Executive Summary. TCAG 2014 Regional Transportation Plan

Transcription

1 Executive Summary TCAG 2014 Regional Transportation Plan

2 About Tulare County Tulare County is located in California's San Joaquin Valley (SJV)[Figure 1-1]. Tulare County is bordered by Inyo County to the east, Fresno County to the north, Kings County to the west and Kern County to the south. The western third of the County is valley floor while the middle and eastern thirds of the County contain the foothills and the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The County is situated 180 miles north of Los Angeles and 200 miles south of San Francisco. State Route 99 (SR-99), a major north-south corridor in California, provides direct access to Los Angeles and Sacramento and the numerous cities throughout the SJV. State Route 198 (SR- 198) provides an east to west corridor connection between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Interstate 5 in Fresno County. The San Joaquin Valley consists of the counties of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings, and Kern. The centralized location and affordable land cost allow Tulare County to attract industries that need efficient access to transportation facilities throughout the state. Tulare County's economic base is primarily focused on agriculture, from crop production to process and shipping. The population of the County is approximately 455,599 residents (2013 Department of Finance). The Regional Transportation Plan The Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG) is the agency responsible for developing the 2014 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). TCAG is a regional agency governed by the eight cities and the County of Tulare. Those cities are Dinuba, Exeter, Farmersville, Lindsay, Porterville, Tulare, Visalia, and Woodlake. The RTP planning period is required to be a minimum of 20 years; this RTP covers the years The RTP is consistent with the Regional Transportation Improvement Program (RTIP) to qualify projects for the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The first Tulare County RTP was written and adopted in 1975 and is updated every three to four years. The last RTP was updated in The document is based on regional transportation facilities, regional needs, and proposed transportation improvements that are reasonable to be funded given what is known about transportation funding opportunities throughout the life of the RTP planning period. The 2014 RTP also includes an Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) that puts together a land use and hosing scenario that, in tandem with the planned transportation policies and facility improvements in the RTP, will reduce greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gas reduction rate is a per capita number that is set by the California Air Resources Board. This RTP, with SCS, exceeds the targets set by the Air Resources Board for per capita greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The RTP also includes a Valleywide Chapter that is a description of the coordination and joint planning efforts of TCAG and the other seven San Joaquin Valley transportation planning agencies. The purpose of the Valleywide chapter is to summarize the coordination efforts the SJV undertakes, such as addressing interregional projects, air quality issues related to the shared air basin, and policy issues in common among the eight agencies. Regional Issues Tulare County's growth is increasing demands on the existing transportation system. In some cases, traffic has exceeded roadway capacity and mitigation measures are needed to relieve congested areas. Maintenance of existing facilities has also become a growing issue of major concern. Maintenance needs on the existing 1-1

3 transportation system greatly exceed available funds. Tulare County has greatly increased efforts to expand active transportation, including bicycle and pedestrian projects, as well as numerous improvements in public transit. Automobile use and continued growth of miles traveled per capita has continued to increase demand on transportation facilities and contributes to the need for additional capacity and maintenance of the regional road system. Capacity increasing projects will be needed to relieve congestion, improve air quality, and reduce the number of daily trips on our roadways. By utilizing Transportation System Management (TSM), Transportation Demand Management (TDM), and Transportation Control Measures (TCMs), and by encouraging development and improvement of transit and active modes of transportation, projections indicate that the circulation system, within Tulare County, will operate more efficiently as the RTP period progresses. These conditions, coupled with the continuing increase in population, congestion, and existing agricultural production have led to significant air quality problems. Major criteria pollutants that contribute to the Valley's non-attainment of air quality standards include: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), Reactive Organic Gases (ROG), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Ozone (O3), and Particulate Matter, primarily PM2.5. San Joaquin Valley Air Quality The San Joaquin Valley has unique topography that lends it to having poor air quality. An inversion layer in the atmosphere sits atop the valley and prevents dispersement of pollutants, essentially trapping them and keeping the air relatively stagnant. Other contributors to the poor air quality in the SJV include: ambient air from costal air basins and other regions in the state, the functions of the agricultural industry, industrial pollutants, travel patterns of residents and California travelers, and goods movement trips in and through the Valley. Due to the Basin's light wind patterns and surrounding mountains, air quality problems occur throughout the year. Particulate matter pollution is a problem in winter months, as is ozone in the summer. 1-2

4 Figure 1-1 Tulare County and the San Joaquin Valley Tulare County Sonoma San Joaquin Stanislaus Merced San Benito Madera Fresno Kings Tulare County Inyo Pacific Ocean Kern NORTH 1-3

5 Elements of the Regional Transportation Plan POLICY ELEMENT The Policy Element identifies transportation goals, objectives, and policies that will help meet the needs of the region. These goals, objectives, and policies are established to determine specific courses of action to guide Tulare County toward implementation of the RTP. The areas covered are quite expansive, from items such as bicycle, goods movement, and regional road system polices, to policies and objectives to achieve public health, public outreach, and environmental justice goals. ACTION ELEMENT The Action Element outlines the planning assumptions and parameters used to design the Regional Transportation Plan. Population forecasts, for example, have been calculated in order to examine the effect of future population growth on congestion and air quality emissions. Criteria is established for evaluating, selecting, ranking and measuring the performance of projects in the RTP. This element is also quite comprehensive; it includes discussion on numerous items, such as: federal requirements for the preparation and content of the RTP, air quality requirements, safety, security, tribal relations, a brief discussion on environmental impacts (please see the Environmental Impact Report for comprehensive information), local agency road projects, transit systems, and a number of other items. Page begins the list of local road projects and numerous capacity increasing projects projected for completion during the timeframe of this RTP ( ). Natural disasters, state financial constraints and/or funding changes, cost increases, and other unforeseen circumstances can affect the projects listed in the RTP. The RTP is prepared assuming current funding levels will remain constant over the next 26 years (with consideration of expected escalation and inflation). FINANCIAL ELEMENT The Financial Element begins by describing the primary types of funding TCAG utilizes for project implementation. The purpose of the Financial Element is to provide a reasonable assumption of the costs and revenues necessary to implement the RTP. The assumptions include revenue estimates for specific governmental funding programs (federal funds, state funds, and regional sales tax funds), local contributions and taxes, license and fuel taxes, and development fees. For purposes of this RTP, TCAG did not assume revenues from the newly established Cap and Trade program in California. This may be a reliable funding source in the future as the policies and funding distributions are finalized, but it is not currently established. Also of note, the agencies in Tulare County are currently considering a regional transportation impact fee. This fee has not been agreed upon or implemented and future potential revenues are not included in any financial estimates. GOODS MOVEMENT CHAPTER Added for the first time in the 2011 RTP, the Goods Movement Chapter addresses goods movement issues in Tulare County, primarily movement by rail and truck. Goods movement issues and impacts to the transportation system are of vital importance to Tulare County and its residents, and is becoming an increasing concern to residents 1-4

6 and transportation systems across the state. Agricultural production is the main source of goods movement in Tulare County. Distribution centers are also increasing the impact to the goods movement system and related congestion and air quality issues in the region. SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES STRATEGY (SCS) The major addition to the 2014 RTP is the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS). The SCS is a newly required state element of RTPs and has its own chapter in this document. The SCS is required under SB375, approved in It is considered one of the major implementing arms of AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, and is aimed at reducing miles traveled by individuals in passenger vehicles in California. The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has the responsibility to set targets for per capita greenhouse gas emissions reductions for each transportation planning agency in California. The ARB has set the goals for Tulare County; a 5% reduction in emissions per capita must be achieved by 2020, and a 10% per capita reduction by The SCS included in this RTP exceeds those targets. The preferred land use scenario (which integrates land use with transportation and housing) is called Blueprint. This scenario is built from the principles in the adopted Regional Blueprint (2009). The primary tenant of the scenario is to increase the density of new housing development by 25% from baseline (2005) densities. Additionally, and also for the first time, the 2014 RTP/SCS includes discussion and consideration of the Tulare County Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). The RHNA allocates housing units needed by income level in Tulare County jurisdictions between 2014 and The units allocated to each jurisdiction will be incorporated into the respective agency s general plan housing element. The RHNA is noted as Appendix H to this document. VALLEYWIDE CHAPTER The Valleywide Chapter provides a regional perspective to transportation planning in the San Joaquin Valley. The chapter discusses demographic data relevant to the San Joaquin Valley region, such as population, educational attainment, median household income, etc. The chapter also outlines a number of valleywide issues and areas of collaboration such as air quality, advocacy, goods movement, passenger rail and the SR-99 corridor. APPENDICES Several appendices are included as part of this RTP. Some are essential components of this document, such as the Environmental Impact Report and Air Quality Conformity Analysis, and some are for reference purposes, such as the Measure R Expenditure Plan and Air Resources Board letter of approval for TCAG s greenhouse gas reduction technical analysis. Readers are strongly encouraged to peruse the list of appendices. Some are provided within the pages of the RTP and some are under separate cover. Documents under separate cover can be viewed at or obtained by contacting TCAG: Tulare County Association of Governments 210 N. Church Street, Suite B Visalia, CA (559)