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Committee recommends citywide TDM framework to council with monitoring caveats
Summary
The Transportation Committee reviewed a proposed citywide Transportation Demand Management ordinance framework that would require ADT reductions for new developments and recommended the framework to council while emphasizing enforceability and monitoring needs.
The City Council Transportation Committee voted to recommend a proposed framework for a citywide Transportation Demand Management (TDM) ordinance to the full City Council, while several members urged clearer enforcement and monitoring mechanisms before final adoption.
Transportation planner Ben Pacham presented the framework on behalf of Public Works and planning staff. The draft ordinance would screen new discretionary projects using trip‑generation estimates and require projects that generate more than 200 net new average daily trips (ADT) to submit and implement a TDM plan. The framework uses ADT as the principal performance metric — rather than peak‑hour counts — to reflect post‑COVID travel patterns and the city’s SB 743 greenhouse‑gas/VMT obligations.
Under the proposed thresholds, projects classified as "small" would need to achieve a 30% ADT reduction from baseline ITE trip estimates, "medium" projects 40%, and "large" projects 50%. Examples provided in the staff presentation showed typical office building sizes mapped to ADT bands: a 30,000‑square‑foot office generally generates 200–499 ADT, a 45,000‑square‑foot office 500–999 ADT, and projects above ~90,000 square feet more than 1,000 ADT. Staff described a three‑tier toolkit of measures: mandatory administrative items (reporting, designated contact), core strategies (transit or vanpool subsidies, parking cash‑out, commuter incentives) and auxiliary measures (wayfinding, marketing).
Monitoring and enforcement are central features of the framework: property owners would submit an annual TDM report beginning one year after occupancy and attest to compliance with ADT targets. Staff proposed a penalty structure scaled to project size, with small projects not subject to fines for missing the 30% target; the ordinance would run with the land and apply to future owners. Staff also said they are developing an alternative penalty calculation based on excess trips above the ADT target.
During discussion, committee members questioned how reliably strategies achieve stated trip reductions and how ongoing monitoring would be resourced. Staff said well‑implemented, multi‑measure programs — particularly at large employers that can operate shuttles or vanpools — have produced sizable measured mode shift, and that the city will seek to reduce transaction costs for applicants by providing a standardized toolkit and exploring TMA (transportation management association) support for monitoring.
Staff noted next steps: present the recommended framework to City Council in a June study session, then draft ordinance language for adoption targeted for Q4 2025. Committee members voted to forward the framework to council and attached a committee expectation that staff include clear monitoring, staffing or resourcing plans so annual reporting and enforcement can be done credibly.
