Meeting_Body
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
APRIL 17, 2024
Subject
SUBJECT: PILOT VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED (VMT) MITIGATION PROGRAM
Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATION
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
APPROVE the Pilot VMT Mitigation Program (Attachment A).
Issue
ISSUE
In September 2020, Caltrans released statewide guidance for analyzing transportation impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Succinctly, the guidance directs project sponsors, such as Metro, to use vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as the transportation impact analysis metric to measure and mitigate induced travel impacts on the state highway system (SHS).
In 2021, Metro was awarded funds through the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant program to develop a Metro Pilot VMT Mitigation Program. The Pilot VMT Mitigation Program is a set of four tools to measure and mitigate the potential induced travel impacts of Metro highway and ExpressLanes projects on the SHS. The pilot term is not temporal but will instead be based on the application of the tools to a minimum of one highway project and one ExpressLanes project.
Per the requirements of the Caltrans grant, the Board must take formal action on the Pilot VMT Mitigation Program.
Background
BACKGROUND
Under CEQA, public agencies must analyze transportation projects to determine whether they may have a significant impact on the environment. Senate Bill (SB) 743, signed into law in 2013, initiated an update to the CEQA guidelines to change how lead agencies evaluate transportation impacts to promote greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction.
Induced travel impacts are most commonly associated with the addition of new lane miles in essence additional roadway capacity. Added roadway capacity increases speed of travel in the short term, which results in more trips and more travel over time, therefore resulting in increased VMT and corresponding GHGs.
In response to these Caltrans rule changes, Metro pursued and was ...
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