Identifying the changes to a proposed project as mitigation measures is imperative. That may eliminate or mitigate inconsistencies with the applicable plans, ordinances, programs, and policies. It also helps determine the significance of mitigation. The applicant needs some references to identify traffic study reports for mitigation. It helps them address the potential conflicts with the city’s transportation frameworks.
While addressing the transportation policies and objectives of the City of Los Angeles to boost pedestrian comfort and safety, it is imperative to ensure the right design principles. As per LADOT, here are the pointers to consider while designing any site plan:
- Boost a comfortable, accessible, and safe pedestrian experience for everyone
- Implement vehicular access in such a way that it doesn’t degrade any pedestrian experience
- Incorporate the designs in such a way that projects engage with the public space and streets, thereby maintaining a human scale
Key Objectives for VMT or Vehicles Miles Traveled
The prime goal for VMT, the city, follows is to decrease the amount per capital by a nearby 5% each year. To accomplish this objective, the city does the following:
- Includes the Mobility Plan 2035 concerning the land use to shorten the distance between jobs, services, and housing
- It aims to increase affordable housing availability with proximity to transit
- It also offers attractive non-vehicle alternatives
- Implements TDM or transportation demand management programs that encourage ridesharing & lessen vehicular
- trip making
- Congestion or cordon price mechanisms that encourages alternatives to driving
- Offer community assets such as locally-serving land uses next to residential areas that promote local biking trips and walking, thereby reducing VMT
The plan sheds light on the fact that a specific vehicle LOS or level of service standard may contribute to wider roads. In a way,
it may contribute to adverse public health or may have fiscal or environmental impacts.
The city identifies the demand for setting new criteria for the transportation impacts considering VMT for land use plans or projects. The main intention is to demonstrate whether the plan or project causes considerable VMT. The city has also designed new screening & impact criteria.
So, what are the screening criteria?
When the project needs action, here are the questions a project consultant must determine:
#1 Will the land use project generates a net increase of 250 or daily vehicle trips?
For screening purposes, the proposed project’s vehicle trips must get estimated via the VMT calculator. TMD strategies must get applied as mitigation measures. They shouldn’t get considered for screening. When existing land uses are present on the site, or there are terminated land uses that meet the criteria for trip credits, the generated vehicle trips can be estimated via a VMT Calculator.
On the other hand, for mixed-use projects, the daily trips associated with the local serving retail use of projects may be removed in determining whether the project’s daily vehicle trips are calculated for screening purposes. For generating trips that are infrequent, seasonal, and sporadic, the overall estimated trips might get summed around the year.
#2 Will there be a net increase for the project to generate in the daily VMT?
For VMT screening, the daily VMT must be estimated via the VMT calculator, TDF, or travel demand forecasting model. The user’s guide for the VMT calculator should be considered for screening. When existing land uses are present on project sites or terminated land uses meet criteria for trip credits, the VMT generated by the qualified or existing terminated land uses might get estimated via the calculator or subtracted from the project’s VMT to increase the amount.
Besides these screening parameters, the portion of the project containing local or small-scale servicing retail uses get assumed to have fewer significant VMT impacts. Nonetheless, when the retail project is a part of the larger mixed-use project, its remaining portion might be subject to analysis with regard to these screening criteria. Projects using retail usage must evaluate the project’s VMT considering the following:
- Whether a portion contains retail uses exceeding a net 50,000 square feet
- The project needs a discretionary action and CEQA analysis
- Whether the plan or project within the one-half mile of the fixed-guideway or fixed-rail transit station replaces the existing number of residential units with the units’ smaller number
What are the Impact Criteria?
Here are the impact criteria to follow:
#1 Development Projects
Considering the development projects, it will have an impact if it meets these criteria:
- It must generate household vehicle miles traveled per capita that exceed 15% lesser than the existing household VMT
- annually per APC
- The office projects must generate work VMT for every employee (15% below); the average work VMT
- The regional serving projects that include entertainment and retail projects or event spots must have an increased
- VMT amount
- For other land usage considerations (specifically those where the threshold isn’t specified), it is imperative to measure
- BMPT impacts for work trip elements by elements for office project
#2 Land Usage Plans
Land use plans will cast an impact in the following conditions:
- The speculated land use development results in the average VMT per service population exceeding 15% below the average total VMT per service (regionally)
- The development anticipated under the policy must lead to an average VMT per service population in the plan horizon year, exceeding the average total VMT per service population for the baseline year from the recent locally validated model of travel demand forecasting.
Consult AHTC for transportation impact assessment report. At Armen Hovanessian Transportation Consulting, we have
dedicated transportation engineers and planners to prepare transportation analysis reports for you. Feel free to book an
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