation corridors.
Agency of Natural Resources	ANR	A cabinet-level Vermont state agency that oversees environmental issues for the state and is responsible for SIP adoption (T3 VSA, Chapter 51).
Aggregate		Any of various loose, particulate materials such as sand, gravel or pebbles used in a road aggregate base or surface layer of a road.
Airport Improvement Program	AIP	FAA program that assists the development of public-use airports by providing funding for airport planning and development projects.
Airport Information Management System	AIMS	An annually updated database of airport project descriptions, costs, and scoring factors of capital projects negotiated with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Albany-Bennington-Rutland-Burlington-Essex	ABRB-E	Congressional earmarked project, authorized in SAFETEA-LU intended to enhance Vermont's rail infrastructure on the Western Vermont Corridor.
Alternatives Analysis	AA	A study which explores the effect of a project on the overall transportation system. Information included in an AA are costs, benefits, and impacts of potential changes to the transportation system.
American Association of Railroads	AAR	Association members include primary freight railroad companies in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, as well as Amtrak.
American Association of Retired Persons (Formerly)	AARP	Established in 1958, AARP (formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, but is simply "AARP" today to reflect that membership is possible for non-retirees also) is a US-based non-governmental organization, non-profit, advocacy, and lobbying group for people age 50 and over.
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials	AASHTO	Publishes standards for transportation infrastructure for use throughout the U.S.
American Community Survey	ACS	An ongoing nationwide survey that produces about U.S. population and housing. The ACS replaces the decennial census long form questionnaire (from the year 2000 and back), which collected this data every 10 years.
American Factfinder	AFF	An online application intended to assist the public in dissemination and reporting of Census data.
American Institute of Certified Planners	AICP	A non-compulsory planning certification recognized in the United States.
American Planning Association	APA	A nonprofit education and membership guild for professional planners.
American Public Works Association	APWA	Chartered in 1937, the APWA is the international educational and professional association of public agencies, private sector companies, and individuals dedicated to improving public works goods and services.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009	ARRA	A $787 billion Recovery plan includes federal tax cuts and incentives, an expansion of unemployment benefits, and other spending on social entitlement programs. In addition, federal agencies are using Recovery funds to award contracts, grants, and loans around the country. The Recovery Act was intended to jumpstart the economy but many of the projects funded by Recovery money, especially those involving infrastructure improvements, are expected to contribute to economic growth for many years.
American Society of Civil Engineers	ASCE	ASCE is the oldest national engineering guild in the United States, founded in 1852 at the offices of the Croton Aqueduct, New York City (originally formed as the American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects). ASCE is comprised of Regional Councils, Younger Member Councils, Sections, Branches, Student Chapters and Clubs, International Student Groups. ASCE posits its mission as "making this a better world by design".
Americans with Disabilities Act	ADA	Federal legislation passed in 1990 that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.
Ancient Roads		According to Act 178: an 'Act Relating to Unidentified Corridors' (otherwise known as the 'Ancient Roads Bill') of the Vermont General Assembly, an Ancient Road is an Unidentified Corridor, which would be eligible to become a Class IV Road under applicable criteria. Unidentified Corridors are town highways that: 1. Have been laid out as highways by proper authority through the process provided by law at the time they were created or by dedication and acceptance; and 2. Do not, as of July 1, 2009, appear on the town highway map prepared pursuant to section 305 of this title (Sec. 1. 19 V.S.A. § 302); and 3. Are not otherwise clearly observable by physical evidence of their use as a highway or trail; and 4. Are not legal trails.
Annual Average Daily Traffic	AADT	A key statistical indicator for roadway counts (i.e. traffic volume), known as the 'Annual Average Daily Traffic', or AADT, has been developed to represent the average amount of vehicular traffic in both directions of travel, passing on a given point of road, over a 24-hour period, on a typical day (i.e. seasonally adjusted) of a specified year.
Apron		See; "Truck Apron"
Arc/Info		Geographic Information System (GIS) software for database development and management.
ArcView		Windows-based Geographic Information System (GIS) for the layperson to use geographical data.
Arterial Street or Highway		A major street or highway. It is a general term which includes expressways, major and minor arterial streets and interstate, state or county highways having regional continuity. It is a road intended to move a relatively large volume of traffic at medium to high speeds.
Articulated Bus		Segmented bus that has rear portion flexibility, but is permanently connected to a forward portion and has no interior barrier to hamper passenger movement between the two portions. The advantage to this type of vehicle is that seated capacity is increased up to 60-80 people, and a superiour turning radius (diminished off-tracking) to that of a standard bus.
Asphalt Concrete	AC	A macadam or petroleum based, flexible substance used in roadway surface construction (also known as "tarmac" - i.e. tar macadam).
Attainment Area		Air quality designation where measures of selected pollutants do not exceed established (NAAQS) standards.
Automatic Traffic Recorders	ATR	A pneumatic triggered device, utilizing rubber tubes installed upon a roadway to count, classify, and record speed data. ATRs are the tool used to capture Total Vehicle volume (used to calculate AADT), truck & bus data, 85th percentile & 10 MPH pace speed data, et al.
Automatic Vehicle Identification	AVI	A type of ITS, AVI generally signifies the recognition and recording of motor vehicles, usually automobiles, as they pass through facilities for automatic collection of tolls, thus eliminating stops.
Automatic Vehicle Location	AVL	A system which tracks real-time location of fleet vehicles to assist in dispatching.

OTHER TRANSPORT TERMINOLOGY REFERENCES: