Glossary

A

ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: Regulations implementing the ADA require transportation agencies to make certain improvements to the infrastructure and some of these improvements have to be specifically identified in the Transportation Improvement Program. 

ADT: Average daily traffic

ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed):  Neighborhood investment program that assists working households whose earnings exceed the Federal Poverty Level but are less than the area’s cost of living. It aims to increase homeownership, institute neighborhood associations, incentivize development, and facilitate property value appreciation for economic and social mobility.

ARDOT: Arkansas Department of Transportation

B, C

Context-Sensitive Street Design: A collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all stakeholders to provide a transportation facility that fits its physical setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic and environmental resources, while maintaining safety and mobility. 

Control Vehicle: A vehicle that must use space outside of its designated travel lane, including across centerlines, but within the roadway, to navigate a turning movement, as a function of its size

Curb/corner radii: The radius of an intersection corner or curb

Curbspace: A street subzone, part of the roadway zone, that can include vehicle and bicycle parking, freight loading, parklets, taxi and ride-hailing pick-up and drop-off, transit stop amenities, and other uses that activate the street

D

Design/posted/target speed: The speed at which people are expected to drive; the target speed should match the design speed and posted speed limit

DOT: Department of Transportation

E

EPA: Environmental Protection Agency

Evaluation Criteria: A process developed as part of the programming process for evaluating the relative merits of projects.  

F

FHWA: Federal Highway Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation with jurisdiction over highways. 

G

General travelway: A street subzone that includes general purpose driving lanes that can be shared by private motor vehicles, buses, commercial and freight vehicles, bicycles, and dockless mobility vehicles.

Geographic Information System (GIS): A computer-based data management tool used for mapping, storing, retrieving, analyzing and displaying geographic data.

Green infrastructure: A network of parks, open spaces, drainageways, and floodplains which help mitigate the impacts caused by impervious (hard) surfaces. 

Site-specific green infrastructure refers to smaller, engineered, structural practices which mimic larger natural systems and use vegetation, soils, and roots to slow and filter stormwater runoff.

Green Street: A stormwater management approach that incorporates vegetation (perennials, shrubs, trees), soil, and engineered systems (e.g., permeable pavements) to slow, filter, and cleanse stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces.

H

Highway Frontage Quality Assessment: Visual mapping of a highway corridor’s current building environment.

I

Inside lane: When multiple lanes in one direction are present, the general travelway lane nearest the centerline or median

J, K, L

Level of Service (LOS): A qualitative assessment of a road’s operating condition, generally described using a scale of A (little congestion) to F (severe congestion). 

M

Median: A physical element between the two edges of a roadway to separate directions of travel and in some cases, to provide traffic calming or pedestrian or bicyclist refuge

Micromobility: Low-speed, single-person transport vehicles primarily consisting of bikeshare systems and electric scooters

Mode-specific travelway: Where present, a street subzone that can include on-street dedicated bikeways, transit-only lanes, and turn lanes

Multi-modal: Refers to the availability of multiple transportation options, especially within a system. A multi-modal approach to transportation planning focuses on the most efficient way of getting people or goods from place to place by truck, train, bicycle, automobile, airplane, bus, boat, foot or even a telecommuting or other technologies.

N, O

Outside lane: When multiple lanes in one direction are present, the general travelway lane nearest the shoulder or gutter and/or gutter farthest from the center

Overlay: A designation or set of designations that a street may have, along with its street type, that informs the design

P

Pedestrian realm: The zone within a street that includes the Frontage Zone, Sidewalk Zone, and Amenity Zone

Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG): Guidelines under the ADA and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) that address access to sidewalks and streets, crosswalks, curb ramps, pedestrian signals, on-street parking, and other components of public right-of-way

Q, R

RCN: DOT’s Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Program

Right-of-Way (ROW): Land owned or granted by easement to a City for transportation or utility purposes; this term is often used to refer to the public land outside of the roadway including the pedestrian realm

S

Safe System Approach: A holistic and comprehensive approach to street safety that provides a guiding framework centered around safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds, and post-crash care

Stakeholders: Any group of individuals or organizations who are involved in the programming process whether that involvement is required by statute or regulation or simply because that individual has an interest in the outcome of the process. 

Standards: An enforceable set of design parameters often in the form of City or County rules and regulations

T

Transit Feasibility Study: A study undertaken to assess whether local transit services are needed for an area. 

U

Urban Heat Island Effect: The phenomenon where urban areas experience significantly higher temperatures than their surrounding rural areas, particularly at night. This temperature difference is due to a combination of factors, including the materials used in urban construction (like asphalt and concrete) that absorb and retain more heat than natural surfaces, and the lack of vegetation which provides cooling through evapotranspiration.

V

VPD: Vehicles Per Day

Vulnerable roadway users: Those most at risk in traffic; this typically includes those unprotected by a vehicle, including people walking, rolling, bicycling, scooting, and driving a motorcycle

W, X, Y, Z

Walk Score: A numerical rating from 0 to 100 that indicates how walkable a location is, with higher scores signifying greater walkability. It assesses the proximity of amenities like grocery stores, restaurants, schools, and parks, and it also considers pedestrian-friendly factors like block length and intersection density.