The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) created a policy in January 2020 to identify capacity and safety-related transportation needs. In March 2021, the CTB adopted a policy to prioritize these needs. Both policies use performance-based planning to make the process clear and transparent for local and regional partners.

The VTrans Mid-term Needs framework looks at transportation needs in three travel markets and also includes a statewide safety assessment:

• Corridors of Statewide Significance (CoSS) – Interregional travel
• Regional Networks (RNs) – Intraregional travel
• Urban Development Areas (UDAs) and Industrial and Economic Development Sites (IEDAs) – Local travel

For full details, see the Mid-term Needs and Priorities page.

Go to InteractVTrans MapExplorer. You can view the 2021 and 2019 VTrans Mid-term Needs there. You can also see the 2019 Statewide Prioritized Mid-term Needs and the Construction District Prioritized Mid-term Needs. The tool lets you search and download the data.

VTrans Mid-term Needs focuses on locations that may need attention in the next ten years.

The measures come from the CTB-adopted policy for identifying and prioritizing VTrans Mid-term Needs. The policy was created with input from localities, MPOs (Metropolitan Planning Organizations), PDCs  (Planning District Commissions), and CTB (Commonwealth Transportation Board) members.

VTrans uses several performance measures to find Mid-term Needs. These measures cover congestion, reliability, accessibility, safety, capacity preservation, transportation demand management, and industrial and economic development access.

• Congestion: Identifies locations where travel is much slower than the speed limit or takes longer than normal.
• Reliability: Finds locations with unpredictable travel times or where extra time is needed to arrive on time. Includes average on-time arrival for Amtrak and Virginia Rail Express trains.
• Accessibility: Identifies areas needing better access by transit, bike, or walking. This includes regional Activity Centers where transit is not competitive with driving and Equity Emphasis Areas where transit is needed.
• Safety: Identifies roads and intersections with high crash rates, fatalities, or injuries. Includes corridors with pedestrian safety needs.
• Urban Development Areas (UDAs): Lists locally identified needs for improving circulation in designated UDAs to support traditional neighborhood design.
• Capacity Preservation: Identifies roads where small investments now can avoid costly fixes later.
• Transportation Demand Management (TDM): Shows places where proactive travel demand management is needed based on roadway and area type.
• Industrial and Economic Development Areas (IEDAs): Identifies sites that need better access to the nearest Corridor of Statewide Significance (CoSS).

More information is on the VTrans Mid-term Needs and Priorities page.

A performance measure is a number that describes a condition. It is based on data. It can describe the condition of a roadway segment or a transit service.

The CTB sets thresholds for conditions that need attention within the next ten years. If a roadway or transit service meets one of these thresholds, it is flagged as a Mid-term Need.

Rural needs outside of Regional Networks (RNs) are identified through the Corridors of Statewide Significance (CoSS) and Urban Development Area (UDA) travel markets.

Safety Needs can occur on any state road. They are not limited by travel market.

VTrans reviews changes in technology and other outside factors through the Long-term Risk and Opportunity Register. This process tracks major trends and risks. It also looks at opportunities that could affect transportation in Virginia.

These trends include things like new technology, climate change, population shifts, and changes in travel behavior. VTrans uses this information to guide planning and investment decisions.

There are too many transportation needs in Virginia to address all at once. Prioritizing helps identify the locations with the most urgent needs.

Locations identified as priorities under the CTB policy become eligible for funding. They can also be evaluated further through the Virginia Project Pipeline program.

Local and regional planning agencies can use the prioritized needs to guide their own planning work.

The Virginia Project Pipeline Program uses the prioritized VTrans Mid-term Needs to guide investments. This helps ensure transparency, accountability, and efficient project delivery. It also supports performance-based planning and programming, following the CTB’s VTrans Guiding Principles.

The process includes:

1. Prioritize VTrans Mid-term Needs.
2. Identify locations for studies or solutions.
3. Conduct studies and develop solutions.
4. Use results to inform VDOT and DRPT funding programs, including SMART SCALE.

Yes. The Policy for the Prioritization of the VTrans Mid-term Needs does not remove identified needs. It only ranks them to show which are the most urgent.

You can read Chapter 5 of the VTrans Policy Guide on this webpage. It explains the policy and shows which Needs categories are in each Priority Location.

How statewide and district priorities are set:

• Statewide Prioritization: Needs in the Corridors of Statewide Significance (CoSS) and Safety Travel Markets.
• Construction District Prioritization: Needs in the CoSS, Regional Networks (RN), Safety, and UDA (IEDA Access) travel markets.

Notes:

• Needs categories vary by travel market. They include many types of multimodal needs like congestion, transit access, and pedestrian access.
• There are four travel markets, each with unique characteristics. See the VTrans Travel Markets page for details.

Steps to set VTrans priorities:

1. Establish priorities within each VTrans Need category.
2. Use two criteria: severity of the need and magnitude (number of users or vehicles affected).
3. Assign weightings to each category and combine them to set Statewide and District Priority Locations.
4. Adjust for other factors:
   1. Overlap with transportation infrastructure repair, rehabilitation, or replacement needs.
   2. Exposure to projected sea-level rise, storm surge, or historical flooding.
   3. Overlap with Economically Distressed Communities.

The VTrans Mid-term Needs are ranked in two groups: Statewide Priority and District Priority.

Statewide Priority Locations are ranked across the entire state. They are not limited by VDOT Construction District or region. They include Needs in the Corridors of Statewide Significance (CoSS) travel market for:

• Congestion mitigation
• Improved reliability (highway)
• Improved reliability (intercity and commuter rail)
• Capacity preservation
• Travel demand management
• Safety improvement on CoSS

Example: A congestion mitigation need on I-64 in Henrico County would be compared to one on I-95 in Stafford County, even though they are in different corridors.

The VTrans Mid-term Needs are ranked in two groups: Statewide Priority and Construction District Priority.

Construction District Priority Locations are compared only within each of the nine VDOT Construction Districts. They use the following Need categories:

• Congestion mitigation (RN)
• Improved reliability (RN)
• Transit access for Equity Emphasis Areas (RN)
• Transit access to Activity Centers (RN)
• Pedestrian access to Activity Centers (RN)
• Bicycle access to Activity Centers (RN)
• Capacity preservation (RN)
• Transportation demand management (RN)
• Access to Industrial and Economic Development Areas (IEDAs)
• Roadway safety (Statewide)
• Pedestrian safety (Statewide)

Example: A Regional Network (RN) need in the Winchester RN is compared with a need in the Harrisonburg RN because both are in the Staunton Construction District. That same Winchester RN need would not be compared to one in the Richmond RN, since Richmond is in a different district.

Statewide Priority Locations are based on needs along the Corridors of Statewide Significance travel market.

Construction District Priority Locations are based on needs in three travel markets: Regional Networks, Safety, and Industrial and Economic Development Areas (IEDAs).

You can learn more on the VTrans Travel Markets webpage.

Corridors of Statewide Significance (CoSS) are multimodal corridors. They connect major centers of activity and support travel between cities and states.

These corridors are critical for both passenger and freight movement across Virginia. Because of their importance, they are prioritized at the statewide level. They are not compared to local or regional conditions.

If a need along a CoSS also falls within a Regional Network, it is also counted as a Regional Network Need. In that case, it is evaluated again to determine its Construction District Priority.

The draft policy was shared in more than 30 briefings with Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and Planning District Commissions (PDCs). It was also presented at four virtual workshops with over 350 participants. Several one-on-one meetings were held with agencies and jurisdictions.

This outreach produced more than 140 written comments. Three major changes were made to the policy in response.

For details, see the January 19, 2021 CTB Meeting presentation, which lists the changes. You can also read all the comments submitted on the draft policy.