Instead of requiring developers to complete traffic studies for individual projects, one Northern California city has commissioned a comprehensive traffic study, and asked developers to help foot the bill.
"Foster City is taking a holistic approach when it comes to studying how traffic would be affected by various new development and redevelopment projects.
Rather than have individual developers do traffic studies for each project, the city has gotten them to work together on one study. That study should be completed by early August at a price tag of $127,000, city Planning Manager Leslie Carmichael said."
"The city is managing the traffic study work and has hired the firm Fehr & Peers Transportation Consultants, but the developers are footing the bill, Carmichael said. The comprehensive traffic study will be incorporated into the environmental impact report for each project for the Planning Commission and City Council to review, she added.
Developers said Foster City's approach makes sense.
"It is an excellent idea, in my opinion. Foster City is very smart about how they handle their planning process," said John Igoe, senior vice president of the Sares Regis Group of Northern California."
Read the full story: Developers unite on traffic study
Everything you Need to Know from the APA’s 2026 Trend Report for Planners
Plus, a conversation with the APA’s Chief Foresight and Knowledge Officer, Petra Hurtado.
Will Urban Planners Lose Their Jobs to AI?
Let’s see what the data says.
Planning Year in Review 2023: Zoning Reform, a Rail Revolution, and Climate Realities
Last year’s most talked-about planning issues and news.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority