The Authority's planning efforts cover a wide range of planning activities, from setting its transportation "vision" for Contra Costa County to solving transportation issues along specific corridors or for different parts of the transportation system.
The Countywide Comprehensive Transportation Plan, or CTP, is the Authority's broadest policy and planning document. Besides outlining the Authority's vision and goals, the CTP outlines the various strategies for addressing transportation and growth management issues within Contra Costa County. The CTP also "knits together" the various Action Plans for Routes of Regional Significance. The Action Plans, jointly prepared by jurisdictions within each sub-area of the county, outline plans for each regional roadway.
Both the Countywide Comprehensive Transportation Plan and the Action Plans are parts of the Growth Management Program, established first by Measure C and carried forward in Measure J. The overall goal of the GMP is to achieve a cooperative process for managing growth countywide.
Besides being the agency that implements the Growth Management Program, the Authority is also the agency that develops and implements the Congestion Management Program. The CMPs, which are defined in State law, are intended to outline "comprehensive strategies needed to develop appropriate responses to transportation needs."
The Authority is increasingly involved in improving the connections between transportation and land use. Supporting land use patterns that make more efficient use of the transportation system is one of the Authority's strategies and the new Measure J expenditure plan includes more funding for transportation improvements that support transit- and pedestrian-oriented developments. The Authority also works with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to carry out regional programs to link land use and transportation.
The Authority funds or participates in a variety of corridor studies that address specific transportation issues within Contra Costa County and the surrounding region. To help with those and other studies, and to help understand future demands and trends, the Authority maintains several tools and data, including its travel demand model, supporting land use and demographic forecasts, and a list of transportation projects being pursued in Contra Costa County and the region.