A Misguided Fix for Traffic Congestion in Silicon Valley

Palo Alto City Council is about to implement a strict cap limiting new office development to 50,000 square feet per year in the areas closest to the city’s two Caltrain stations, and the El Camino Real corridor with bus service every 10-15 minutes... City Council plans to vote on the cap, which would stay in effect for two years or until the City completes its Comprehensive Plan update in the works.

While one of the goals of the cap was to address parking and traffic challenges, a recent survey found that 45% of the 10,000 employees who work in downtown Palo Alto commute by transit and other non-car modes, even before the implementation of new programs to reduce driving downtown.

Meanwhile, Palo Alto is not imposing an office development cap on the Stanford Research Park. SRP is farther from transit, and currently has about an 80% car commute rate for its 23,000 employees. According to the staff report, SRP has seen more office growth than Palo Alto’s other jobs areas over the last 15 years. Palo Alto Council intends to eventually require SRP to reduce car trips -- this is feasible, but more challenging and costly, since it requires an extra shuttle ride to connect to Caltrain.