![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Commuting Alternatives Manual Case Study
Los Angeles, California
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is required by federal and state statute to develop a congestion management plan for the county. The plan, initially developed in 1990 and updated every other year, contains a variety of elements that address regional congestion, including transportation demand management measures that promote the use of alternative modes of transportation. Once the plan has been prepared and approved, local jurisdictions within the county are responsible for adopting ordinances that meet the minimum standards required.
The transportation demand management measures generally focus on the design of "friendly" facilities, such as preferential parking requirements for carpools and vanpools, direct access for pedestrians and bicyclists, and safe and convenient mass transit waiting areas. These design standards apply to new non-residential developments. The congestion management plan employs a "toolbox" approach, whereby local jurisdictions are offered a wide selection of strategies or tools to meet their goals. Each strategy is assigned a "mitigation credit value," based on projected person-miles of travel demand accommodated or reduced on a typical weekday. Among these are:
- Mass transit subsidies from 0 to 100 percent for residents and/or employees
- Subsidies for vanpooling, carpooling, bicycling, or walking
- An employee parking surcharge of up to $3.00 per day
- Parking cash-outs
The overall purpose of the plan is to encourage the use of ridesharing, mass transit, and alternative transportation, and to coordinate transportation planning with air quality planning. Local jurisdictions may select those measures that are most appropriate to their own situations.
Model Rule
Federal authority and funding are provided by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program. Local ordinances are required for specific measures selected.
Quantification
The transportation demand management elements of the plan are not designed to attain specific performance targets, but rather to encourage the use of ridesharing and mass transit. Therefore, the impacts of specific measures have not been quantified. The EPA has established emission factors that can be used to calculate reductions from specific measures.
Further Information
For further information on the Los Angeles plan, contact Jody Feerst, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 213 922-2820.
Similar Programs
Every serious, severe, and extreme ozone and carbon monoxide non-attainment area is required to prepare a transportation/congestion management plan.