A Transportation Concept Report (TCR) is a long-term planning document that the District Transportation Planning Office prepares for each State highway, or portion thereof, in its jurisdiction. The purpose of a TCR is a plan on how a highway will be developed and managed so that it operates at the targeted level of service over a twenty-year period.

In addition to the 20-year Route Concept, the TCR includes an Ultimate Concept, which is the ultimate goal for the route beyond the twenty-year planning horizon. Ultimate Concepts must be used cautiously, however, because unforeseen changes in land use and other variables make forecasting beyond twenty years difficult.

As owner/operator of the State highway system, Caltrans has a duty to establish a long-range vision for its highways and determine overall strategies for their management. This is achieved by taking into consideration the numerous factors encompassed in the human and natural environments in which a particular route exists. During development of a TCR, every effort is made to arrive at a similar level of service standard used by a local jurisdiction. Caltrans strives to have local, regional, private sector, and State consensus on corridor Concepts, planning strategies, and improvement priorities.

Whenever a General Plan is updated, State highways within the jurisdiction should be recognized and included in the circulation system. The jurisdiction should also adopt the Concept Level of Service (LOS) standard indicated in the TCR, along with the Concept Improvements described in the TCR as necessary to meet the Concept LOS. During development of a TCR, Caltrans works with their local partners, and every effort is made to arrive at a similar level of service standard used by a local jurisdiction. The jurisdiction has the option of adopting a higher LOS standard and acknowledging the inconsistency with the TCR and the associated funding participation limitations by the State for State highway improvements.

The TCR is a reference document with segment-specific information presented in a concise and readable format that allows the user to easily access -- in one place in the document -- all the data and information that pertains to a particular segment of the route. Because of this format, there is a certain amount of repetition in the TCR, as information pertaining to adjacent segments of the route is repeated in the relevant sections of the TCR.

The TCR first presents an overview of the route’s current condition, the general context in which it exists, and Caltrans’ general vision for its future. The route is then divided into segments for analysis. Each segment’s Fact Sheet contains a variety of technical, statistical, historical, and other useful information that provide a deeper understanding of the route and a context for the Concepts developed for it.

TCRs include:

Right-of-way widths.
Inventory of biological resources known to exist in the vicinity of the highway.
Maps showing the general location of rare species and natural communities.
Right-of-way and environmental information relative to the route or route segment, and not considered project specific.
Right-of-way needs defined when the appropriate environmental and engineering studies are completed.
Glossary of terms and acronyms.
References used to prepare the report.

District 3 is continually striving to improve the quality and usefulness of its TCRs through continuous updates and streamlining the overall TCR format.

Concept Facility

The description of a facility reflects its number of travel lanes, and degree of access onto the highway by local streets and driveways. (See the Glossary for an explanation of Access Control.) The Concept Facility will provide the amount of vehicle-carrying capacity necessary to achieve the Concept LOS. In some cases, people-carrying capacity will also be incorporated. Auxiliary lanes are not considered a part of the mainline roadway and, therefore, are not included in the number of travel lanes indicated in a Concept.

Concept Improvements

The range of improvements available to achieve a Route Concept is heavily influenced by environmental, political, and fiscal conditions. In many areas, planned projects are subject to meeting air quality conformity standards. Unanticipated safety projects and routine roadway maintenance are not included in Route Concept Improvements, although both will occur throughout the corridor as needed.

Because a highway is but one part of an interconnected transportation network, District 3 takes a corridor approach to developing TCRs. The corridor may include additional transportation systems, such as bus or rail transit service, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, heavy rail, a seaport, airports, interregional bus service, local roadways, and facilities for neighborhood electric vehicles used frequently by older citizens for local mobility. All of these systems reduce excess highway demand by providing travelers and shippers of goods with non-highway or non-driving options. Caltrans partners with local jurisdictions to discuss and incorporate possible recommendations for the route. Expansion of those that can provide a notable improvement to mobility within the corridor are included as Concept Improvements.

Where a Concept LOS is F, the TCR recommends general operational improvements and alternate modes of travel as starting places for further study. However, because the number of route segments with a Concept LOS F is expected to increase, operational (that is, non-capacity-increasing) improvements are now the primary strategy for optimizing the operation of the existing highway infrastructure. To fully integrate this strategy, future TCRs will include an operational analysis of heavily-congested urban route segments. The results of this analysis will determine which specific operational improvements will become Concept Improvements.
Whenever a local jurisdiction updates it General Plan, Caltrans requests that State highways within the jurisdiction be recongized and adopted as part of the circulation system. Futhermore, we request that the concept improvements described in the applicable TCR deemed necessary to meet the concept Level of Service (LOS) be adopted as part of the Plan. Finally, we request that the concept LOS standard be adopted by the jurisdiction. The jurisdiction has the option of adopting a higher LOS standard and acknowledging the inconsistency with the TCR and the associated funding participation limitations by the State for State highway improvements.
The District System Management Plan (DSMP) is the District's policy document. It catalogs the existing transportation system, identifies issues and challenges, reiterates the District's transportation goals, then proposes strategies to improve the system within a 20-year planning horizon. It considers all transportation modes.
Corridor Studies such as the I-80 Investment Strategy Report and the US 50 Major Investment Study were completed with partners in the Sacramento region. Currently, the Yuba City/Marysville Circulation Study is being developed with partners in that area.