Two recent studies suggest that California’s change in assessing the impact of development—from level of service (LOS) to vehicle miles traveled (VMT)—can reduce costs for developers and streamline the review of projects. Under the new guidelines, both studies to determine transportation impacts and any mitigation measures after review are less costly than the previous requirements. This has been confirmed not just by academic studies, but also by the City of Pasadena in a paper by recently-retired Director of Transportation, Fred Dock.
development fees
Modernizing Mitigation: A Demand-Centered Approach (SSTI, September 2018)
This report proposes a new approach to assessing and responding to land use-driven transportation impacts, called “modern mitigation.” Instead of relying on auto capacity improvements as a first resort, this approach builds on practice around transportation demand management (TDM) to make traffic reduction the priority. Based on programs dating to the 1990s in several cities, a modern mitigation program requires certain new land uses to achieve TDM credits.
Portland plans new development fee structure based on people instead of cars
For 20 years, Portland, OR, has assessed Transportation System Development Charges (TSDC) on developments based on the presumed new trips that each project would generate. In December, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution allowing the Portland Bureau of Transportation to use a new methodology for assessing the fees based on person trips instead of car trips.