This is an informational presentation to the Council about transformative transportation planning, or what has been referred to as the "Big Shift” in the Carbon Neutrality Plan (CNP). A transformative approach to transportation is called out in both the recently-adopted CNP and the draft Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP) and is necessary to meet the City’s goals for carbon neutrality as well as walking and biking.
A transformative approach to transportation planning is based on the following principles:

• Emphasizes community mobility, active transportation, and the movement of people over the movement of vehicles.  Pursues a wide range of options and solutions to enhance mobility, beyond just infrastructure and vehicular capacity.
• Takes a broad approach to transportation and considers a wide range of community objectives and goals.
• Uses travel demand management as a guiding principle, to simultaneously reduce demand for single-occupant vehicle use and increase capacity for active and sustainable travel modes.

In addition to supporting carbon neutrality and active transportation goals, this approach offers several community benefits:

• Represents a more effective way of managing congestion and mobility in both the short and long terms.
• Promotes a more equitable and inclusive transportation system.
• Supports a variety of community objectives, including safety, public health, economic vitality, environmental stewardship, community character, neighborhood enhancement, and quality of life.
• Encourages community engagement and participation in transportation planning processes.
• Furthers existing City goals and policies for transportation from the Regional Plan 2030 and other documents.  

This presentation is intended as an exploration of a transformative transportation approach and what it means and will take for the City to make the “Big Shift”. Several transportation planning concepts will be addressed, including travel demand management, traffic modeling, level of service, vehicle miles traveled, induced demand, and complete streets/transportation.

This information is intended to provide the City Council with a greater understanding of transportation solutions that will help advance the CNP and the ATMP.

This is an informational update.

A transformative transportation approach supports goals and policies from several City documents, including the Regional Plan 2030, Carbon Neutrality Plan, and draft Active Transportation Master Plan.

Priority Based Budget Key Community Priorities and Objectives Carbon Neutrality Plan
Regional Plan

Yes, the adoption of the Carbon Neutrality Plan in June 2021.