Alternatives Floated for Replacing Traffic Delay Analysis in California

One of the most promising elements for promoting sustainable urban development in California to come out of last year's legislative session was a CEQA reform bill that moved environmental impact analysis away from standards based solely on traffic delay.

"Following up on the passage of SB 743, the Governor’s Office of Planning & Research [OPR] is considering a variety of alternatives to vehicle 'level of service' under CEQA, including vehicle miles traveled, auto trips generated, and multi-modal level of service," writes the California Planning & Development Report. 

In a preliminary paper [PDF] released last week for public review, OPR looked at the problems with LOS and the prospects for utilizing alternative transportation criteria and metrics that “promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of multimodal transportation networks, and a diversity of land uses,” in addition to several other criteria.