Abstract
Traffic Impact Guidelines (TIG) are used to establish a procedure to evaluate and mitigate the effect of new land development projects on the transportation circulation system, which consists of – but is not limited to – vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, and transit. The City of Vacaville required a new, official set of TIG that were consistent with the Traffic Mitigation Ordinance (TMO) and the General Plan Transportation Element (GPTE), and also complied with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and SB 743 guidelines. The City also needed to test whether these guidelines are suitable for future potential projects. The new set of TIG included key components such as criteria for developing a traffic impact study, scope of work, impact thresholds, and mitigation measures. The TIG were used to conduct a hypothetical Traffic Impact Study (TIS) of a high-turnover (sit-down) restaurant to examine the implementation steps and usefulness of the newly developed TIG. Initial goals were met, which include developing a new official TIG, making it concise and clear, and ensuring consistency in the traffic review process.