MPO: San Francisco Bay Area
Responsible Agencies

ABAG and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) are responsible for implementing SB 375 in the Bay Area.

Both agencies are members of  the JPC, which also includes two other regional agencies:
The JPC coordinates the regional planning efforts of these four agencies.
The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) is the council of governments and designated regional planning agency representing the nine counties surrounding the San Francisco Bay (San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma) and 101 cities and towns within those counties. The ABAG region comprises 7,000 square miles and is the fifth most populous metropolitan area in the United States.

Among the Joint Policy Committee's (JPC's) current initiatives are focused growth, climate protection, and the development of a Sustainable Communities Strategy in accordance with SB 375. Prior to the passage of SB 375, ABAG and the JPC had already developed several policies and programs that align with the goals of SB 375 and will support its implementation.

For example, the JPC established a Bay Area Regional Agency Climate Protection Program, as well as the FOCUS program, which uses incentives to encourage the development of livable communities in areas served by transit. ABAG has also developed a Corridors program, which encourages increased coordination of land use and transportation planning along three major transportation corridors in the region: existing community zones that can accommodate infill development and increased housing densities. In addition, the MTC has a Transit-Oriented Development Policy, Transportation and Land Use Platform, and Transportation for Livable Communities program that includes a Housing Incentives Program. Click here for more information about the Bay Area’s regional policies and programs for focused growth.

ABAG focused its Spring 2009 General Assembly on the theme of “SB 375: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Land Use and Transportation Planning.” On September 18, 2009, the JPC adopted Policies for the Bay Area’s Implementation of Senate Bill 375, which sets forth regional policies that address each of the following responsibilities mandated by SB 375:
  1. Setting GHG-reduction targets.
  2. Modeling the relationship between transportation and land use.
  3. Preparing a Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) and an Alternative Planning Strategy.
  4. Achieving consistency with adjacent regions.
  5. Synchronizing and conforming the SCS and the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) with the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA).
  6. Providing CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) assistance.
  7. Aligning regional policies.


Partnership for Sustainable Communities

900 Fifth Avenue, Suite 201, San Rafael, CA  94901

415.453.2100 • fax: 415.453.4200 • email: admin@p4sc.org

Content copyright PSC. All rights reserved.