Comment Log Display

It appears from the appendices (although not at all clear in
reading the draft scoping plan), that the target chosen for the
local government section is based on regional
transportation-related greenhouse gas targets (the appendices go
from regional transportation to a target to a list of actions to a
discussion of policies to assist local actions).  The four other
measures under evaluation in the appendices (all transportation
measures) are all worthy programs that should also be included in
the draft scoping plan. However, only congestion pricing and
programs to reduce vehicle trips can truly be implemented at a
local government level.  Pay as you drive programs cannot be
implemented at a local government level alone, and indirect source
rules for new development is best implemented at the regional and
state level.

In addition to being included in the draft scoping plan, the
combined target for congestion pricing and programs to reduce
vehicle trips should be higher. The appendices give a potential
for entire state of up to 2 MMT for these two areas. San
Francisco, with a little over 2% of the state’s population, has
set a target of 322,000 tons for San Francisco alone – by 2012!

Public education and programs to reduce vehicle travel are
effective and continue to be in demand especially with the
increase in fuel prices. However, there is a limited amount of
funding available to local governments to staff public education
activities. Additional resources and funding to staff public
outreach programs specific to promoting driving alternatives would
be very helpful. In addition, San Francisco recommends that the
state adopt the following transportation demand management
programs:

•	Un-bundle parking (Transit Oriented Development TOD): Paying for
parking separately from Housing or Office Space. The cost of
parking for residential and commercial units is often passed on to
the occupants indirectly through the rent or purchase price
("bundled") rather than directly through a separate charge.
Unbundling parking helps reduce vehicle ownership as residents are
able to save more by not owning a car and it can complement
car-sharing programs. Making it a requirement to un-bundle parking
in new developments will reduce the use of vehicles. 

•	Implementation of Smart Parking Pricing:  Incentivize local
governments to make Smart Parking Pricing mandatory. This would
including the following:

o	Charge users directly for parking facility use, often with
variable rates. Better parking management yield following
benefits:
o	Make parking easier to find and easier to pay for. 
o	Reduce frustrating circling for parking, which means less
congestion. 
o	Reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. 
o	Increase safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other drivers
by helping drivers be less preoccupied by the search for parking.


•	Guaranteed Ride Home: Mandate Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH)
programs.  Also known as Emergency Ride Home (ERH), GRH provides a
free or low-cost ride home in cases of emergency for employees who
use alternative transportation, such as carpooling, vanpooling,
public transit, bicycling, and walking. This program helps promote
driving alternatives to commuters who would otherwise drive just to
address the possibility of needing their personal automobile in
case of an emergency. The City and County of San Francisco
currently offers a free Emergency Ride Home program to all SF
destined commuters and their San Francisco based employers. 

•	Mandatory Pre-Tax Transit: Commuters who take the bus, train,
ferry, or vanpool to work could be saving up to 40 percent on
their commuting expenses. Here's how it works: The federal
government allows employees to deduct up to $115 per month from
their paychecks, pre-tax, to pay for transit and vanpool expenses.
Employees save by using pre-tax dollars for their commute expenses,
and employers get the advantage of reduced payroll taxes and a
popular benefit program that's easy and inexpensive to administer.
Making this program mandatory for employers to offer at their
worksite would encourage the use of driving alternatives. The
Board of Supervisors at the City and County of San Francisco have
been presented with a legislation that would make San Francisco
the first City in the nation to make pre-tax transit program
mandatory for employers to offer their employees. 


•	Municipal Bicycle Fleet: Require cities, large corporations and
institutions to implement bicycle programs and/or provide
incentives for the implementation of shared bicycle fleet for
workers to help reduce the need for vehicle pool or fleet for
workers to perform on-job duties. This helps reduce vehicle miles
traveled and carbon emissions. The City and County of San
Francisco has implemented a program for workers who make a
significant number of vehicle trips and are able to use a bicycle
to perform their on-job duties. The program has been in existence
for over four years and currently provides over 400 bicycles to
park gardeners, parking control officers, health care workers,
city planners, etc. 

•	Public Bicycle Fleet: Require that large urban areas provide a
public bicycle fleet and/or provide incentives to establish such a
fleet. Implementation of a shared bicycle fleet for the general
public is a great way to promote clean and green transportation
option. Paris, France and Amsterdam, Netherlands along with
Portland, Oregon serve as a few good examples of shared bicycle
fleet programs available to the general public.  

•	Promotion of Parking Cash-Out: Offers commuter financial
incentives for using alternative modes. Free parking is the most
common fringe benefit offered to workers in the U.S. A 1992
California law created a program known as "parking cash-out" that
eliminates subsidization of parking for solo drivers. According to
University of South Florida’s National Center for Transit Research,
with the cash-out programs implemented, the average share of solo
commute drivers decreased from 76 percent to 63 percent, a 13
percent decrease.

•	Car free Tourism: Encourage car free, carefree transportation to
and around California Tourist destinations to promote cleaner air
and a healthier planet. San Francisco has started work on its
first carfree tourism project that provides the tourist with
information (guides, brochures, website) on how to best experience
San Francisco by walking, on bicycles and using public transit. 


In addition to the Transportation Demand Management programs that
can be administered by local jurisdictions, congestion pricing can
also help reduce emissions. San Francisco is implementing a $158
million grant designed to combat congestion, which will include
congestion pricing on one of the roadways entering the city, and
the city is also looking at the potential implementation of toll
roads downtown.