Transportation

For decades, MTC has been charged with preparing a regional transportation plan (RTP), which is updated every four years to reflect changing conditions and new planning priorities. Like other RTPs, Plan Bay Area 2040 will provide a long-range road map to guide the Bay Area’s transportation investments for a 25-year period.

Plan Bay Area 2040 is subject to the requirements of California Senate Bill 375, which requires the RTP to be much more tightly interwoven with regional housing, jobs and land use projections. SB 375 also adds three elements to the long-range transportation plan:

  1. Setting targets and developing strategies to reduce transportation-related emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that cause climate change (The Bay Area’s target is to reduce per-capita carbon dioxide emissions from cars and light-duty trucks by 7 percent by 2020 and by 15 percent by 2035.);
  2. Developing a land use component that identifies how the region could house its entire population over the next eight and 20 years; and
  3. Protecting open space and other natural resources.

The idea is to create a long-range plan that demonstrates how the transportation network and land use development can work together to reduce greenhouse emissions and create more complete, livable, sustainable communities with sufficient affordable housing, more transportation choices and easier access to vital services and amenities, such as public transit, shopping, schools, parks, recreation, health care and more.