The HCOG board voted Nov. 20 to release the administrative draft of the 2026 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) for a 30'day public review period.

Staff framed the update as a "tune up" of the 2022 RTP and highlighted proposed revisions including additional metrics to measure mode shift, extending some electric-vehicle infrastructure target timelines by five years, revising housing access language tied to VMT, and proposed project additions (including an emergency-evacuation planning project and several local construction projects). The staff recommendation to initiate the public comment period was approved after board discussion.

Debate over language and targets: During public comment, CRTP and other groups urged the board not to delay an existing target that aims to locate 80% of new housing in non-car-dependent locations. CRTP also urged retaining strong climate wording; a CRTP representative said delaying the 80% target would harm long-term development patterns. Some board members and members of the public urged consistency across planning documents: several suggested using "climate change" in policy language for consistency while also acknowledging the urgency of a crisis in a preface to the document. One board member's compromise was to "acknowledge at the beginning of the document that we do see this as a crisis, and we will be referring to it as climate change so the language is consistent." (board discussion)

Process and next steps: Staff will accept public comment for 30 days, respond to input and bring a final draft back to committees and the board for adoption in February so HCOG can meet Caltrans submittal deadlines. The board's vote authorized the public release but left several content debates (targets and messaging) open to the comment process.