TRANSPORTATION

What Was Measured?
Measured are the following: estimated vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per year within the county; estimated number of a commute trips per day into, out of and within the county; estimated number of commute trips per day by various travel modes; and estimated congestion delay on county freeways.

Why Is It Important?
Increased miles traveled reflects increased use of resources; decreased ability to work, live and participate in the neighborhood or local community; more time spent driving from place to place; and less time spent with family and friends.  Increased VMT contributes to traffic congestion.  This puts pressure on the government to widen existing roadways and reconstruct interchanges.  Roadway construction greatly increases the cost of community infrastructure.  Motor vehicles create air, water, and noise pollution, and generate toxic waste such as oil and grease drips, asbestos from brake linings, and rubber particles from tires.  Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources.  Roads take up valuable land, reduce habitat for wildlife, and result in less open space.  A decrease in VMT would reflect reduced travel distances and increased use of less polluting alternatives to driving (walking, biking, work-at-home, transit).

What Was Found?
Estimated VMT has increased 93 percent from 1975 to 1994, but the rate of increase has slowed over the past four years. VMT in the county in 1994 averaged 6,177 miles per capita while the state, as a whole, averaged 4,511 miles per capita. Estimated daily hours of congestion delay on county freeways has varied greatly from 1981 to 1994. Although numerous road improvements have occurred over the years, freeway congestion in 1994 was still 7.5 percent higher than congestion in 1981. The number of commuters driving alone to and from work has increased from 69 percent in 1981 to 73 percent in 1994, while total use of alternative modes of travel has dropped from 31 percent to 27 percent.  The number of people working employees are commuting into or out of the county at home has increased over 100 percent from 1980 to every work day than are commuting within the county.

This is indicative of a serious jobs-housing imbalance in the county primarily caused by a lack of affordable housing.

What Is The Trend?
The number of motor vehicles on county roads is continuing to increase and freeway congestion remains a problem with roadway improvements being offset by a chronic jobs-housing imbalance and greater reliance on the single-occupancy vehicle for commuting.  Alternative modes of travel are unable to serve the region efficiently because housing, employment centers, shopping areas and community buildings are located some distance apart and in scattered geographic locations.  Thus the use of alternative, less polluting, modes of travel is gradually decreasing.  Without changes in land use, employment patterns, housing affordability, and vehicle use habits, transportation will continue to be a problem in the county, absorbing financial resources for little real mobility gain.

SOURCES: April 1994 draft of the San Mateo County "Countywide Transportation Plan (Commute Patterns)"; California Transportation Department

Researcher: David Crabbe