A city (or county) is not an accident but the result of coherent visions and aims

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flexible and may come in many forms. The goal and emphasis should be on impacting the rights of way as few times as possible 
by inviting multiple parties to lay their infrastructure together. While not always feasible, coordinating between circulation 
infrastructure agencies may help reduce costs and impacts on the local community. In identifying existing infrastructure and 
planning for future needs, local governments should work closely with any relevant service providers, including water districts, 
utilities and others. 
Infrastructure needs of Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities
In 2011, local governments were required to plan for infrastructure needs of disadvantaged unincorporated communities 
through 
Senate Bill 244
. The bill requires the 
land use element
 to analyze needs for infrastructure in these communities. 
To ensure consistency, the circulation and land use elements’ policies and programs should be coordinated. For additional 
information on planning for disadvantaged unincorporated communities, see the Land Use Element chapter of the GPG and 
Senate Bill 244: Land Use, General Plans, and Disadvantaged Communities Technical Advisory
. 
Broadband
Both state and federal governments are implementing various funding programs that serve the goal of expanding broadband 
access to unserved and underserved areas. Within California, the
 California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
 manages the 
California Advanced Services Fund (CASF)
, which invests hundreds of millions of dollars annually in broadband deployment. 
The state also created the 
California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF)
, which was designed to be a public-purpose venture 
capital fund. 
Dig once policies can substantially reduce costs for providing broadband service to communities. A new provider can run fiber 
through leased conduit space at a fraction of the costs, incentivizing more private actors to deploy or reducing costs to the city if 
self-provisioning broadband services. For example, if conduit construction was promoted along ongoing civil work projects, fiber 
deployment costs drop by $30,000- $100,000 per mile. On average, 60 to 90 percent of network deployment costs come from civil 
works as opposed to equipment and maintenance.
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Intent of Analysis
Recommended Data
Understanding transportation choices and multi-modal needs
Percentage of pedestrians and bicyclists commuting to work and other 
trips (
National Household Travel Survey, California Household Travel 
Survey, American Community Survey
)
Identifying necessary safety improvements
Number or % of injuries and fatalities (
Transportation Injury Mapping 
System
)
Analysis of existing and needed active transportation networks
Transit stops and centers, existing and planned bicycle routes, pedestri-
an facilities, destination centers

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Other Considerations
Transportation and Climate Change
Transportation is a significant source of greenhouse gases. In California, transportation is the largest source of emissions: 
according to the California Air Resources Board, about 37% of the state’s GHG emissions come just from vehicle tailpipe 
emissions,
i
 as compared to 28% nationally.
ii
 Considering life-cycle emissions (extraction, fuel refining, fuel transport, roadway 
construction, etc.) in addition to tail pipe emissions, transportation is the source of over half of California GHG emissions. An 
update to the circulation element presents an opportunity to integrate measures for reducing vehicle travel that are critical to 
meeting our State’s GHG reduction goals.
Strategies to reduce transportation-related GHG emissions fall into three general categories: vehicle efficiency, switching to 
low-carbon fuels, and reduction of vehicle miles traveled. General plans’ most important policy levers focus on VMT reduction, 
by setting out low-VMT land use patterns and specifying transportation network characteristics and travel demand management 
strategies. Further, general plans can help jurisdictions become “
ZEV-ready
”, e.g. by specifying provision of alternative fuel 
fueling and charging stations. 
Parking
Many general plans set forth the goal of providing their communities with “adequate parking.” Historically, this has meant 
directing new land use projects to exceed the full demand for free parking. This has resulted in a substantial subsidy to 
automobile users of roughly $20-40 Billion per year in California.
iii
 Free parking is a community choice, but should be 
recognized as one that entails costs and leads to additional vehicle travel, which in turn can impact community goals for 
livability, mode shift, environmental protection, emissions reduction, and fiscal benefits. 
The circulation element of a general plan provides a jurisdiction the opportunity to evaluate various tradeoffs, including the 
costs and benefits of parking, in conjunction with other planning goals. Tradeoffs a jurisdiction might consider include: 
• Parking demand may change over time due to numerous factors including adjacent land uses, densifying urban 
development, transit and active transportation infrastructure, and emerging vehicle technologies such as automated vehicles
• Ready parking availability can induce increased vehicle miles traveled (VMT), leading to increased traffic and greenhouse gas 
emissions.
• Parking requires land that might be occupied by other land use, which may provide greater benefit (including fiscal benefit).
• Parking areas paved with standard asphalt can exacerbate impacts on water quality and runoff control.
• Free parking subsidizes drivers at the expense of transit users, pedestrians, and cyclists.
Many jurisdictions are already confronting parking tradeoffs and addressing these issues by managing parking demand and 
parking supply.

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