Research

Ravenswood Business District (RBD) TDM Comparables

For TDM, Bay Area Peninsula areas that are comparable to RBD have not achieved 40% Average Daily Trip (ADT) or Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) reduction. Comparables are located about three miles from Caltrain and require crossing Highway 101 to access Caltrain. These include:

• The mixed-use (office, residential, retail) area 2.3 miles from Caltrain around the Foster City Public Library, 1000 E Hillsdale Blvd.
• Pacific Shores Center - offices in the vicinity of 1300 Seaport Blvd, Redwood City, CA (3.1 miles from Caltrain)
• Offices in the vicinity of 505 Penobscot Dr, Redwood City (2.2 miles from Caltrain)
• Apartments in the vicinity of 950 Redwood Shores Pkwy, Redwood City (3.2 miles from Caltrain)
• Pacific Biosciences & employers in the vicinity of 1305 O'Brien Drive, Menlo Park - just west of RBD (3.6 miles from Caltrain). 

VMT provides an inexact comparative proxy for ADT. An analysis with the imperfect “beta version” of the Fehr & Peers California VMT Per Capita Tool shows that these five areas have high VMT per capita. These five places do not provide a template to follow to achieve 40% ADT reduction. The following theory may explain the Fehr & Peers tool results:

• Census Block Groups with office workers have high commute VMT per capita because these workers commute to far away single-family homes.
• Census Block Groups with retail and service workers have lower commute VMT because these workers commute from nearby apartments. The retail workers at The City’s Ravenswood 101 Shopping Center provide an example of lower commute VMT per capita.