Established in 2003 by Bexar County and the Texas Transportation Commission, the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (Alamo RMA) is a political subdivision of the state of Texas, established to implement and/or build a wide variety of transportation projects within Bexar County to increase mobility and relieve congestion. A seven- member board of directors oversees the Alamo RMA, with the chairman appointed by the governor of Texas and the remaining six members appointed by the Commissioners Court of Bexar County.

An arterial is a major street that serves both local and through traffic in a city or urban area.

An at-grade road is a road at the existing ground level. For example, an "at-grade" roadway is the existing Bandera Road.

The total traffic volume during a given period (from one to 364 days) divided by the number of days in that period. Peak hour traffic, also referred to as Rush Hour, is usually 8% to 10% of ADT.

Term referring to the collective body overseeing the operations and policies of the Alamo RMA, comprised of seven members. The chairman is appointed by the governor of Texas and the remaining six members are appointed by the Commissioners Court of Bexar County.

In urban areas, a collector road is a street that provides direct access to neighborhoods and arterials.

The Commissioners Court is the governing body of a county in Texas. Commissioners Court is comprised of five elected officials: the County Judge, who is elected at-large by the entire county, and four county commissioners, who are each elected by their respective precincts. This governing structure is the same in all 254 counties in Texas.

Often referred to as a CDA, a Comprehensive Development Agreement can contain all or part of the following aspects for a project:

• Design. A firm is retained to design the project for a fixed cost under the oversight of the appropriate government entity or authority.
• Design–Build. A firm or consortium is retained to design and construct the project, at a fixed cost established at the onset of the contract, under the oversight of the appropriate government entity or authority.
• Design-Build-Finance. A firm or consortium is retained to design, construct, and establish financing for a project, at a fixed cost established at the onset of the contract, under the oversight of the appropriate government entity or authority.
• Design-Build-Finance-Maintain. A firm or consortium is retained to design, construct, establish financing, and maintain a project, for a fixed period of time and at a fixed cost, under the oversight of the appropriate government entity or authority.
• Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain. A firm or consortium is retained to design, construct, establish financing, maintain a project and operate the activities of the project, for a fixed period of time and at a fixed cost, under the oversight of the appropriate government entity or authority.
• Concession. A term used to describe the possible leasing of a public asset for a fixed period of time by a private entity or consortium, which would be responsible for all aspects of design, construction, operation and maintenance of a project, subject to terms and provisions established in a detailed contract. A concession may also contain either a payment at the signing of the contract or payments over time as part of the lease.

Controlled access means that access is restricted or limited on roadways, such as highways with designated locations in which vehicles can enter or leave a road, with preference given to through traffic.

A corridor is a broad geographical strip of land with no predetermined size or scale that follows a general directional flow connecting two points. It may contain streets, highways, railways and public transit routes.

See Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

An endangered species is a plant or animal species that is in danger of extinction and is included on the federal endangered species list; thus, is protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

The Endangered Species Act is federal legislation that was enacted to protect, preserve and conserve threatened and endangered species and the ecosystems and habitats on which they rely.

An Environmental Assessment is a full-disclosure, environmental document that is prepared when the significance of anticipated environmental effects of a proposed project or action is not clearly established. An EA will either result in a “Finding of No Significant Impact” (FONSI) or will conclude that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is required.

Environmental constraints are features of the natural or manmade environment that warrant particular consideration during the transportation planning process. The most frequent constraints are wetlands, threatened and endangered species habitats, archeological and historical sites, and hazardous materials sites.

A full-disclosure, environmental document that is prepared when it is initially determined that a proposed action or project may cause significant impacts to the environment; when environmental studies and early coordination indicate significant impacts; or when review of the Environmental Assessment indicates that a proposed project’s impacts may be significant. The EIS requires both a draft statement (DEIS) and final statement (FEIS) and extensive public involvement.

The chief administrative officer of the Alamo RMA, who reports directly to the Alamo RMA board of directors and is responsible for all day-to-day operations of the Alamo RMA.

An expressway is a controlled (limited) access, divided major highway for through traffic, the intersections of which are usually separated from other roadways by different levels, with access allowed only at designated locations.

A facility includes all the elements that are part of a complete roadway or street, including but not limited to: the pavement, the lanes, the striping, the signs, the traffic lights, the drainage ditches, the medians, the sidewalks, the bike lanes, the paved shoulders, and the turn lanes.

The Federal Highway Administration is charged with the broad responsibility of ensuring that America’s roads and highways continue to be safe and technologically up-to-date. Although state, local, and tribal governments own most of the nation’s highways, FHWA provides financial and technical support to them for constructing, improving, and preserving America’s highway system. The annual budget of more than $30 billion is funded by fuel and motor vehicle excise taxes. The budget is primarily divided between two programs: federal aid funding to state and local governments; and Federal Lands Highways funding for national parks, national forests, Indian lands, and other land under federal stewardship.

See Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

A FONSI is a decisional document issued by the Federal Highway Administration or TxDOT Environmental Affairs Division which indicates that an action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the environment. The FONSI follows approval of the environmental assessment and appropriate public involvement.

A flyover is a high-level overpass built above main overpass lanes or a bridge built over an at-grade intersection.

A freeway is a divided highway that has two or more lanes for the exclusive use of traffic in each direction. Access is controlled and traffic flow is uninterrupted.

A frontage road is a collector-type roadway that runs parallel to a major transportation facility such as a freeway. It serves to collect and distribute traffic along the major facility without impeding flow along the freeway. (Also referred to as an "access," "feeder," and "service" road.)

Grade separation refers to the alignment of a junction of two or more roads at different heights (grades) so they do not disrupt the flow of traffic on one another when they cross. This is also known as an overpass.

A highway is any road, parkway, or freeway/expressway that includes rights-of-way, bridges, railroad-highway crossings, tunnels, drainage structures, signs, guardrail, and protective structures.

An HOV lane is a high-occupancy vehicle lane. An HOV lane is reserved for vehicles with one or more passengers in addition to the driver.

The Interstate Highway System is a system of limited access highways, built with federal highway funds that connect all major cities in the contiguous 48 states.

Level of service is a rating used by highway departments to determine if a road is operating at ideal, average, or poor efficiency. Termed “level of service”, each highway is given a grade from “A” to “F” that indicates how well the roadway is serving its intended traffic. Roads with a level of service "F" are usually the ones with major traffic problems and are generally prioritized for improvements and innovations to make the roadway better.

Light rail is the modern version of a streetcar. As defined by the American Public Transportation Authority (APTA), light rail is "An electric railway with a 'light volume' traffic capacity compared to heavy rail. Light rail may use shared or exclusive rights-of-way, high or low platform loading, and multi-car trains or single cars."

A limited-access road is a highway with grade-separated intersections (above or below local streets) with a limited number of access points (such as an on-ramp) where vehicles join the traffic flow. For example, all Interstate highways are limited-access highways.

A local street is a street intended solely for access to adjacent properties.

A median is a barrier, constructed of concrete, asphalt, or landscaping, that separates two directions of traffic.

An MPO is an association of local agencies established to help coordinate planning and development activities within a metropolitan region of over 50,000 people. An MPO is not a level of government, but it does have "effective control" over transportation improvements within an area, since a transportation project must be a part of the MPO's adopted plan in order to receive federal funding.

A multimodal transportation system is a transportation system that includes multiple modes of transportation, such as automobile, public transit, rail, bicycle, and pedestrian.

NEPA is a national environmental policy that was established in 1969. NEPA requires that any project using federal funding or requiring federal approval examines the effects of proposed and alternative actions on the environment before a final decision is made concerning such actions.

The No-Build Alternative is the option of not making any changes to an existing transportation facility. The No-Build Alternative is included in Environmental Assessment (EA) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) documents.

An NOI is a written notice, published in the Federal Register and/or Texas Register, advising the public that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be prepared for a proposed project and identifying the name and address of a person to whom project-related comments may be sent.

See Grade Separation.

An RMA is an independent, local government agency authorized by Texas law. An RMA can be formed by one or more counties to finance, design, construct, operate, maintain and expand transportation facilities or services in a particular geographic area.

A restricted access road is a highway with grade-separated intersections (above or below local streets) with a limited number of access points (such as an on-ramp) where vehicles join the traffic flow.

The right-of-way is the land set aside for use as a roadway corridor. Rights-of-way are purchased prior to the construction of a new road, and usually enough extra land is purchased for the purpose of building sound walls, retaining walls, and other mitigation features. Sometimes, right-of-ways are left vacant after the initial roadway facility is constructed to allow for future highway expansion.

A roadway is either a street or a highway.

TxDOT is the department of the State of Texas that oversees public transportation, including highways and railroads within the state. TxDOT also registers motor vehicles, provides travel information, and licenses automobile dealers.

A toll road is a road or section of road where motorists are charged a user fee (or toll) to drive on the road.

A typical section is a drawing that illustrates a vertical slice of a roadway, showing number of lanes, lane widths, median widths, ditches, clear zones, cut slopes, fill slopes, and approximate right-of-way widths.