Land Use/Transportation Data & Tools

The Office of Community Planning has initiated, funded, and coordinated several studies and related efforts regarding housing, land use and transportation coordination, smart growth (including transit-oriented development and urban/suburban infill land uses), and the development of models and tools for assessing such strategies. A brief description of each of these, along with website links, are provided below.

Efforts Currently Underway

• Methodology for estimating multi-modal trip generation rates for traffic impact analyses of proposed "smart growth" land use projects in California:
  • Overview of Travel Data for Infill and Transit-Oriented Land Uses
  • Fact Sheet
  • Report: "Evaluation of the Operation & Accuracy of Five Available Smart Growth Trip Generation Methodologies"
• Statewide Improvement of Land Use/Transportation Data and Software Tools for Local and Regional Integrated Planning in California:
  • Fact Sheet
  • Webinar (July 27, 2011: 90 minutes)
  • July 27, 2011 Webinar Slides
• Annotated Literature Review of Land Use-Transportation Relationships

Links to Completed Projects

Trip-Generation Rates for Urban Infill Land Uses in California

In order to prepare traffic impact analyses of proposed land use development projects, professionals often rely on the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ (ITE) published trip generation rates. However, ITE data typically reflects isolated suburban development that lacks transit service as well as adequate pedestrian and bicycle facilities. As a result, the use of ITE trip-generation rates to analyze proposed development projects located in existing urban infill areas tends to over-predict vehicular traffic impacts and underestimates trips made by transit, walking, and bicycling. In 2004, Caltrans initiated a major effort to provide multi-modal trip generation rates data for urban infill development in California.

a) Phase 1 Report: Data Collection Methodology and Pilot Application (2008)
This report describes results of the first phase of this effort.  In this phase, a methodology for selecting and studying infill land uses was developed and described, and 13 initial sites were studied using this methodology.

b) Final Summary Report: Trip-Generation Rates for Urban Infill Sites in California (July 2009)
This Final report summarizes the study's methodology, presents and analyzes trip-generation rates data for 26 urban infill sites in California, provides details regarding techniques and costs of collecting and analyzing data, and other related information.

c) Trip Generation Rates for Urban Infill Land Uses in CA - ITE Journal, June 2009*

d) Transit-Oriented Developments Produce Fewer Auto Trips" - ITE Journal, June 2009*

*(c) 2009 Institute of Transportation Engineers, 1627 Eye Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20006 USA, www.ite.org. Used by permission.

Assessment of Local Models and Tools for Analyzing Smart-Growth Strategies–-Final Report (2007)
Cities and counties use travel models and other analytical tools to assess the benefits and impacts of local land use plans, transportation improvements, and proposals for development projects. This report assesses the ability of available models and tools to adequately analyze “smart-growth” land use and transportation strategies (such as infill, mixed land uses, transit-oriented development, etc.). It also suggests ways that models and tools could be improved or enhanced.

Assessment of Integrated Transportation/Land Use Models–Final Report (2006)
This study explored several new “Integrated” (land use/economic/transportation) models and assessed whether and how they can improve the ability to understand benefits and impacts of a variety of transportation, economic, and land use strategies. The results of this effort led to a Caltrans-funded feasibility study of the potential implementation of a statewide Integrated model for interregional analyses (that will be completed in 2009).

Transit-Oriented Development and Household Travel: A Study Of California Cities (2006)
Transit-oriented developments (TODs) are areas within a half-mile of rail stops or quarter-mile of bus transit hubs with fairly high development density, availability of shops and services, good pedestrian amenities, and direct access to the transit station. This report describes the results of an in-depth assessment of relationships between various types and locations of TODs (in the SF Bay Area and San Diego areas) and the amounts and modes of travel by residents and workers.

Additional Transit-Oriented Development Information

Caltrans Division of Mass Transportation’s TOD website

Statewide TOD Study: Factors for Success in California (2002)

California TOD Searchable Website (2002)