Senate Bill (SB) 743 eliminated vehicular delay and Level of Service (LOS) as the metrics for measuring the transportation impacts of new development under the California Environmental Quality Act. The legislation tasked the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research with developing a metric that promotes the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of multimodal transportation networks, and a diversity of land uses.
The Office of Planning and Research identified Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) per capita, VMT per employee, and net VMT as new metrics for transportation analyses. In November, 2017 updated CEQA Guidelines were released. The Natural Resources Agency is expected to adopt these metrics as CEQA regulatory changes in 2018 and that statewide implementation will occur on January 1, 2020.
The cities of Pasadena, San Francisco, and Oakland are presently using VMT as their primary measure of of transportation impact under CEQA. Los Angeles, San Jose, and Sacramento are in the final stages of developing their deployment of the VMT metric. Many other jurisdictions are in various stages of making the transition. Because SB 743 preserves local authority over planning decisions, LOS and congestion can still be measured for planning purposes. While traffic studies may be required for planning approvals, those studies will no longer be part of the CEQA process.
The current version of OPR's technical advisory on evaluating transportation impact in CEQA is available on the Office of Population Research's website: http://www.opr.ca.gov/docs/20180416-743_Technical_Advisory_4.16.18.pdf