| Term |
Definition |
Source |
| 3Cs (Consultation, Collaboration, and Coordination) |
Consultation means government-to-government communication about a proposed or contemplated decision in order to secure meaningful input. |
Adapted from 25 CFR 170 |
| Collaboration means that all parties involved in carrying out planning and project development work together in a timely manner to achieve a common goal or objective. |
| Coordination means that each party shares and compares its transportation plans, programs, projects, and schedules with those of other parties, and that each adjusts them to optimize the efficient and consistent delivery of transportation projects and services. |
| Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) |
A Federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Known as the ADA, it applies to facilities, both public and private, that are open to the public. New construction and altered facilities must be readily accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. |
Adapted from the FHWA Planning Glossary |
| Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) |
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is responsible for the administration and management of 66 million acres of land held in trust by the United States for American Indian, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives. The BIA currently provides services (directly or through contracts, grants, or compacts) to approximately 1.7 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. |
BIA Website |
| Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) |
The CFR is a compilation of the general and permanent rules of the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government as published in the Federal Register. The code is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. |
Funding Module |
| Data |
Data is organized bits of information that is collected for a specific purpose. Data relevant for the transportation planning process may include historic trends within the transportation system; county, local agency, and tribal boundaries; location of roads, bridges, buildings, major facilities or natural features; and the number of people who drive, use transit, walk, or ride bicycles. |
Data Module |
| Data Analysis |
Analyzing data means organizing data in certain ways to discern the general patterns, trends, or observations. Analysis simplifies, organizes and transforms data, helping people make sense of large amounts of complex information. |
Data Module |
| Data Collection |
Data collection is the assembly of different bits of information. Data can be collected in a variety of ways. It can be done manually (counting vehicles to assess traffic volumes), with technology such as handheld Personal Digital Assistant (PDAs) (surveying passengers aboard transit vehicles), or by using the web to access available data sets. |
Adapted from the Data Module |
| Federal Lands Highway Program (FLHP) |
The FLHP provides funds to construct roads and trails within (or to provide access to) Federal lands. There are four categories of FLHP funds: Indian Reservation Roads, Public Lands Highways, Park Roads and Parkways, and Refuge Roads. |
FHWA Planning Glossary |
| Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) |
The FHWA is a branch of the United States Department of Transportation that administers the Federal-aid Highway Program, providing financial assistance to states to construct and improve highways, urban and rural roads, and bridges. The FHWA also administers the Federal Lands Highway Program that provides access to and within national forests, national parks, Indian reservations, and other public lands. The FHWA is headquartered in Washington, DC, with field offices across the country, including one in each state capital. |
Introduction to Planning Module |
| Federal Transit Administration (FTA) |
The FTA is a branch of the United States Department of Transportation that is the principal source of Federal financial assistance to America's communities for the planning, development, and improvement of public or mass transportation systems. The FTA provides leadership, technical assistance, and financial resources for safe, technologically advanced public transportation to enhance mobility and accessibility, to improve the Nation's communities and natural environment, and to strengthen the national economy. The FTA is headquartered in Washington, DC, with regional offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. |
Introduction to Planning Module |
| Financial Constraint |
Financial constraint means that a project can be implemented using committed, available, or reasonably available revenue resources. When a plan is "financially constrained," it means projects included in the plan must have identified and secured funding sources. |
Volpe composite |
| Financial Planning |
The process of defining and evaluating funding sources, sharing the information, and deciding how to allocate the funds. |
Funding Module |
| Geographic Information Systems (GIS) |
GIS is a collection of computer software, hardware, and data that people use to store, manipulate, analyze, and present data that has a geographic reference, called spatial data. |
Data Module |
| Indian Reservation Road Inventory |
An inventory (a detailed, itemized list) of roads which are strictly within reservation boundaries, or provide access to Indian communities, villages, or lands that are not within reservation boundaries. |
Volpe composite |
| Indian Reservation Road Transportation Improvement Program (IRRTIP) |
The IRRTIP is a list of transportation improvement projects programmed for construction by a BIA regional office with IRR program funds for the next 3-5 years. The IRRTIP contains eligible projects selected by Tribal governments from Tribal Transportation Improvement Programs (TTIP) or other Tribal actions (such as a Tribal Priority List). An approved IRRTIP is prepared for each State within the regional BIA office. |
TTIP Module |
| Indian Reservation Roads |
Indian Reservation Roads are public roads which provide access to and within Indian reservations, Indian trust land, restricted Indian land, and Alaska native villages. In states where tribes do not have reservations, public roads that serve Indian communities or are primarily used by tribal members, may be designated as IRRs. Roads on the BIA Road System are also IRR roads. |
Adapted from the Introduction to Planning Module |
| Indian Reservation Roads Program |
One of the funding categories under the Federal Land Highway Program that applies to IRRs (described above). The Federal Land Highway Program's IRR program is jointly administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Highway Administration through an interagency agreement. |
Introduction to Planning Module |
| Indian Reservation Roads Final Rule ( "25 CFR 170") |
The IRR Rule is the regulatory reference to the Federal Title 25-Indians, Chapter I-BIA, Department of Interior, Subchapter H-Land and Water, Part 170 IRR program. |
TTIP Module |
| Indian Tribe |
Any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe pursuant to the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994, 25 U.S.C. 479a. |
Funding Module |
| Indian/Tribal Lands |
Tribal lands are (1) Any land located within the boundaries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or Rancheria; (2) Any land not located within the boundaries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or Rancheria but which is owned by a Tribe or individual Indian, by a trust benefitting a Tribe or an individual Indian, or by a dependent Indian community; and (3) Land that is owned by an Indian tribe and was conveyed by the United States to a Native Corporation pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. |
Adapted from 25 U.S.C. 3501 |
| Infrastructure |
Infrastructure refers to the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society. Examples include roads, bridges, transit, waste systems, public housing, sidewalks, utility installations, parks, public buildings, and communications networks. |
Adapted from the Funding Module |
| Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) |
ISTEA is a legislative initiative by the U.S. Congress that restructured funding for transportation programs. ISTEA authorized increased levels of highway and transportation funding from FY92-97 and increased the role of regional planning commissions/MPOs in funding decisions. The Act also required comprehensive regional and Statewide long-term transportation plans and places an increased emphasis on public participation and transportation alternatives. |
FHWA Planning Glossary |
| Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) |
The LRTP is the defining vision for the region's or state's transportation systems and services. It is a document that results from regional or statewide collaboration and consensus, listing broad transportation policy goals to be accomplished over then next 20 years. In metropolitan areas, the plan indicates all of the transportation improvements scheduled for funding over the next 20 years. |
Volpe composite |
| Mailing List |
Mailing lists generally include the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses of those affected by or interested in a project or plan. They may include residents or organizations adjacent to the project or plan area, media, elected officials, agency personnel, interest groups, and others who specifically express interest in being informed. |
Public Involvement Module |
| Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) |
An MPO is the designated local decision-making body that is responsible for carrying out the metropolitan transportation planning process. An MPO must be designated for each urban area with a population of more than 50,000 people (i.e., for each Urbanized Area (UZA) defined in the most recent decennial Census). |
Adapted from the FHWA Planning Glossary |
| Pre-Project Planning |
Pre-Project planning is part of overall transportation planning and includes the activities conducted before final project approval on the IRRTIP. This includes preliminary project cost estimates, certification of public involvement, consultation and coordination with states and MPO for a regionally significant project, preliminary needs assessments, and preliminary environmental and archeological reviews. |
TTIP Module |
| Programming |
Programming is prioritizing proposed projects and matching those projects with available funds. |
Volpe composite |
| Public Hearing |
Public hearings are official meetings to present information to the public and solicit comments on the materials presented. Hearings fulfill legal requirements and have nominal, timing, and documentation requirements. |
Public Involvement Module |
| Public Involvement/Participation |
Public Involvement and Public Participation are terms that can be used interchangeably. They are the active and meaningful involvement of the public in the development of transportation plans and programs. It is a process to capture the Tribal community's values and perceived needs, to share information, to establish consensus, and to identify issues and concerns. |
FHWA Planning Glossary, Public Involvement Module, and LRTP Module |
| Public Notice |
A public notice is an announcement of an upcoming public event, meeting, or hearing. It is generally printed in a broadly distributed publication and fulfills a formal legal announcement for a public hearing. Public notices generally outline where the public may view documented materials, when meetings are scheduled to be held, and where comments are to be submitted or collected. |
Public Involvement Module |
| Public Road |
Any road under the jurisdiction of and maintained by a public authority (Federal, state, county, town or township, local government) and open to public travel. |
Funding Module |
| Quality Assurance |
A set of activities or methodologies designed to ensure that the development, collection, and maintenance of the data are adequate for the data set to meet its purpose in the transportation planning process. |
Data Module |
| Quality Control |
A set of activities or methods designed to evaluate the data set to ensure that the data meets the standards needed to accurately represent the condition or situation. |
Data Module |
| Regional Planning Organization (RPO) |
A forum for rural regional planning, generally established through state legislation or by a state DOT. |
Introduction to Planning Module |
| Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) |
Authorized in 2005, SAFETEA-LU is Federal legislation that authorizes funding for Federal transportation investments for Federal fiscal years 2005-2009 for highway, highway safety, public transportation, and other surface transportation programs. It represents the largest surface transportation investment in the Nation's history. |
Adapted from the Funding Module |
| Stakeholders |
People and parties with an interest in transportation issues on Tribal lands. Includes Tribal members, Tribal Council, neighboring Tribes, Federal/state/local officials, MPOs, transit operators, freight companies, shippers, and the general public, among others. |
Adapted from the TTIP Module |
| State Department of Transportation (State DOT) |
A statewide agency that is responsible for conducting transportation planning activities in non-metropolitan areas of the state, and assisting MPOs in transportation planning for the metropolitan areas. State departments of transportation are also responsible for developing, designing, and constructing the majority of the projects on major highways in most states. |
Introduction to Planning Module |
| State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) |
The STIP is a staged, 4-year, statewide, financially constrained list of transportation projects, consistent with the long-range statewide transportation plan and planning processes as well as metropolitan plans, Transportation Improvement Programs (TIP), and processes. |
TTIP Module and FHWA Planning Glossary |
| Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) |
TEA-21 is a law that authorized Federal funding for transportation investment for the time period spanning fiscal year 1998 to fiscal year 2003. The funding could be used for highway, transit, and other surface transportation programs. |
Adapted from the Introduction to Planning Module |
| Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) |
The TIP is a financially constrained, 4-year program outlining the immediate implementation priorities for transportation projects and strategies from a metropolitan area’s long-range transportation plan. A TIP is prepared by an MPO that lists projects to be funded with FHWA/FTA funds for the next 1- to 3-year period. |
Volpe composite |
| Transportation Planning |
Transportation planning is the development of strategies for operating, managing, maintaining, and financing an area's transportation system to achieve its long-term goals. It is a collaborative process of examining demographic characteristics and travel patterns, predicting how these characteristics will change over a given period of time, evaluating alternatives for the transportation system, and determining the most expeditious use of local, state, and Federal transportation funding. |
Volpe composite |
| Transportation Planning Capacity Building (TPCB) Program |
The TPCB Program provides training, technical assistance, and support for State, local, regional, and Tribal governments, transit operators, and community leaders and is designed to help staff resolve the increasingly complex issues they face when addressing transportation needs in their communities. |
TPCB website |
| Tribal Control Schedule |
The Tribal Control Schedule is an accounting and project management tool that is developed from the TTIP. It contains detailed project and task information for all projects identified in the TTIP. |
TTIP Module |
| Tribal Priority List |
The Tribal Priority List includes all of the transportation projects the Tribe has identified, including those without a funding source. The list (a) may or may not identify projects in order of priority; (b) is not financially constrained; and (c) is provided to BIA by official Tribal action, unless the Tribal government submits a TTIP. |
TTIP Module |
| Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP) Center |
Seven regional TTAP Centers assist Tribal governments in improving the skills and increasing the knowledge of the local and Tribal transportation workforce. TTAP Centers accomplish this through a variety of training programs, an information clearinghouse, updates on new and existing technology, and personalized technical assistance related to workforce development, asset management, and solutions to safety, environmental, congestion, capacity, and other issues that Tribal governments face. |
TTAP website |
| Tribal Transportation Improvement Program (TTIP) |
A multi-year, financially constrained list of proposed transportation projects to be implemented within or providing access to Indian country during the next 3-5 years. It is developed from the Tribal Priority List. |
Funding Module |
| Urbanized Area |
An area that contains a city of 50,000 or more population plus incorporated surrounding areas meeting size or density criteria as defined by the U.S. Census. |
Funding Module |
| Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) |
The UPWP is the management plan for the (metropolitan) planning program. Its purpose is to identify and coordinate the planning activities of all participants in the planning process. A UPWP includes a description of the planning work and resulting products, who will perform the work, time frames for completing the work, the cost of the work, and the source(s) of funds. |
Adapted from the Introduction to Planning Module and the FHWA Planning Glossary |
| Visualization |
The use of visual imagery to portray the character of proposed transportation plans, policies and programs at appropriate scales. Examples of visualization techniques include sketches, drawings, artist renderings, physical models and maps, simulated photos, videos, computer modeled images, interactive GIS systems, GIS-based scenario planning tools, photo manipulation, and computer simulation. |
Data Module |