Initial Screening Methodology for Corridor Planning Projects

The purpose of transit corridor planning projects is to determine the best way to serve existing and future transit travel demand. These projects bring together the goals of stakeholders involved in the project responding to a specific problem. These projects identify existing and future deficiencies and evaluate alternative solutions. The study area may comprise a broad geographic area served by various transportation systems that provide connections between major activity centers for passengers, goods and services. A typical corridor planning project is conducted with the purpose of leading to a local decision on the best set of potential transit operational and capital improvements within a defined study area. This includes identifying the appropriate transit mode(s) and technologies that may be advanced for implementation. The corridor planning process starts with the understanding of the characteristics of the study area and the identification of the needs of the community. The evaluation framework presented in this paper presents an initial screening process of potential transit modes and alternate routes in narrowing down to a smaller set of complete mode/corridor alternatives for more detailed evaluation in a transit corridor study. It includes a discussion of a segment- based approach which allows combining the best performing corridor routes into initial complete corridor alternatives. This approach incorporates measures reflective of the Purpose and Need identified for a project.