Santa Barbara is using a new traffic analysis model known as “vehicle miles traveled” when analyzing new development projects.

Essentially, land use decision and transportation are now tied hand-in-hand in the City of Santa Barbara.

Instead of the city and developers working together to widen a roadway or make other on-site or nearby infrastructure changes, the city will look to reduce vehicle miles traveled to and from the site.

The State of California, through state Senate Bill 743 approved in 2020, declared that the number of miles traveled from home to work is more important than congestion levels at a particular intersection.

Previously, levels of service at intersections received grades between A and F, and they were indicators of whether to perform an environmental review.

Jessica Grant, the city’s supervising transportation planner, outlined the new process at a recent Planning Commission meeting.

The city conducts traffic analysis counts every five to seven years and the new vehicle miles traveled measure will be used for housing projects through 2035.

“There’s two different ways you can reduce traffic congestion,” Grant explained. “There’s the LA, Orange County, San Diego County, the urban sprawl areas.

“When you think of those areas you think of very wide freeways.”

Widening roads and intersections is a way to reduce traffic, but it’s not the “Santa Barbara way,” she said.

“There’s another way to do it; it’s to reduce length of trips and locate housing near jobs and to have a roadway system that accommodates all road users,” Grant added.

The complex analysis — using a combination of trip counts, employee surveys, demographics and predictive data — showed that Santa Barbara has 27 impacted intersections, according to new traffic models.

Development projects proposed near these intersections will be scrutinized more closely to reduce traffic trips to and from the sites, both residential and commercial.

The most impacted intersections are Highway 101 at Garden Street, Highway 101 at Mission Street, and Highway 101 at West Carrillo Street. Essentially, the intersections at every entrance and exit ramp from Highway 101 are the most congested.

Projects with an average of 250 daily trips or fewer to the site, whether residential or commercial, won’t trigger environmental review.

Projects within a half-mile of a transit option, such as a bus stop or train station, would also not prompt a review.

But with other projects, the city would consider the developer’s efforts to reduce traffic trips through infill development, providing neighborhood-serving retail, or incentives for bicycle use or no-cars.

For commercial projects, rideshare, employee vanpools, or onsite showers would help reduce vehicle miles traveled.

The city followed a method used by the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, to determine what constitutes vehicle miles travel. The city calls its program the “Santa Barbara Travel Model.”

Vehicle miles traveled refers to the amount and distance of automobile travel attributable to a project.

Grant said the city infrastructure improvements would cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars to expand roadways large enough to fit all the city’s traffic needs.

Instead, Santa Barbara must take a traffic management approach to reduce vehicle miles traveled.

“The Santa Barbara way is honoring all mode choices,” Grant said.

She said everyone should have an equal option of walking, biking, taking a bus or driving when leaving their home to travel. The state wants to reduce noise, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from new development.

The Planning Commission approved Grant’s report 6-0, with commissioner Sheila Lodge absent. The item will now to the full City Council later this month.

“I am from LA, West Hollywood, and the approach there is to take infrastructure and make it larger,” commissioner Donald DeLuccio said.

“But all it does there is attract more traffic. It’s like water that just keeps going.”

27 Most Congested Santa Barbara Intersections

• Highway 154 at Calle Real
• Las Positas Road at State Street
• Northbound Highway 101 Entrance Ramp at Calle Real
• Las Positas Road at Calle Real
• Las Positas Road at Southbound Highway 101 Entrance and Exit Ramps
• Las Positas Road at Modoc Road
• Constance Avenue at State Street
• State Street at Mission Street
• Northbound Highway 101 Entrance and Exit Ramps at Mission Street
• Southbound Highway 101 Entrance and Exit Ramps at Mission Street
• Modoc Road at Mission Street
• Chapala Street at West Carrillo Street
• De la Vina Street at West Carrillo Street
• Castillo Street at West Carrillo Street
• Northbound Highway 101 Entrance and Exit Ramps at West Carrillo Street
• Southbound Highway 101 Entrance and Exit Ramps at West Carrillo Street
• San Andres Street at West Carrillo Street
• Meigs Road at Cliff Drive
• Castillo Street and Northbound Highway 101 Entrance Ramp at West Haley Street
• Castillo Street and Southbound Highway 101 Entrance and Exit Ramps
• Castillo Street at West Montecito Street
• Garden Street at East Haley Street
• Garden Street at East Gutierrez Street
• Garden Street at Southbound Highway 101 Entrance and Exit Ramps
• Milpas Street Roundabout at East Carpinteria Street and Northbound Highway 101 Entrance and Exit Ramps
• East Cabrillo Boulevard at Southbound Highway 101 Entrance and Exit Ramps
• Coast Village Road Roundabout at Hot Springs Road