Comment Log Display

California has beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, and many flat
areas. With Smart Growth urban planning and better ped/bike
infrastructure, California could be one of the most wonderful
places in the world to ride a bicycle.   Davis, CA provides a
superb local example of how suburban VMT can be significantly
reduced, with smart land use planning and attention to ped/bike
infrastructure.

You can reduce VMT by 30% or more by providing pedestrians and
cyclists with safe routes to travel, and convenient destinations
to travel to.  Transportation planning procedures should be
modified, to acknowledge the fact that pedestrian, bicycle, and
transit trips can replace Vehicle Miles Travelled, when land use
and transportation policies support this.

James Goldstene, ARB executive officer, told the New Partners for
Smart Growth this year (2008) that urban households generate half
as much VMT as those living in conventional suburban locations.
Even households in “smarter growth suburban” locations drive 18 to
39 percent less, according to his presentation. 

If California follows 'business as usual' transportation analysis
until 2020, reaching 2050 GHG goals will be extremely difficult. 
If California institutes innovative transportation analysis, such
as is being developed in Florida, with active programs to convert
VMT to BTC and PTC (bike trips completed and pedestrian trips
completed), then 2050 GHG goals will be much more achievable.