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May 15 Update:

A Draft Plan Bay Area Presentation to the MTC Planning Committee/ABAG Administrative Committee has been released.

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April 2 Update:

• The Draft Plan Bay Area Environmental Impact Report has been released.
• Additional Supplementary Reports have been released.

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March 29 Update:

• The release of the Plan Bay Area Environmental Impact Report is delayed until Tuesday, April 2, 2013.
• The Draft 2013 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is now available.
• The Draft Transportation Air Quality Conformity Analysis for Plan Bay Area and the 2013 Transportation Improvement Program are now available.

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March 22 Update:

The draft Plan Bay Area was released today and is now available.

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Plan Bay Area is an integrated long-range transportation and land-use/housing plan for the San Francisco Bay Area. In some respects it is simply the next iteration of a planning process that has been in place for decades. It includes the Bay Area’s Regional Transportation Plan, which the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) updates every four years, and the Association of Bay Area Governments’ (ABAG’s) demographic and economic forecast, which is updated every two years.

But Plan Bay Area also is new and different because for the first time ever legislation calls upon MTC and ABAG to adopt a Sustainable Communities Strategy, which will coordinate land use and transportation in the regional transportation plan. Taken together, the land use patterns and transportation investments aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for cars and light-duty trucks in the nine-county region. Due for adoption in summer 2013, Plan Bay Area covers the time period through 2040. Additionally, ABAG administers the state-required Regional Housing Need Allocation. State law requires that the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) process follow the development pattern specified in the Sustainable Communities Strategy. ABAG will adopt the next RHNA at the same time that MTC and ABAG adopt Plan Bay Area.

Plan Bay Area grew out of The California Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008 (California Senate Bill 375, Steinberg), which requires each of the state’s 18 metropolitan areas – including the Bay Area –  to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks. Signed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the law requires that the Sustainable Communities Strategy promote compact, mixed-use commercial and residential development. To meet the goals of SB 375 more of the future development is planned to be walkable and bikable and close to public transit, jobs, schools, shopping, parks, recreation and other amenities.

Plan Bay Area also addresses the challenge of accommodating the Bay Area’s future growth. Our population is expected to increase from about 7 million in 2011 to approximately 9 million in 2040. We need to make transportation, housing and land-use decisions now to sustain the Bay Area’s high quality of life for current and future generations.

MTC and ABAG are collaborating with numerous partners to develop Plan Bay Area. Foremost are the Bay Area's nine counties and 101 cities and towns, with which we are working to ensure that the plan helps each community prepare for future growth while preserving its unique characteristics. The agencies also are working with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) to help ensure the plan is consistent with efforts to improve our air quality and the health of San Francisco Bay.

Plan Bay Area will give more people more transportation choices, create more housing choices for residents in livable communities, support a growing economy and reduce transportation-related pollution that dirties our air and negatively impacts people’s health.