PLANNING

PLANNING & PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE

June 20, 2002

SUBJECT: 2002 CONGESTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

ACTION: ADOPT THE 2002 CONGESTION MANAGEMENT

PROGRAM FOR LOS ANGELES COUNTY

RECOMMENDATION

Adopt the 2002 Congestion Management Program (CMP) for Los Angeles County.

ISSUE

Since 1992, one of Metro’s statutory requirements as the Congestion Management Agency for Los Angeles County is to update and readopt the CMP. Metro staff has developed the 2002 CMP and is recommending Metro Board adoption. The 2002 CMP updates much of the technical data and performance of the countywide transportation system, the impacts of local growth decisions, and reaffirms Metro’s commitment to provide outreach and assistance to cities to maintain compliance with the CMP.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Statute requires the Metro to update and readopt the Congestion Management Program (CMP). Los Angeles also uses the CMP to meet federal Congestion Management System requirements, thereby eliminating potential conflicts or duplicating requirements.

OPTIONS

The Metro Board may adopt the recommended program which maintains the existing approach for meeting CMP statutory requirements. The Metro Board could elect not to adopt the CMP, which would violate state statute. Los Angeles would still need to comply with the federal CMS which has many of the same requirements as the CMP.

FINANCIAL IMPACT

Approving the recommendation would have no direct impact on the Metro budget. Cities and the County receive more than $91 million annually in Section 2105 state gas tax subventions, as well as other state and federal transportation funds, for continued CMP implementation. By also fulfilling federal CMS requirements

the CMP preserves Metro’s role in the programming of federal funds for key highway and transit projects. Since 1990, local improvements credited through the CMP have eliminated or accommodated approximately 4.8 million vehicle miles each day – a $514 million annual savings to the public in time and fuel. These improvements benefit both local and regional mobility needs and support regional transportation improvements funded by Metro.

Since 1992, one of Metro’s statutory requirements as the Congestion Management Agency for Los Angeles County is to prepare and biennially update the Congestion Management Program (CMP).

The purpose of the CMP in Los Angeles is to assess the current performance of the countywide transportation system, the impacts of local growth decisions, and to work in partnership with local jurisdictions in mitigating congestion resulting from local growth through a countywide deficiency plan process. An Executive Summary of the 2002 CMP is provided in Attachment A. A complete copy of the document is available from the Metro Board Secretary’s Office.

The CMP reports on the performance of key highways, arterials, and transit corridors that make up the county’s congestion management system. This information provides a countywide perspective of how the transportation system is currently performing, as well as changes in performance over the last decade. In addition, the CMP has resulted in the implementation of local transportation improvements that support and improve access to the regional systems including regional rail, bus, and carpool lane systems. Local jurisdictions have also adopted a Transportation Demand Management ordinance to implement “transit friendly” infrastructure as part of new development, and a Land Use ordinance, which requires the analysis of the impact of new development on the CMP highway, and transit system through the CEQA process.

Finally, local jurisdictions participate in a countywide deficiency plan and are responsible for implementing transportation improvements, which off-set the congestion impacts of new development within their city on an annual basis. Specifically, the countywide deficiency plan requires local agencies to offset a portion of the impact that their new developments have on regional mobility, by implementing or participating in transportation improvements. Local agencies earn CMP “credit” for implementing any of more than fifty land use, capital, TSM, transit, TDM, and other strategies contained in the CMP Toolbox of Mitigation Strategies. Credits earned for implementing these strategies are used by local jurisdictions to offset the debits accrued through new development, and thereby maintaining CMP compliance. Through the countywide deficiency plan, local jurisdictions implement transportation improvements that improve mobility and compliment the countywide transportation improvements and strategies identified in the Long Range Transportation Plan.

In order to demonstrate local CMP compliance, state statute requires local jurisdictions to implement the TDM ordinance, Land Use ordinance, and countywide deficiency plan requirements that are identified in the Metro Congestion Management Program. Compliance with the CMP preserves the eligibility of cities and the County to receive their Proposition 111 gas tax subventions (Section 2105) and to maintain their eligibility for other state and federal funds programmed in the Metro Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

The 2002 CMP will be the sixth CMP adopted for Los Angeles County since the requirement became effective with the passage of Proposition 111 in 1990. The CMP and its specific components are designed to comply with statutory requirements in a manner appropriate for Los Angeles County. Each component has been developed over an extensive period of time with the input and consensus of local agencies around Los Angeles, other government agencies, the private sector, environmental groups and others. The CMP has been developed over the last ten years with the assistance of a Policy Advisory Committee (PAC). The PAC is comprised of city representatives from throughout the County, along with representatives from regional agencies, transit operators, the private sector, the environmental community, and others. Along with the PAC, the Metro uses a consensus approach in updating any element of the CMP.

Nearly 500 copies of the Draft 2002 CMP were distributed in early April with public comments requested by May 3, 2002. In accordance to CMP statute a public hearing was held on April 24, 2002. No one from the public provided testimony. A transcript of that public hearing is available from the Metro Board Secretary’s office.

Additionally, three letters and three electronic comments have been received regarding the Draft 2002 CMP. There are two categories of comments – (1) those that are technical in nature, neutral, or in favor of adopting the Final Draft 2002 CMP and the (2) those comments proposing changes to the CMP. Copies of the comment letters are contained in Attachment 2. Summaries of the comments and staff responses to the comment letters are contained in Attachment 3.

The 2002 CMP provides updated system performance monitoring data for both the CMP highway and roadway system, and the CMP transit network. In addition, through the data collection effort and commitment of the cities and the County, the 2002 CMP provides information on land use development trends, and the implementation of system improvements, transportation demand management measures and other mobility enhancements.

As part of the 2002 CMP Update process, Metro staff has been working with the PAC to examine alternatives to the current debit/credit approach to the CMP deficiency plan requirement. While some local agencies have been interested in exploring potential alternatives to the debit/credit approach for the CMP deficiency plan requirement, others supported the current approach to ensure a common mechanism exists for mitigation development on a countywide basis.

More recently, the PAC has indicated to Metro staff that they are interested in pursuing a deficiency plan approach that provides more leadership and better management in influencing land use decisions and traffic mitigation. This sentiment echoes the findings and conclusions of the Metro’s Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) adopted in Spring 2001. During the analysis conducted to support the development of the Metro’s LRTP, land use continued to play a significant role in how well the transportation system performed in meeting future mobility needs. Therefore, to enhance Metro’s effort in reviewing the CMP responsibilities, Metro will be convening land use/transportation coordination forums reflecting a broad spectrum of land use/transportation policy academic experts, practitioners, elected officials, private sector and other stakeholders. Recommendations of these forums would assist Metro in developing new and practical approaches to the Los Angeles CMP. Recommendations will also be incorporated into the Metro Short Range Transportation Plan, currently under development. Recommendations will be brought back to the Metro Board at a future date, and will be amended into the CMP at that time.

Upon adoption, Metro staff will distribute the Metro Board adopted 2002 CMP document to all 88 local jurisdictions, the County of Los Angeles, Caltrans, and other multiple public agencies and private stake holders. In addition, Metro staff will continue reviewing local responsibilities for meeting the CMP requirement to mitigate “deficiencies” caused by the impact of new development on the transportation system. Both the PAC and the Land Use/Transportation Forums discussed earlier will assist Metro staff in assessing the problems identified and proposed solutions on that would guide Metro’s CMP Program.