Commission adopts targeted TDM amendments after first-year monitoring

The Planning Commission unanimously adopted modest but targeted amendments to the city—s Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program on June 7 following a first-year monitoring report from staff.

Program staff explained that after implementing the TDM standards and developing the online TDM tool, practitioners and developers raised two recurring issues: (1) the walking/streetscape improvement menu options were too demanding in some cases and lacked flexible alternatives for projects with different permitting contexts; and (2) the current bicycle-parking point options produced a disproportionate step up in required class-1 bicycle spaces for very large residential projects.

The commission approved changes that expand and lower thresholds for the active-walking/streetscape measure (offering more flexible streetscape/safety-tool choices so qualifying projects can meet the measure reliably) and that re-scale the affordable bike-parking options so larger residential projects require more proportional numbers of class-1 bicycle parking spaces across the option tiers. Staff said the maximum points for the measures remain unchanged but that the amendments will help projects meet their targets without unduly burdening large developments. The commission also heard that the TDM program remains voluntary in measure selection but mandatory for projects subject to the code—s point targets, and that staff will return with a longer-term monitoring report every four years.