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Transportation 2030 Plan

A Stronger Link between Transportation and Land Use

Under existing trends, the Bay Area is projected to add more than 1.2 million employed residents and nearly 1.5 million jobs over the next 25 years. These trends mean the region is forecast to experience worsening jobs/housing imbalances in certain cities, as well as a larger net in-commute from the Central Valley and other surrounding areas.

Where these 1 million+ individuals will live and work and how they will travel to jobs, schools, shopping and other destinations are critical questions as we build the Bay Area of 2030. Unfortunately, decisions on land use and transportation have historically been made by separate public agencies with little coordination between them. At the Transportation 2030 Summit held in June 2003, participants spotlighted the need to change this process and to firmly link transportation and land use decision-making.

MTC’s Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) and Housing Incentive Program (HIP) initiatives fund “bottoms-up” community planning and capital grants. Projects selected for funding are designed to make communities more friendly to pedestrians, transit riders and bicyclists, or encourage developers to provide more affordable, dense housing within walking distance of major transit routes.

At the same time, Bay Area land-use patterns have been the focus of the 2002 Smart Growth Project, a regional visioning effort conducted by elected officials, local and regional government staff, community representatives and other regional stakeholders. The Smart Growth Project produced a final policy report documenting a smart growth vision for the region that proposed more residential development in existing communities and around potential transit hubs.

MTC’s Approach

MTC, in response to both the June 2003 Summit direction and the Smart Growth Project, developed five specific transportation/land use proposals that build on the success of TLC/HIP and the Smart Growth Project strategies.

  1. Develop a transportation/land use policy statement for the Transportation 2030 Plan.
  2. Determine an appropriate percentage of the TLC/HIP program that should fund specific
    plan development around existing or near-term future rail stations or corridors.
  3. Encourage changes to local general plans that support Transit-Oriented Development for Resolution 3434 investments.
  4. Support transportation/land-use coordination beyond transit corridors.
  5. Coordinate transportation/land-use issues with regional neighbors.

The proposals were discussed publicly throughout the targeted workshops and focus groups. Related questions were included in the regional telephone opinion poll.

Generally, the public supported the five proposals. They were seen as good “first steps” for MTC. Nearly everyone agreed on the importance of linking transportation and land use decision-making and some interest groups stated that it is their #1 issue in the 2030 Plan. At the same time, there was considerable interest in continued local control over land-use decisions.

As a result of the workshop and focus group feedback, MTC adopted the five-point strategy. In 2004, the discussion will shift to how best to implement this strategy with MTC’s local and regional partners.