Board adopts citywide Transportation Demand Management ordinance focused on reducing vehicle miles traveled

San Francisco — The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a citywide Transportation Demand Management (TDM) ordinance intended to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) from new development.

The measure establishes a menu of TDM options — including bicycle parking, on-site childcare, car share, shuttle service and other measures — that projects can use to meet a development-specific VMT-reduction target. Planning staff told the board the menu is grounded in a technical literature review and modeling of how different measures affect driving behavior.

Why it matters: The ordinance is the third piece of the city's broader Transportation Sustainability Program, which aims to align land use and environmental review with state policy and city goals for transit and walking. The TDM program is intended to reduce car trips associated with new development and help the city accommodate projected job and housing growth without gridlock.

Supervisor Mark Cohen, who carried the ordinance on the board, described three discrete elements of the city’s approach: a transportation sustainability fee that funds pedestrian and transit improvements, a switch from level-of-service analysis to VMT for CEQA review, and the TDM menu approved Tuesday.

The planning department and SFMTA reported that they reviewed dozens of candidate measures and assigned points to each measure based on the best available evidence of VMT reduction. Staff said the shuttle option was weighted heavily because studies show shuttle service can cut driving trips — though they also said shuttle service would be costly and expected to be used rarely and subject to SFMTA approval. Planning also said affordable on-site housing and other measures were included where the data show they reduce driving.

Supervisors expressed several concerns during debate. Some asked how the menu weights align with the city's Vision Zero and pedestrian-safety priorities; planning and SFMTA staff said VMT reduction is complementary to reducing crashes and that the menu was designed specifically around VMT effectiveness. Others asked about enforcement: planning said the department will add monitoring and reporting, site visits before and after occupancy, and that standard code-enforcement procedures (including fines up to $250 per day and possible civil enforcement steps) would apply if projects fall out of compliance.

Supervisor Cohen offered amendments requiring that projects discuss potential TDM measures at community meetings prior to formal application and that a draft TDM plan be included with preliminary applications; the board approved those amendments unanimously. Supervisors also asked for additional briefings and a close look at point allocations for specific measures; planning staff said a technical justification document with cited studies supports the menu, and that the menu is expected to be updated over time through planning commission review.

The ordinance was adopted on first reading with the amendments and will continue through the normal legislative process. Supporters said the measure creates a standardized, evidence-based framework to reduce driving associated with new development. Critics urged further alignment with Vision Zero and stronger enforcement mechanisms; supervisors asked planning to return for follow-up briefings and hearings to explain technical scoring and enforcement.

Key quotes

"The points were allocated based upon how effective they were at reducing vehicle miles traveled," Wade Whitcroft, senior planner, told the board.

"Reducing vehicle miles traveled … is 1 of the tools that we have under Vision Zero to reduce the frequency of potential collisions," Victoria Wise of SFMTA said to supervisors.

Ending note

Supervisors said they support the principle of a citywide TDM program but asked planning and SFMTA to provide more technical briefings on point assignments, enforcement timelines and how the program will be phased into permitting.