This hot topic has now been incorporated into the second editions of the Transportation Analysis Framework (TAF) and Transportation Analysis under CEQA (TAC). Please refer to the TAF and TAC at SB 743 Implementation Resources for the latest guidance.
Transportation Analysis under CEQA (TAC) includes a list of project types that may be screened as unlikely to induce travel (Sec. 5.1.1). In two instances, the term “local” has created some confusion:
- Addition of roadway capacity on local or collector streets provided the project also substantially improves conditions for pedestrians, cyclists, and, if applicable, transit.
- Local and collector roads in rural areas that don’t include sidewalks where there would be no pedestrian traffic to use them.
The words “collector” (class 5 and 6) and “local” (class 7) refer to functional classification, not ownership. New capacity on class 5-7 roads can be screened as unlikely to induce travel, if other conditions in the description above apply. New capacity on freeways and arterials (classes 1-4) is not screened, even if the facilities are locally owned. In other words, when state- or locally-owned class 1-4 facilities are being added or expanded in a project involving the SHS – as part of a new or wider interchange project, for example – the new capacity on those facilities should be evaluated for induced travel.