Project Profile
Coachella Valley Regional Mobility Program
Coachella, California
Client: City of Coachella
Project Summary: Historically, traffic in Coachella Valley concentrated along a few facilities that quickly became congested. The Coachella Valley Regional Mobility Program examined potential alternative transit solutions to address existing congestion problems and to allow for future growth in the area.
Project Highlights
The Coachella Valley Regional Mobility Program evolved from individual cities in Coachella Valley and their initial interest in specific transit projects. To qualify for federal funding and to work toward an area consensus, a need for a comprehensive regional mobility program for Coachella Valley was identified by TGC. TGC involved the following local and regional agencies: Coachella Valley Association of Governments, which represents nine municipalities within Coachella Valley; Riverside County Transportation Commission, which allocates federal and state funding and approves regional planning; and Southern California Association of Governments, which is the Metropolitan Planning Organization for a five-county area responsible for congestion management compliance and coordinates input to the State Implementation Plan.
Phase I and Phase II Reports
The Coachella Valley Regional Mobility Program was undertaken as a two-phase study that would incorporate mobility alternatives suitable for the region. The Phase I Report defined the need for transit and its ability to address those needs. Phase II developed selected alternatives in more detail, incorporated transit demand analysis into overall Coachella Valley arterial modeling, and developed more detailed cost estimates.
Phase I provided data describing the area and its projected growth. It also presented a simplified demand analysis for various market segments. Additionally, an analysis of existing traffic and congestion problems, an examination of the alternative corridors that might be used for advanced transit facilities, and the various treatments which might be applied to each corridor was supplied. The characteristics of the various transit technologies and the possible system alternatives in terms of their speed characteristics, costs, demand, and applicability were described.