SPRTA (PCTPA) staff, representatives from each member agency, and a consultant team kicked-off a process to overhaul the SPRTA travel demand model (TDM) as well as the Tier I and II Regional Impact Fee programs. The model, like other software programs needs periodic updates. State law also requires impact fee programs to be updated every 8-years. The SPRTA regional impact fees are a critical component in the multi-faceted approach to funding future transportation improvements in South Placer County.

Model Update

Although PCTPA needs a new model for its own use, the intention is for the model to be useful for a variety of users, including member agencies, developers, and consultants. In addition to the model being used to update the regional fee programs, the model will be comply with new SB-743 requirements to track trip lengths within and outside of Placer county. This should be especially useful for traffic impact studies that need to identify where network improvements are needed and fulfill the SB-743 requirements.

Regional Fee Update

In addition to the TDM’s usefulness for transportation planning, a TDM is essential when it comes to funding and budgeting for transportation projects. Accurate forecasting gives Placer County an edge when competing for state and federal funding. In addition, California state law requires TDMs to demonstrate the basis for charging transportation impact fees on land development, to make sure that developers pay their fair share to improve the roads, transit, and public facilities that they will be impacting. The TDM will help to estimate who is responsible for costs associated with the needed improvements, what local land developers can be charged via impact fee, and what percentage of funding still needs to be acquired by other means, such as grant funding or a local transportation sales tax.

Schedule

The Final 2023 Nexus Study can be found here. It was adopted by the SPRTA Board on January 24, 2024.