The City of Los Angeles LADOT Screening Criteria for VMT Threshold T-2.1

The City of Los Angeles LADOT Screening Criteria for VMT Threshold T-2.1:

Threshold T-2.1 evaluates whether a land use project generates a substantial increase in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and aims to determine if it conflicts or is inconsistent with CEQA Guidelines section 15064.3, subdivision (b)(1). To determine whether further analysis is required for this threshold or if a "no impact" determination can be made, the following screening criteria must be applied:

1. T-2.1-1: This criterion assesses whether the land use project generates a net increase of 250 or more daily vehicle trips. Daily vehicle trips should be estimated using the VMT Calculator tool or the most recent edition of the ITE Trip Generation Manual. Trip credits for existing or qualified terminated land uses can be subtracted from the project's daily vehicle trips to determine the increase for screening purposes. For mixed-use projects, daily trips associated with local-serving retail use can be removed for screening. For uses with infrequent or seasonal trip activity, an effective daily rate should be determined.

2. T-2.1-2: This criterion evaluates whether the project generates a net increase in daily VMT. Daily VMT should be estimated using the VMT Calculator tool or the City's Travel Demand Forecasting (TDF) model. Similar to the first criterion, trip credits for existing or qualified terminated land uses can be subtracted from the project's daily VMT to determine the increase for screening.

3. Retail Use Exception: Portions of a project containing small-scale or local-serving retail uses are assumed to have less than significant VMT impacts. If the answer to the question below is no, a "no impact" determination can be made for that portion of the project containing retail uses exceeding the criteria. However, if the retail project is part of a larger mixed-use project, the remaining portion of the project may require further analysis.

   • If the project includes retail uses, does the portion of the project that contains retail uses exceed a net 50,000 square feet?

4. Change in Housing Units: Independent of the above screening criteria, further analysis is required if the project or plan, located within a half-mile of a fixed-rail or fixed-guideway transit station, replaces an existing number of residential units with a smaller number of residential units.

   • For development projects: Compare the total number of existing housing units on the project site with the total number of housing units proposed by the project to determine if there is a net decrease in housing units.

   • For land use plans: Count the total number of existing housing units within a half-mile of a fixed-rail transit station within the land use plan area. Compare this with the total housing capacity within the same area as a result of the land use plan to determine if there could be a net decrease in housing units due to the plan.

These screening criteria are used to determine whether further analysis is needed to assess the project's impact on VMT and its alignment with the amended CEQA Guidelines and the City's transportation goals.

Please contact us if you need help preparing a transportation assessment report for a development project in the City of Los Angeles LADOT.