Reso 2021-113 Adopt 2021 CAP and Addendum to 2035 General Plan

Home

TiQANS/T Robert del Rosario Director of Service Development & Planning June 3, 2021 City of San Leandro Planning Commission San Leandro City Hall 835 E 14th St. San Leandro, CA 94577 Re: Item 6C - Draft Climate Action Plan Adoption Dear Planning Commission Members: Service Development Department 1600 Franklin Street, Oakland CA 94612 AC Transit recognizes the importance of initiatives to make our cities more vibrant and walkable and encourage the use of transportation alternatives in the face of climate change. AC Transit appreciates its partnership with the City of San Leandro on this front, including millions of dollars invested in pedestrian improvements and signal upgrades in support of the Line IT - Tempo BRT - and the Line 97 Improvement Project along the Hesperian Corridor. While AC Transit supports action by the City on climate change, AC Transit would like the City to take a less tentative approach on issues that affect the community both today and in the future. As the draft plan identifies, transportation makes up most of San Leandro's carbon footprint, underscoring the importance of strong policy action to encourage mode shift and actively reduce emissions in the coming years and decades. With respect to transportation demand management (TDM), while we laud the inclusion of TDM measures included as part of Strategy AT-1, the small cost -neutral and largely advisory solutions recommended will likely bring about limited results. While regional dollars can help in this regard, even at the local level, the City can and should consider a more goal -oriented approach by setting specific vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction and/or commute mode shift targets in the plan and outlining more aggressive strategies for achieving those reductions. Other area municipalities, including the cities of Alameda and Emeryville, have held steadfast to more active, coordinated TDM measures to spur residents and commuters to use alternative transportation modes, mitigate congestion, and reduce emissions. Alameda and Emeryville have formed transportation management associations (TMAs with required employer and Home Owner Association (HOA) participation as conditions of development. These municipalities are also actively working to encourage transit use through the AC Transit EasyPass program, which puts unlimited - use transit passes in individuals' hands at a significantly reduced rate. These cities are actively working to expand these programs to cover all city residents and employees to maximize emissions reductions. In this way, so too could San Leandro, making AC Transit service more easily accessible