In 2013, Senate Bill (SB) 743 was signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which promotes urban infill projects supporting diverse land uses and multimodal transportation networks. One significant outcome resulting from this statute is the removal of automobile delay and congestion, commonly known as level of service (LOS), as a basis for determining significant transportation impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) selected Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) as the principal measure to replace LOS for determining significant transportation impacts under CEQA. VMT is a measure of total vehicular travel that accounts for the number of vehicle trips and the length of those trips. It should be noted that SB 743 does not restrict Santa Cruz County from using LOS for other planning purposes outside the scope of CEQA.
View the VMT Guidelines for more information and detail.
The County is developing a regional VMT Mitigation Program. See here for more information - VMT Mitigation Program
PROCESS FOR ANALYZING A PROJECT’S TRANSPORTATION IMPACTS