Elisa Barbour | Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis

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Presentation Description

My presentation will address implementation of Senate Bill (SB) 375, California’s path-breaking regional planning law adopted in 2008 to achieve climate and sustainability goals through integrated planning for transportation and land use. The law calls on Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), federally-mandated transportation planning agencies in urban regions, to develop, with localities, long-range plans for transportation and land use that are capable of achieving state-mandated reductions in per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through more efficient development patterns.

Since 2008, all the state’s eighteen MPOs have designed their regional plans to achieve the GHG reduction targets called for under SB 375, by planning for denser development, more spending for transit and active transport, and other strategies. MPOs have innovated by asking local governments to designate priority development areas and by providing financial incentives for local actions to support regional plan goals.

Compared to pre-SB 375 plans, however, post-SB 375 MPO plans have been only incrementally different. The law came under scrutiny in 2018 and 2022, when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) – the agency tasked with administering SB 375 – submitted progress reports to the state legislature finding that the state is “not on track” to achieve the law’s goals, given recent trending increases in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and GHGs.

These findings have prompted discussion and research about weaknesses in SB 375 and possible solutions. In 2018, CARB re-negotiated the GHG reduction targets with MPOs, proposing stiffer targets than previously. But California’s largest MPOs countered that deeper reductions would be difficult to achieve absent state-level adoption of stronger policies for road and parking pricing, funds for multimodal transport, and incentives for infill development. Meanwhile, various stakeholders have also highlighted other obstacles, including locally imposed zoning constraints. In this fashion, current debates about SB 375 are raising useful questions about multi-level government roles and responsibilities for achieving the state’s climate and sustainability policy goals.

Based on my own research and others' over recent years, my presentation will evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the SB 375 process, addressing key decision points and political and practical consequences for planning, investment, and policymaking at the state, regional, and local levels. Research indicates that SB 375’s built-in “implementation gap” will require multi-level action to address. California’s experience will be useful for other states and regions nationally in considering how best to advance land use and transportation planning integration to achieve sustainability goals.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Elisa Barbour is an Assistant Professional Researcher at the Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis. Her research addresses topics related to the intersection of transportation, land use, and environmental planning at the state, regional, and local levels, especially in California. She has conducted multiple research projects for California state agencies including Caltrans, the California Air Resources Board, and the Strategic Growth Council, on policy topics related sustainable development, including: implementation of Senate Bill 375 (adopted in 2008), California’s regional planning law for integrated transportation-land use planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through efficient development; implementation of Senate Bill 743 (adopted in 2013), which reframed requirements for environmental review of transportation impacts of development projects statewide to focus on impacts on vehicle miles traveled (VMT); and local planning and policy strategies for supporting compact, transit-oriented development (TOD). Dr. Barbour has taught courses in transportation policy and planning at UC Berkeley and UC Davis for several years. She has published journal articles, book chapters, and professional reports on planning and policy-related topics including the history and implementation of SB 375 and SB 743, transportation-land use interactions and their influence on travel behavior, state-local fiscal relations, local policymaking for TOD, and multi-species habitat planning. She received her Masters and PhD in City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, and worked for ten years as a Policy Analyst at the Public Policy Institute of California, before coming to UC Davis.

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