Mountain View staff present draft citywide TDM ordinance; commissioners press for clearer monitoring and proportional penalties

City transportation staff presented a draft citywide transportation demand management ordinance framework to the Environmental Planning Commission on Feb. 5, 2025, proposing to screen new development by average daily trips and to require TDM plans and post‑occupancy monitoring for projects estimated to generate more than 200 average daily trips.

The proposal is intended to replace a piecemeal approach that the city has used for TDM requirements and align Mountain View with state and regional policy, staff said. Ben Pacho, transportation planner, said the draft ties screening and mitigation to the city’s VMT analysis and the multimodal handbook and would require a TDM plan before entitlement and annual reporting after occupancy. “If proposed projects generate upwards of 200 average daily trips, they will be required to mitigate vehicle trips by adopting a TDM plan,” Pacho said.

Commissioners and staff framed the framework around three policy areas: applicability (who must comply), requirements (what performance targets and strategies apply) and monitoring and enforcement. Under the draft, trip‑reduction targets would scale with project size: about 30% ADT reduction for small projects (roughly 200–499 ADT), 40% for medium projects…