Pasadena got out in front of the state of California this week by replacing "level of service" with a more holistic, less car-centric, set of standards for review under the California Environmental Quality Act.
"On November 3, Pasadena’s City Council voted unanimously to ditch the car-centric measure of mobility called 'level of service,' or LOS," according to a post on the Boyonabike! blog.
The change at the local level occurs as the state is working to revise its Level of Service requirements as a part of the California Environmental Quality Act.
The Pasadena Department of Transportation staff report to the Pasadena City Council [pdf] explains the policy change, which would replace "two existing Transportation Performance Measures with five new Transportation Performance Measures and Set Thresholds of Significance for CEQA for the new measures." Those five new measures, as listed by the staff report: "Vehicle Miles Traveled Per Capita," "Proximity and Quality of the Transit," "Pedestrian Accessibility," Vehicle Trips Per Capita," and "Proximity and Quality of the Bicycle Network."
Boyonabike! also adds this commentary on how and why LOS was shown the door: "The policy change was developed and proposed by the staff at Pasadena DOT and is a critical element of Pasadena’s efforts to become a more environmentally-friendly city by encouraging multi-modal transportation, and denser, mixed-use development downtown."
FULL STORY: An End to LOS in Pasadena
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Eviction Looms for Low-Income Tenants as Rent Debt Rises
Nonprofit housing operators across the country face almost $10 billion in rent debt.
Brightline West Breaks Ground
The high-speed rail line will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
Colorado Bans No-Fault Evictions
In most cases, landlords must provide a just cause for evicting tenants.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.