Laserfiche WebLink
<br />December 21, 2009 Section 4: Transportation and Land Use <br />The General Plan Transportation Element promotes development that is designed to meet the <br />needs of pedestrians as well as automobiles. The City is committed to site planning and <br />architectural design that makes walking a more pleasurable activity. The goal is not to make it <br />more difficult to drive, but rather to make highways, parking lots, and cars in general, a less <br />dominant feature of the built environment. <br />The following measures and actions are highlighted for further consideration, as significant <br />strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the community: <br />Continue to support the implementation of the Downtown Transit Oriented <br /> <br />? <br />Development (TOD) Strategy. <br /> Fosters better bus services in downtown and improved <br />connectivity to BART system to promote ridership of public transit. Strategy incorporates <br />increased height limits and minimum densities, and reduced parking requirements for sites <br />th <br />near the BART station and along the East 14 Street transit corridor. This includes <br />development of the San Leandro Crossings project, the downtown parking garage and the <br />Albertsons and Town Hall Square sites. <br />Develop design standards for parking lots and encourage placement to the rear of <br /> <br />? <br />businesses. <br /> This would ensure that parking contributes positively to the overall character <br />of the street and neighborhood. <br />Allow reduced parking requirements where specific conditions are met. <br /> These <br />? <br />conditions should include transportation demand management measures, such as shuttle <br />buses to BART and other designations, carpooling and vanpooling programs, shared cars, <br />bicycle storage facilities. <br />4.2 Goal: Ensure that public transportation is safe, <br />convenient and affordable and provides a viable <br />alternative to driving <br />Using public transportation is one of the best ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy <br />consumption, and traffic congestion. Public transport can considerably reduce the amount of <br />miles driven by all vehicles within a given time frame and area (quantified as vehicle miles <br />traveled, or VMTs). Furthermore, public transit can be one of the safest modes of travel, more <br />cost-effective compared to a single passenger vehicle, an effective strategy for improving air <br />quality and creating strong neighborhood centers. <br /> <br /> <br />Page 30 <br /> <br /> <br />