Awarded by the Clean Mobility Options Voucher Pilot (CMO) Program, the County will receive $49,515 to conduct a Community Transportation Needs Assessment to understand community transportation needs in La Presa, located in the Spring Valley Community Planning Area. The Clean Mobility Options Voucher Pilot Program is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in under-resourced communities.

The CMO Program aligns with two County sustainability programs:

• The County’s 2018 Climate Action Plan (2018 CAP), which prioritizes reduction of vehicle miles traveled through use of alternative transit options and implementation of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure (Measure T-2.1), and implementation of transportation demand management (Measure T-2.2).
• The 2018 CAP (Measure T-3.5) and 2019 Electric Vehicle Roadmap, which makes investments in electric vehicle (EV) technology a priority.

The Community Transportation Needs Assessment  will identify – and eventually help the County apply for future grant funding to address – transportation challenges faced by residents in the Spring Valley community. The project aims to understand what types of zero-emission transportation solutions can be used to aid neighborhood mobility.

Beginning in November 2020 and running for nine months, the Community Transportation Needs Assessment will include four primary steps.

First, County staff will conduct a community transportation planning analysis on existing and future transportation services operating in the area. This will provide a framework for understanding what types of transportation opportunities and barriers may exist within the community, including access to transit, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, and any clean transportation services operating in the area.

In the Project’s second step, the County will engage with a broad coalition of stakeholders from the community to learn in detail what factors impact how residents travel in their community. A combination of surveys and virtual community forums will be used to help understand if residents are aware of current transportation services, determine if services are meeting their needs, and assess what prohibits the use of available or desired services.

Next, County staff will summarize the information obtained from the community transportation planning analysis and community engagement process into a summary report. Based on this data, and in partnership with community residents, staff will determine what potential clean transportation solutions could help address the community’s identified transportation needs. In the final stage of the Project, staff will deliver the results of the assessment to the community through presentation at community meetings and a completed summary report.

If you have questions or are interested in being involved in the Community Transportation Needs Assessment, please contact Tyler Farmer at 858-495-5466 or tyler.farmer@sdcounty.ca.gov.