What is a Regional Transportation Plan?

A regional transportation plan (RTP) outlines transportation investments for a region. It is drafted by a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) or regional transportation planning agency (RTPA) every four years (five years in regions that have attained federal air quality standards) and includes a 20-year outlook for likely growth in the region. The RTP is the basis for state funding of transportation projects. Projects that are not in the RTP cannot be “programmed” for state or federal funding.

Why are RTP’s important under SB 375?

With the passage of SB 375, the RTP must incorporate a sustainable communities strategy (SCS), a regional growth strategy the provides the basis for transportation investments in the region.

The goal of the SCS is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation in the region sufficiently to meet a regional target set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). To do this, the SCS identifies the general location of land uses, residential densities, and building intensities within the region, including areas sufficient to house all economic segments of the projected regional population, as determined by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).

The SCS also plays a central role in the allocation of regional housing needs to individual cities and counties within the region. As described above, the SCS must identify areas sufficient to house the projected regional population. SB 375 also requires that the subsequent allocation of housing needs to communities within the region be consistent with the SCS. As cities and counties update the housing element of their general plans every eight years, they must demonstrate how they will plan for and accommodate their housing allocation.

Status of Regional Transportation Plans (RTPs)

Each of the 18 MPOs updates its RTP on a rolling basis. For information about a specific RTP, please view individual MPO profiles, listed on ILG’s SB 375 Resource Center: Metropolitan Planning Organizations webpage.  You can also access each MPO’s website from its profile.

What is the Regional Housing Needs Assessment?

The Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) is mandated by State Housing Law as part of the periodic process of updating local housing elements of the General Plan.

How Does the SCS influences regional and local planning for housing?

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is responsible for allocating each region’s share of the statewide housing need to each of the Council of Governments. The region’s share of the statewide housing need is based on state Department of Finance population projections and regional population forecasts used in preparing regional transportation plans.

The Council of Governments then allocates a share of the regional housing need to each of the cities and counties in the region for the eight year planning period. The allocation must be “consistent with the development pattern included in the Sustainable Communities Strategy.”

The cities and counties then revise their general plan housing elements to accommodate their housing allocation. Housing elements must be updated within eighteen months of the date the metropolitan planning organizations adopts the regional transportation plan.

To increase public participation and enhance collaboration between residents, state agencies and local agencies in regional planning, SB 375 requires specific public participation plans for five types of decisions.

These include decisions include:

• the Regional Transportation Plan,
• the Sustainable Communities Strategy,
• the Alternative Planning Strategy (if one is prepared),
• the Regional Housing Needs Assessment,
• and the Housing Element.

Senate Bill 375 expands upon existing public participation requirements related to regional transportation planning in California for the state’s 18 MPOs.  Public participation plans in these regions must now define a proactive process to provide all interested parties, including people traditionally underserved by existing transportation systems, a reasonable opportunity to be involved in regional transportation planning.  These plans outline specifically how public input will shape the development of a new regional strategy for growth that helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks.