Note: Other Truxel Bridge posts are available under category ‘Truxel Bridge‘.

The city has made a claim that adding motor vehicles to the Truxel Bridge will reduce VMT (vehicle miles traveled) in the city. On the Truxel Bridge Concept and Feasibility Study page and the two-page flier, these statements are made: “Currently, there is a lack of direct multi-modal crossings over the American River, which discourages alternative modes of travel besides driving, therefore resulting in higher greenhouse gas emissions, higher vehicle miles traveled (VMT) due to longer trips, inefficient routes for transit services, and reduced public health and air quality.”; “Reducing VMT resulting in lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by providing a shorter, more direct route between communities on either side of the American River.“; “…no reasonable options for pedestrians and bicycles resulting in more vehicle trips, higher greenhouse gas emissions and higher vehicle miles traveled (VMT)…“; “This alignment was selected following an exhaustive alternative analysis with the goal of serving all modes to reduce VMT, air pollutant, and GHG emissions…“; and “Reducing VMT resulting in lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by providing a shorter, more direct route between communities on either side of the American River.“.

It is well known and admitted by all reputable sources that adding motor vehicle capacity induces more trips and more VMT. The argument being made by the city, though they don’t really make this clear, is that by shortening trips between Natomas and downtown, VMT will be reduced. This is an interesting argument, which might be true, but the city has provided absolutely no data to support this claim.

Currently a trip between Truxel Road and West El Camino Blvd in South Natomas, and downtown Sacramento at J Street and 7th Street is 3.4 miles. If Truxel Bridge were constructed, the distance would be about 2.3 miles (estimated). Does this savings of 1.1 miles per trip make up for the induced trips and VMT? This is a typical short trip, though longer trips could certainly be mapped, and the longer the trip, the less VMT savings as a percentage.

UC Davis National Center for Sustainable Transportation has made available the California Induced Travel Calculator. A strong caveat, first. This calculator was meant to calculate induced VMT when lane miles are added to an existing facility, it was not meant to analyze projects that fill connectivity gaps. The short distance of the bridge, from Richards Blvd to Garden Hwy, is only 0.75 miles, so the calculator would greatly underestimate the impact, but what is does estimate is 2.2M VMT per year. The results, assuming the bridge is equivalent to a Caltrans class 3 facility (major arterial) includes the statement In 2019, Sacramento County had 1713.3 lane miles of Caltrans-managed class 2 and 3 facilities on which 6.6 billion million vehicle miles are travelled per year. Again, this is somewhat apples and oranges, but it is the best approximation available to us.

STAR does not accept the City of Sacramento claim of reduced VMT unless the city provides an actual traffic study that clearly indicates that shorter trips more than make up for the induced travel. This was intended to be a transit/walking/bicycling bridge, and adding motor vehicles will induce more trips and more VMT. To claim otherwise requires data.

• Truxel Bridge