Frequently Asked Questions

Transit Priority Areas

Overview of TPAs and Selection Process

What is a Transit Priority Area (TPA)?

A Transit Priority Area is an area within a ½-mile of high quality transit:a rail stop or a bus corridor that provides or will provide at least 15-minute frequency service during peak hours by the year 2035.

Where did the idea of Transit Priority Areas come from?

Transit Priority Areas are addressed in California's Senate Bill 375 (SB 375) aligning regional transportation, land use, housing and greenhouse gas emissions planning through a new element to our region's Metropolitan Transportation Plan or MTP. This new element, a Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS), will show how the Sacramento Region will meet a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for passenger vehicles established by the California Air Resources Board. In SACOG's case, this means planning for growth, housing and transportation to try to achieve a 16 percent per capita reduction from year 2005 in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.

In addition to connecting regional planning processes, SB 375 was also designed to make it easier for communities to expand housing and transportation choices. A key element of SB 375 is the option for regions and their local governments to provide significant California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) regulatory streamlining incentives for Transit Priority Projects. Transit Priority Projects are housing or mixed-use residential projects with 20 dwellings per acre or more that are located within a Transit Priority Area. CEQA streamlining can provide time certainty, cost and benefits needed by infill and transit-oriented development.

Does the Sacramento region have Transit Priority Areas now?

SB 375 was enacted after the last MTP was adopted in 2008, but there were areas in that plan that would be considered Transit Priority Areas. The new draft Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS) specifically identifies Transit Priority Areas throughout the region. The MTP/SCS calls for an additional 272,000 housing units and 380,000 employees to be located within Transit Priority Areas or TPAs by 2035.

What are the benefits of building around transit?

The TPAs include the region's highest employment areas, which are key to providing all types of employment opportunities near quality transit. There are clear access transportation system performance advantages of focusing more growth into TPAs. Vehicle miles traveled per capita for residents within TPAs in the current MTP are 27 percent lower than for residents outside of TPAs. Vehicle trips are 5 percent lower, walk and bike trips are 29 percent higher, and transit trips are 236 percent higher. Greenhouse gas emissions are 26 percent lower.

How does the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program address Transit Priority Areas?

SACOG was awarded this grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to build a Regional Plan for Sustainable Development for the six-county Sacramento region. Through this grant, SACOG is able to enhance and help implement the MTP/SCS by selecting five TPAs for more intensive environmental review. This grant-funded effort is designed to: 1) help streamline the permitting process and facilitate infill development and investment in these areas to meet transportation, housing and greenhouse gas reduction goals; and 2) give our region practical examples of how touse SB 375's benefits and create complete communities near quality transit.

How were the 5 Transit Priority Areas selected?

The five TPAs chosen for environmental analysis and action plans were selected through a collaborative process between SACOG, the project Steering Committee, the Regional Consortium, and Consortium Working Groups on Equity, Housing & Health, Economic Development, Infrastructure and Natural Resources. From March to May 2011, these groups developed considerations for selecting initial TPAs with the conditions most likely to support transit-oriented development in the next five to ten years. These included a number of factors considered in the TPA selection process, such as nearer term development and economic development potential, feasibility, affordability, social equity and environmental considerations, infrastructure capacity, community impact and opportunity, and diversity of TPA circumstances.

In June 2011, the Urban Land Institute, a project partner, helped facilitate an analysis using the above-described considerations to provide guidance to SACOG staff on TPA selection. Using this and additional analysis and after discussion with the jurisdictions, SACOG staff developed a final set of recommendations which were adopted by the SACOG Board on June 23, 2011, The five TPAs selected through this process were:

• Area near the Mather/Mills Light Rail Station in the city of Rancho Cordova
• Washington neighborhood in the city of West Sacramento near planned streetcar service
• Area near the Watt/Manlove Light Rail Station in the county of Sacramento
• R Street Corridor in the city of Sacramento near several light rail stations
• Area near Fruitridge and Stockton in the city and county of Sacramento along a major bus corridor

Now that the TPAs have been selected, what happens?

Following adoption of the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the MTP/SCS, expected in April 2012, the selected TPAs will receive an environmental review in the form of a Sustainable Communities Environmental Assessment (SCEA) as defined in SB 375. This environmental review will help accelerate opportunities for developing complete communities, ultimately leading to environmental tiering for specific projects. Community workshops will also be organized with stakeholders in the TPAs to work on a TPA Implementation Action Plan.

How was equity addressed in this process?

SACOG has a permanent commitment to social equity. Equity is central to the Equity, Housing & Health Working Group, but is also being addressed by other working groups. Areas of focus include: creating jobs and economic opportunities as opposed to concentrating poverty, creating ethnically and economically mixed communities; protecting residents from toxic air pollutants; avoiding gentrification effects; providing safe and accessible transportation options to special populations such as seniors, youth and the disadvantaged; providing fair and affordable housing opportunities; and providing access to healthy food.

It is important that TPAs don't create or increase inequalities, but provide opportunity to expand both housing and transportation choices for all. TPAs offer economic benefits, but social equity and environmental justice impacts need to be evaluated from the beginning. SACOG's 2008 MTP substantially improves access to transit for lower income and minority communities compared to prior MTPs; but the draft MTP/SCS provides an opportunity to make further improvements in this area. In particular, the inclusion of equity in the discussion, and development of equity indicators and performance measures, is helping SACOG and the region understand how to improve equity in our region, and provide important equity lessons for our planning work in initial and future TPAs, this MTP/SCS, and future MTP/SCS.