In general, highway congestion results when traffic demand approaches or exceeds the available capacity of the highway system. The level of traffic demand can vary significantly depending on the season, the day of the week, and the time of day. Also, the capacity of the highway system, which is usually thought of as constant, can change because of weather, work zones, traffic incidents, or other non-recurring events.

The Congestion Management Process (CMP) is a broad, regional level planning tool designed assist to transportation agencies manage congestion through a systematic, transparent approach that concentrates on identifying congested corridors and recommending multimodal strategies for congestion mitigation. The goal of the CMP is to provide information that helps transportation planners, professionals and others to understand the overall congestion climate in individual corridors and the region. Data on the congestion climate helps the Birmingham MPO, in partnership with other agencies, to formulate congestion management strategies. Data and information from the CMP benefits the transportation planning process by helping the region focus limited federal transportation dollars where they can have the greatest impact.

The Birmingham MPO’s Congestion Management Process uses several performance measures such as travel time, speed and delay. These performance measures are used to track the progress of the region in reducing and managing congestion.

To obtain the final report for the Birmingham Congestion Management Process, complete with technical documentation, click on the following link:

Birmingham Congestion Management Process Final Report (Full Document)
Executive Summary
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D