California planning expert Bill Fulton discusses a long-awaited proposal from the Governor's Office of Planning and Research that would shift the state's traffic impact assessments away from their current focus on traffic congestion.
A sweeping set of recommendations for a new traffic impact assessment standard appeared late Wednesday from the California Governor's Office of Planning and Research. Under the proposal, traffic congestion would no longer be considered a significant environmental impact under the California Environmental Quality Act, and expanded roadways in congested areas would be assessed for possible growth-inducing impacts.
The recommendation would replace the “level of service” traffic congestion standard with a “vehicle miles traveled” standard in order to tether CEQA analysis more closely to other state goals, especially the greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals contained in AB 32, the state’s climate change law.
If adopted, the recommendations could have widespread implications for how traffic is mitigated under CEQA and the leverage local governments have over developers in dealing with traffic congestion issues.
Read the full story: OPR's new traffic draft rethinks congestion
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Let me start with a disclaimer: I am not a transportation planner. At the points where transportation planning shares borders with engineering, I tend to zone out and start doodling in the margins. I do, however, have a lifelong interest in transportation, which is why I share the excitement of some of my more transportation-focused colleagues about potential changes in how California measures transportation impacts of projects.
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