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Report regarding the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) monitoring program platform (OneCommute) and 2025 TDM reporting status. (Victoria Kim, Senior Planner)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission receive the informational report regarding the TDM reporting and monitoring program. No action is required at this time.
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The City of South San Francisco (City) adopted the first Transportation Demand Management (TDM) ordinance in 2002, the purpose of which was to reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips resulting from new development projects. In 2022, as part of the comprehensive General Plan Update, the City adopted a new TDM ordinance (South San Francisco Municipal Code Section 20.400), along with the Transportation Analysis Guidelines.
The purposes of the TDM ordinances are:
• Reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled generated by new development, in accordance with the City’s police power necessary to protect the public health, safety, welfare, and environment.
• Manage traffic congestion, especially congestion associated with drive-alone commute trips during peak traffic periods by using a combination of services, incentives, and facilities.
• Promote more efficient utilization of existing transportation facilities and ensure that new developments maximize transit, active transportation, carpooling, and vanpooling usage.
• Establish an ongoing monitoring and enforcement program to ensure that the desired performance targets are achieved.
• Achieve compliance with the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County’s (C/CAG) Congestion Management Program.
The TDM Ordinance establishes four different tiers of compliance, based on projects’ anticipated effects on the City’s transportation network, with different levels of trip reduction measures and monitoring required by tier.
The Planning Division has been tracking all the development projects with TDM plans and continuously putting efforts collecting and reviewing TDM reports and surveys from participating project sites. Currently, there are 46 project sites participating in the TDM monitoring program (Ref. Attachment 1). Recently approved projects will be coming online in the next several years, and will also be subject to TDM reporting requirements. The City’s monitoring has evolved over the years, but has typically consisted of a combination of contacting sites via email and phone, collecting data through surveys such as Survey Monkey or Google forms, and reviewing analog reports.
TDM REPORTING AND MONITORING: ONECOMMUTE PLATFORM
OneCommute Monitoring Platform
Recently, the City was able to significantly improve and streamline the TDM monitoring and reporting process and transitioned to a comprehensive online platform. Commute.org is a joint powers agency (JPA), comprised of all of jurisdictions in San Mateo County. In 2025, Commute.org introduced OneCommute, a TDM monitoring platform, to all of the member jurisdictions that are subject to the C/CAG TDM policy. It is important to note that South San Francisco recently received an exemption from the C/CAG TDM policy, as the City’s TDM Ordinance was found to be likely to generate superior citywide results to the C/CAG policy. However, South San Francisco is choosing to utilize the OneCommute platform, as it is an integrated tool, and will improve TDM monitoring reliability and effectiveness. South San Francisco is the first jurisdiction in San Mateo County to use the platform, which staff uses to track TDM projects, administer a monitoring survey, receive reports, and provide real-time feedback to program participants.
Implementing the OneCommute platform is a partnership between Planning Division and commute.org staff. Supported by commute.org staff, Planning Division staff are able to add and edit participating projects, upload documents and manage key contacts, review monitoring reports, and navigate the OneCommute platform dashboard and reporting tools. The platform is intended to allow the City efficiently to administer TDM policy compliance and maintain transparent, real-time project tracking. Each participating project is a unique entry in the database, and contains TDM requirements and commitments specific to that project. Project participants are provided with links to the database, so they able to report on compliance through the database. As part of the TDM reporting, participating project sites are required to submit applicable employee survey responses, detailed traffic count data, and monitoring and enforcement fees, pursuant to SSFMC Section 20.400.006 (Monitoring and Enforcement).
2025 ANNUAL MONITORING PROCESS RESULTS
Prior to beginning the 2025 TDM monitoring process, Planning Division staff worked closely with commute.org staff to enter all of the required information for each of the project sites into the OneCommute database. As part of monitoring, staff sent out TDM Monitoring Program emails to the participating project sites via OneCommute platform three times: initial letter / introduction to the platform, reminder letter, and final letter. After sites submitted annual TDM monitoring forms and surveys, the review status was updated on the platform, and close out letters were sent out to the applicants after the review process was completed. Staff also worked with sites throughout the process to answer questions about the platform and provide feedback on calculating compliance.
Out of 46 TDM project sites participating TDM monitoring program, 18 project sites (39%) are fully compliant with their approved TDM plans, 23 project sites are non-compliant (50%), three sites are currently vacant or not constructed yet (7%), and two sites (4%) either reported separately to the City or are missing contact information (See Figure 1). The reasons for the non-compliant TDM project sites are that the projects did not provide monitoring forms, did not implement all TDM measures, and/or did not pay the monitoring fee. Most of the large employment centers East of 101 that generate the highest traffic volumes (and have the highest alternate mode-share requirements) are compliant. Staff will continue to work with all sites to help improve response rates and achieve compliance.
* TDM sites that report separately to the City or without contact information
Figure 1. 2025 TDM Participating Sites
ADDITIONAL TDM TOOLS
Transportation Analysis Guidelines
As part of the comprehensive General Plan Update in 2022, the City published Transportation Analysis Guidelines to provide a clear and consistent technical approach for analyzing projects that could have transportation effects on the City’s transportation system and services (Ref. Attachment 2). The Guidelines is a tool for City staff and for applicants during the development review process, providing guidance on two key elements of the City’s transportation planning process: Transportation Impact Analyses (TIAs) and TDM Plans and Checklists. TDM requirements by project tier, analysis methods, and additional context for the City’s approach to TDM planning and monitoring requirements can be found from the TIA Guidelines.
East of 101 Trip Cap
The East of 101 Area Trip Cap is recommended to help the City monitor how office and research and development growth affects transportation capacity within six proposed key roadway gateways (see Figure 2). Each project is not required to provide area-wide trip cap documentation, but all projects are expected to support trip reduction efforts, while Tier 4 projects are subject to site-specific trip caps approved in the TDM Plan pursuant to SSFMC Section 20.400.003.D (Tier 4 Requirements, TDM Requirements by Tier).
The cap would be based on roadway capacity and set at estimated 11,500 inbound morning peak hour trips and 9,100 outbound afternoon/evening peak hour trips, with the afternoon/evening period identified as the primary constraint. Since 2019, traffic volumes had already reached about 63 percent of the morning cap and 70 percent of the afternoon/evening cap, and future employment growth is expected to further strain the network despite TDM efforts (Ref. Attachment 2). The Planning Division will propose implementation measures of the East 101 Trip Cap and violations in the next year. Also, the City will monitor traffic regularly and may need to implement measures such as more stringent TDM requirements, new transportation funding strategies, or congestion pricing if the cap is approached.
Figure 2. Proposed East of 101 TRIP Cap Cordon Zone
CONCLUSION
The City’s Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program is designed to decrease congestion, improve the environment, and enhance quality of life by encouraging and supporting the use of sustainable alternatives to driving alone. The Planning Division has completed the full cycle of the 2025 Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Annual Monitoring Program using the OneCommute TDM Monitoring Platform. From the initial notifications through the completion of the annual reports, the platform served as a one-stop system by providing required TDM measurement lists, survey links, and payment information in an integrated platform. The platform significantly improved the efficiency of the monitoring process, reducing both time and administrative effort. Review status updates and compliance notifications were delivered promptly and more easily with the support of Commute.org staff. Based on this successful first-time experience, the City will continue to utilize the OneCommute platform. This will become an even more useful tool in the future, as additional development comes online and program participants gain familiarity with the tool.
Attachments:
1. List of TDM Program Project Sites
2. Link to Transportation Analysis Guidelines