Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)
In 2013, the State of California signed into law Senate Bill 743 (SB 743), which changes how transportation impacts are analyzed under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The law establishes Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) as the appropriate methodology for measuring transportation impacts. The State gave cities a July 1, 2020 deadline to begin implementing the new law.
Historically, Los Altos and many other jurisdictions used Level of Service (LOS) to analyze impacts to transportation infrastructure under CEQA. LOS assigns a letter grade (A through F) to intersections or roadway segments based on the level of traffic congestion. California has shifted away from using LOS because measuring congestion at intersections and roadway segments can have the unintended consequence of encouraging urban sprawl. To avoid triggering significant impacts and the cost of mitigating those impacts, new developments may locate in more remote areas with minimal traffic congestion. This often results in greater vehicle use and traffic congestion overall because people must travel longer distances to reach destinations.
The State’s intent in making this switch is to promote:
- The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions;
- The development of multimodal transportation networks (i.e., networks that serve a variety of users including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and drivers); and
- A diversity of land uses (i.e., neighborhoods with housing, jobs, shops, and services near each other).
City staff, in consultation with local transportation planning experts, developed a citywide VMT policy to comply with State law and provide established and consistent criteria to analyze transportation impacts under CEQA. The City Council adopted the VMT policy on February 14, 2023.
