VMT Mitigation – to mitigate VMT impacts for projects with VMT that is higher than the threshold.VMT Assessment – determine project VMT, compare to thresholds of significance to determine if there is a significant environmental impact.Screening – to determine if a project can be filtered out of the VMT-based transportation analysis required for CEQA.The process is divided into three phases: Unlike the existing LOS-based process, VMT analysis for most projects does not have to be recalculated for each project. Using VMT metrics for the transportation impact analysis allows the development of screens, VMT-maps, and VMT calculation tools to simplify the process for City of Morgan Hill staff as well as the public. VMT is typically calculated using a travel demand model, which estimates the total number and length of vehicle trips to and from a given geographic area, such as transportation analysis zones (TAZs). VMT is not a new methodology it has been used for many years in CEQA documents in estimating pollution (air quality impacts), GHG emissions, and energy consumption. Rather, VMT assesses the effects of the project on regional traffic and use of transit and non-motorized travel. Unlike LOS, VMT does not assess the local vehicle trips from a project or the project’s traffic impacts on a local intersection or road/highway segment. Specifically, VMT focuses on determining the origin and destination of travel patterns. VMT measures the amount and distance of vehicle travel attributed to a project or use. Addendum to Task 4 Memo and Response to Planning Commission: This memo is a response to requests from the Planning Commission for more information on the following: Travel Demand Model Inputs and Results, VMT Mitigations, Existing Retail Gross Leasable Areas, Plan Bay Area, and VMT Analysis of Sample Projects.Task 4 Memo: Defining Goals, Objectives, and VMT Thresholds of Significance: This memo establishes transportation impact analysis goals and objectives and recommendations for VMT-based analysis.Tasks 1-3 Memo: SB 743 Implementation – Review of Existing Policies, VMT Tools, and Case Studies: This memo reviews existing policies, VMT tools, and case studies.MaPlanning Commission meeting: informational presentation regarding SB 743 and VMT.ApPlanning Commission meeting: review of existing policies, VMT tools, and case studies.JPlanning Commission meeting: defining Goals, Objectives, and VMT Thresholds of Significance.AugPlanning Commission meeting: the Planning Commission made a recommendation to approve the proposed VMT Screening Criteria on a 4-3 vote.JCity Council Meeting: informational presentation regarding SB 743, the transition from LOS-to-VMT, and proposed VMT Screening Criteria and Thresholds of Significance.To sign up for notifications and updates on this project, select the Notify Me link below: City Council DirectionĪt the JMorgan Hill City Council Meeting, the City Council directed City Staff to pursue a VMT model in order to deviate from the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Santa Clara Countywide VMT Evaluation Tool and/or to provide substantial evidence to deviate from the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) Technical Advisory which recommends a 15% threshold of significance reduction from existing VMT. With OPR’s December 2018 ‘Technical Advisory on Evaluating Impacts in CEQA,’ the method selected to assess distance of vehicle travel is Vehicle-Miles-Traveled (VMT). As a result, traffic delay is no longer considered a significant impact under CEQA. This shift focuses review to regional traffic and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, rather than vehicle impacts on the local roadway network.
The SB 743 legislation required that local jurisdictions shift from use of LOS for CEQA review of vehicle movement impacts (delay) to a method that assesses the distance of vehicle travel attributed to a project or use. On September 27, 2013, Senate Bill 743 (Steinberg) was signed by then Governor Jerry Brown, requiring the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to amend the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, to develop alternative metrics to replace the use of vehicular “Level of Service” (LOS) for evaluating transportation impacts, and to provide alternative criteria for evaluating transportation impacts to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of multimodal transportation systems, and a diversity of land uses. regarding the City's implementation of State Senate Bill (SB) 743 transition from Level-of-Service (LOS) to Vehicle-Miles-Traveled (VMT) as the metric for transportation analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The City of Morgan Hill is working with Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc.