Honorable Council members and staff,
This note is in follow-up to a few recent discussions of the citys use of metrics from the Institute for Traffic Engineering to calculate trip generation, parking, and transportation demand management, in the context of TDM policies and development TDM requirements.
These methods and metrics have been the subject of critique for over 20 years - see this overview of a paper from Donald Shoup from back in 2002.
There are newer and stronger practices and policies, including in nearby cities. I would urge staff and Council to look to the more information about stronger policies and practices to help reduce traffic and bolster sustainable transportation in Menlo Park.
"Donald Shoup chronicles the problems with the ITE Parking Generation and Trip generation manuals that have become standards for planners and transport professionals in the U.S. and even abroad. He demonstrates that their ostensible accuracy is unmerited and misleading; that average rates are most often presented despite lack of statistical evidence for any relation between floor area and trips generated; and, more profoundly, that the tables are based on assumptions of car dependent land use that the manuals help become self-fulfilling."
https://www.planetizen.com/node/7653
http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/TruthInTransportationPlanning.pdf
Thank you for your consideration,
- Adina
Adina Levin
650-646-4344
