As of Fall 2021, this transition is largely complete. Please visit the Congestion Management Program Technical Resources page for key Vehicle Miles Traveled resources and use the Santa Clara Countywide VMT Evaluation Tool.
In 2013, the State of California passed Senate Bill (SB) 743, which mandates that jurisdictions can no longer use automobile delay – commonly measured by Level of Service (LOS) – in transportation analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The State has issued guidelines calling for the use of a broader measure called Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)...
As of Fall 2021, this transition is largely complete. Please visit the Congestion Management Program Technical Resources page for key Vehicle Miles Traveled resources and use the Santa Clara Countywide VMT Evaluation Tool.
In 2013, the State of California passed Senate Bill (SB) 743, which mandates that jurisdictions can no longer use automobile delay – commonly measured by Level of Service (LOS) – in transportation analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The State has issued guidelines calling for the use of a broader measure called Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), which measures the total amount of driving over a given area. These changes become mandatory on July 1, 2020.
The State’s intent in making this switch is to promote:
- The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
- The development of multimodal transportation networks (i.e., networks that serve a variety of users including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and drivers)
- A diversity of land uses (i.e., neighborhoods and cities with housing, jobs, shops and services in close proximity to each other)
Cities and counties around the state are in the process of transitioning from LOS to VMT in their policies and practices.
As the Congestion Management Agency (CMA) for Santa Clara County and through its Congestion Management Program, VTA has a statutory role to work with its Member Agencies (the 15 cities and towns in Santa Clara County, as well as the County of Santa Clara) on issues related to land use and transportation. As part of this role, VTA is working with its Member Agencies on the transition from LOS to VMT.
Objectives
The goal of this effort is to steer VTA through the LOS-to-VMT transition process in its CMA and CEQA Lead Agency roles, and play a leadership role in guiding Member Agencies in their implementation efforts.
VTA staff, with input from its Member Agencies, has identified the following objectives for VTA’s LOS-to-VMT transition efforts:
- Take a leadership role: Be a leader on SB 743 implementation in Santa Clara County, in the Bay Area, and around the State
- Move Santa Clara County in an overall progressive and pragmatic direction: Work with Member Agencies to encourage a shift away from the use of LOS in CEQA, CMP and local agency practices as soon as possible, recognizing that LOS will still be used in certain situations.
- Reform VTA’s practices, focusing on CMA and CEQA Lead Agency roles in the near term: Work with Member Agencies to promote the use of VMT and multimodal analysis within the CMP, and change VTA’s CEQA thresholds for its own projects.
- Provide countywide data and tools: Provide Santa Clara County-specific data that Member Agencies can use in setting VMT thresholds, and develop tools for evaluating project VMT and VMT reductions for land use projects.
It is important to note that the changes to CEQA called for in SB 743 are separate from the state laws that govern Congestion Management Programs. The state CMP statutes still reference the use of LOS standards in Congestion Management Programs. It is possible that the CMP statutes may be updated to more closely align with SB 743 in coming years.
Resources
- April 2014 Information item to VTA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) and Congestion Management Program & Planning (CMPP) Committee on “SB 743 Changes to CEQA and CMP Transportation Analysis”
- September 2014 Information item to VTA TAC, PAC and CMPP on “Update on SB 743 Changes to CEQA Transportation Analysis”
- February 2016 Information item to VTA TAC, PAC and CMPP on “Update on SB 743 Changes to CEQA Transportation Analysis"
- January/February 2018 Information item to VTA TAC, PAC and CMPP on “Update on SB 743 and LOS-to-VMT Transition”
- January 2018 VTA webinar on “Vehicle Miles Traveled for Smarter Development” (archived on YouTube; 30 minutes of presentation and 30 minutes of Q&A)
- August 2019 VTA fact sheet “LOS to VMT Transition: Things Local Agencies Should Be Thinking About”
- October 2018 Action item at VTA TAC on “Funding Framework for Vehicle Miles Traveled Estimation Tool”
- September 2019 Information item to VTA Advisory Committees and CMPP on “Update on SB 743 and LOS-to-VMT Transition”
- October 2020 Information item to VTA Advisory Committees and CMPP on “Update on SB 743 LOS-to-VMT Transition”
- January 2022 Information item to VTA Advisory Committees and CMPP on "Update on SB 743 LOS-to-VMT Transition"
Other Resources
- Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) page on SB 743 and CEQA Transportation Analysis
- Natural Resources Agency's page on CEQA and proposed updates
- SB 743 Implementation Assistance Project (including case studies, short videos, and other resources)
- City of San José CEQA Transition to Vehicle Miles Traveled Metric
- Caltrans page on SB 743 Implementation
- TransForm GreenTRIP Connect tool – provides estimates of VMT per day, greenhouse gas emissions and parking demand for affordable residential developments with trip reduction strategies