As many residents have encountered a bewildering flood of new abbreviations and terminology, we have create this short list of commonly used abbreviations to help decipher these unfamiliar terms:

• AA – Alternatives Analysis
• AREMA – American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association
• BMT – Busway / Mixed Traffic
• BOCC – Board of County Commissioners
• BRT – Bus Rapid Transit
• CAMPO – Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
• CHT – Chapel Hill Transit
• CRT – Commuter Rail Transit
• CSX – CSX Transportation
• CWI – Collision With Individual
• DATA – Durham Area Transit Authority
• DCHC MPO – Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization
• DEIS – Draft Environmental Impact Statement
• DOT – Department of Transportation
• EIS – Environmental Impact Study
• EPA – US Environmental Protection Agency
• FAR – Flood Area Ratio
• FE – Final Engineering
• FEIS – Final Environmental Impact Statement
• FTA – Federal Transportation Administration
• FTE – Full Time Equivalent
• GAO – Government Accountability Office
• HBU – Home Based Universities
• HBW – Home Based Work
• HOV – High Occupancy Vehicle
• HRT – Heavy Rail Transit
• ITS – Intelligent Transportation System
• LPA – Locally Preferred Alternative
• LRT – Light Rail Transit
• LRTP – Long Range Transportation Plan
• MIS – Major Investment Study
• MPO – Metropolitan Planning Organization
• MUTCD – Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
• NCDOT – North Carolina Department of Transportation
• NCRR – North Carolina Railroad
• NEPA – National Environmental Policy Act
• NHB – Non-Home Based
• NTD – National Transit Database
• NWI – National Wetlands Inventory
• O&M – Operating & Maintenance
• OCS – Overhead Catenary System
• PAX – Passenger Hours Traveled
• PE – Preliminary Engineering
• PFO – Palustrine Forested
• PPHPD – peak hour per direction
• RTP – Research Triangle Park
• SOV – Single Occupancy Vehicle
• STAC – Special Transit Advisory Commission
• TA – Transitional Analysis
• TAC – Transportation Advisory Committee
• TAC – Technical Advisory Committee
• TAZ – Traffic Analysis Zones
• TCC – Technical Coordinating Committee
• TDM – Transportation Demand Management
• TIGER – Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery
• TOD – Transit Oriented Development
• TRTP – Triangle Regional Transit Program
• TSM – Transportation System Management Alternative
• USACE – US Army Corp of Engineers
• USGS – US Geological Survey
• UT – Unnamed Tributary
• UZA – Urbanized Areas
• V/C – Volume Capacity Ratio
• VHT – Vehicle Hours Traveled
• VMT – Vehicle Miles Traveled