1.0 Introduction
The City of Torrance recognizes the need for a forward-thinking approach to evaluating transportation impacts in line with evolving state mandates and sustainability goals. This guideline aims to provide a comprehensive framework for evaluating Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for land use and development projects within the city's jurisdiction. The methodology outlined herein seeks to balance the City's growth objectives with its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fostering multimodal transportation options, and promoting diverse land uses.
The introduction section contextualizes the City's alignment with state policies, ensuring that developers, planners, and stakeholders have clear and consistent guidance for VMT assessment. By adopting these guidelines, the City not only complies with CEQA but also actively contributes to broader environmental and urban planning objectives.
1.1 Purpose
The primary purpose of this guideline is to establish clear, actionable criteria for analyzing VMT associated with land use projects. This includes providing a structured approach to screening, analyzing, and mitigating transportation impacts in compliance with CEQA. By integrating VMT-based analysis, the City ensures that its environmental review process reflects contemporary standards, promoting sustainability and smart growth.
Key objectives of this guideline include:
- Clarity and Consistency: Ensuring that all stakeholders—developers, consultants, and City officials—follow a standardized process for transportation impact analysis.
- Support for Policy Goals: Aligning transportation impact assessments with state and local policies aimed at reducing environmental footprints and enhancing livability.
- Sustainability: Encouraging developments that contribute to lower VMT, thereby reducing GHG emissions and fostering sustainable urban growth.
The guideline is applicable to all development projects requiring CEQA review within the City of Torrance and serves as a reference for evaluating transportation impacts in a manner that supports broader environmental goals.
1.2 Background
The need for this guideline stems from the legislative changes introduced by Senate Bill 743 (SB 743), signed into law in 2013. This landmark legislation fundamentally redefined how transportation impacts are analyzed under CEQA. Historically, transportation impact analyses primarily focused on Level of Service (LOS), a metric that assessed traffic congestion and vehicle delay. While useful for addressing traffic flow, LOS often prioritized vehicle efficiency at the expense of environmental and community concerns, inadvertently encouraging sprawl and increased automobile dependence.
SB 743 shifted the focus from LOS to Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), a metric that measures the total miles driven by vehicles associated with a project. This transition aligns transportation impact analysis with broader state objectives, including:
- Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Transportation is a significant contributor to GHG emissions. By minimizing VMT, projects can directly support California's climate action goals.
- Encouraging Multimodal Transportation: Shifting the focus from automobile efficiency to overall mobility encourages investment in transit, cycling, and pedestrian infrastructure.
- Promoting Land Use Diversity: Compact, mixed-use developments reduce trip distances and encourage sustainable travel behaviors.
The statutory goals of SB 743 reflect a paradigm shift in urban planning, prioritizing environmental sustainability and community livability over automobile-centric metrics. Public Resources Code Section 21099 codified these changes, emphasizing the need for updated CEQA guidelines that reflect these priorities.
Role of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR)
To support the implementation of SB 743, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) was tasked with developing updated criteria for determining the significance of transportation impacts under CEQA. In its December 2018 Technical Advisory, OPR recommended VMT as the preferred metric for transportation impact analysis, providing detailed guidance on thresholds and methodologies.
The OPR's findings emphasized that:
- VMT is directly linked to GHG reduction targets, making it an effective metric for assessing transportation impacts in the context of California's climate goals.
- VMT supports multimodal networks by encouraging compact, transit-oriented development.
- Thresholds tied to regional averages or GHG targets provide a standardized basis for determining significance.
The City of Torrance's VMT guidelines are consistent with the OPR's advisory, ensuring alignment with state policies and best practices.
Shift from LOS to VMT
The transition from LOS to VMT represents a fundamental change in how transportation impacts are evaluated. LOS primarily addressed congestion at individual intersections or roadway segments, often resulting in mitigation measures that prioritized vehicular capacity, such as widening roads or adding lanes. While these measures reduced delay, they frequently led to unintended consequences, including:
- Increased automobile dependency.
- Higher VMT due to induced demand.
- Negative impacts on pedestrian, cyclist, and transit accessibility.
In contrast, VMT-based analysis emphasizes the total distance traveled by vehicles, focusing on the environmental and societal impacts of transportation. By prioritizing VMT reduction, the City can encourage developments that:
- Reduce reliance on single-occupancy vehicles.
- Promote proximity between housing, jobs, and services.
- Support transit and active transportation modes.
1.3 Technical Resources
The preparation of VMT-based Transportation Impact Analyses (TIA) requires the use of reliable methodologies, tools, and reference materials. To support consistent and accurate analysis, this guideline references the following key resources:
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OPR Technical Advisory
The OPR's 2018 advisory serves as the foundational document for VMT analysis, providing detailed recommendations on screening criteria, thresholds of significance, and analytical methods. It emphasizes the use of VMT metrics that align with GHG reduction targets and offers practical guidance for determining significance under CEQA. -
Los Angeles County TIA Guidelines
These guidelines provide region-specific insights into transportation impact analysis, offering supplementary methodologies and best practices that complement the OPR advisory. Given Torrance's location within Los Angeles County, these guidelines are particularly relevant for addressing regional transportation patterns and challenges. -
California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA) Report
The CAPCOA report on quantifying GHG mitigation measures offers a comprehensive framework for evaluating the effectiveness of VMT reduction strategies. It serves as a valuable resource for identifying and implementing mitigation measures that align with state and local sustainability goals.
Local and Regional Context
While the above resources provide state-level guidance, the City of Torrance recognizes the importance of tailoring VMT analysis to local and regional conditions. The guideline incorporates insights from regional transportation models, land use patterns, and community priorities, ensuring that VMT assessments reflect the unique context of Torrance.
Benefits of VMT-Based Analysis
The adoption of VMT as the primary metric for transportation impact analysis offers several benefits for the City of Torrance:
- Environmental Sustainability: By focusing on reducing VMT, the City can contribute to statewide GHG reduction targets, supporting California's climate action goals.
- Enhanced Mobility: Encouraging developments that reduce trip distances and promote multimodal transportation options enhances overall mobility and accessibility.
- Community Livability: Compact, transit-oriented developments reduce sprawl, preserve open space, and create vibrant, walkable communities.
- Consistency with State Policy: Aligning with SB 743 and the OPR advisory ensures compliance with state mandates and positions Torrance as a leader in sustainable urban planning.
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