Plan Bay Area

A toll payment facility in Florida.

Tolling All Lanes

Bay Area transportation planners are studying a radical idea to reduce traffic congestion and fund driving alternatives: tolling all lanes on a freeway. Even more radical, the plan considers tolling parallel roads.

March 21, 2023 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Bay Area

Plan Bay Area 2050, Approved Last Week, Makes the Opinion Page

A traditionally controversial planning exercise, the regular update of the 30-year plan for the San Francisco Bay Area, has crossed the finish line again. Opponents aren't letting the issues rest, however.

October 26, 2021 - The Mercury News

San Francisco Bay Bridge

Plan Bay Area 2050 Draft Released

A regional plan for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area is available for public comment.

July 23, 2020 - San Francisco Chronicle

BART Station

Bill Would Force Locals to Follow BART's Plans for Station-Adjacent Development

Another bill under consideration by the California State Legislature would take land use control away from local agencies near transit stations. In this case, the new authority would be regional.

March 6, 2018 - The Mercury News

San Francisco Bay Bridge

Plan Bay Area 2040 Sets Ambitious Housing and Transportation Agenda

The last time the San Francisco Bay Area got together to set a regional agenda on housing and transportation, the Sierra Club and the Tea Party teamed up to oppose the Plan Bay Area. A draft of the new Plan Bay Area 2040 hopes to avoid the drama.

April 17, 2017 - San Francisco Chronicle

South of Market

Plan Bay Area Update Calls for 30 Percent More Housing by 2040

The plan centers a large portion of the housing growth — around 46 percent — in the Big 3 Bay Area Cities: San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.

December 4, 2016 - Greenbelt Alliance

Gentrification and the Bay Area's Controversial Growth Management Plan

Is gentrification the inevitable result of land use planning that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by favoring infill development over auto-dependent sprawl? The Urban Displacement Project looks at the unintended effects of Plan Bay Area.

August 29, 2015 - Marin Independent Journal

San Francisco Density

Density is Key to Fighting Climate Change, Rules Bay Area Judge

A group that coined the term, "stack and pack" to deride density and its role in reducing carbon emissions lost in court when the judge rejected their argument that only technological improvements in cars and fuels were necessary to reduce emissions.

July 9, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

Environmentalists Settle Lawsuit on Plan Bay Area

Two down, two to go. Rarely has a regional transportation/land use plan been sued by so many diverse groups. Environmentalists settled with Bay Area regional planning agencies with assurances that the 2017 plan will better account for GHG reductions.

June 24, 2014 - Contra Costa Times

Agenda 21 Opponents Under the Microscope

Writing for Fortune magazine, David Morris examines the influence of the Anti-Agenda 21 movement, especially one of the movement's figureheads, Rosa Koire, who wrote the book "Behind the Green Mask: U.N. Agenda 21."

June 20, 2014 - Fortune Magazine

residential downtown in Singapore

So Much for the Environmental Benefits of Urban Density

For urbanists who have reduced their carbon footprints by driving less and living more densely in smaller homes, researchers from UC Berkeley have some bad news. Your reduced emissions are canceled out by those in the suburbs ringing your city.

January 16, 2014 - Los Angeles Times - Science Now

Plan Bay Area: Sued From the Right, Now the Left

Plan Bay Area must be doing something right as it seems to be antagonizing those on both ends of the planning spectrum. First, a libertarian group sues because of "densification", and now environmentalists sue because not enough funds go for transit.

August 22, 2013 - KQED News

Libertarian Foundation Uses CEQA to Litigate 'Plan Bay Area'

The group, Bay Area Citizens, worried about loss of property values and quality of life, will be represented by the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation, which will use CEQA as the basis of the lawsuit against regional agencies MTC and ABAG.

August 8, 2013 - San Francisco Chronicle

One Major Flaw of Plan Bay Area

According to SF State University geographer, Jason Henderson, the adoption of Plan Bay Area by MTC and ABAG last Thursday was a "watershed moment in regional planning", but it also was a missed opportunity to improve transit to capture more trips.

July 26, 2013 - San Francisco Bay Guardian

San Francisco Skyline

Bay Area's Controversial Growth Plan Approved

Over the heckles of hundreds of residents opposed to higher density and the two regional planning agencies making the decision, the Bay Area's growth plan designed to cut carbon emissions 15% by 2040 through better planning was approved.

July 20, 2013 - Pleasanton Weekly

Does Bay Area Industry Have a Future?

A new state-mandated plan for the Bay Area may displace the region's goods movement businesses, thereby worsening congestion, increasing air pollution, raising consumer prices, and eliminating well-paying green- and blue-collar jobs.

July 7, 2013 - California Progress Report

San Francisco Peninsula Struggles with Growth Plan

The Bay Area is finalizing its plan to comply with state legislation to reduce vehicle emissions from transportation. "Plan Bay Area" has aroused fears of regional government and more, which were expressed at a recent public meeting.

May 3, 2013 - The San Mateo Daily Journal

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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.