Berkeley Municipal Code Ch. 14.92 Trip Reduction Information Program

* Editor’s Note: The chapter was editorially renumbered from 14.24 to 14.92 during 1999 recodificaiton.

The purpose of this chapter is to educate people who commute into Berkeley about the transportation alternatives to driving alone and to decrease traffic and parking congestion and improve air quality by reducing the number of commute trips by automobile into Berkeley. (Ord. 6255-NS § 1 (part), 1994; Ord. 6152-NS § 1, 1992)

The Council finds that:

A. The use of alternatives to the single-occupant automobile is beneficial in reducing traffic congestion, excessive parking demand, and associated air pollution, noise, fuel use, vehicle wear and tear, and time losses and inconvenience, and thereby contributes to making the City of Berkeley a more attractive and healthful place to live, work, visit, and do business.

B. Informing commuters about their travel options and the impacts of their travel choices is a vital and necessary part of changing travel behavior. Such information provided through employers and their contractors is an effective and equitable way to encourage commuters to use alternatives to the single-occupant automobile.

C. Surveys of employees’ commute modes are needed by the City from time to time in order to develop effective trip reduction programs and transit systems.

D. Government Code 65089 (Prop. 111) requires the cities in each urbanized county to adopt and implement a trip reduction and travel demand management ordinance which meets the county’s Congestion Management Program requirements.

E. On December 16, 1992, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) adopted Regulation 13, Rule 1, Trip Reduction Requirements for Large Employers. The rule took effect in Alameda County on July 1, 1994. This rule applies to most Bay Area public and private employers of one hundred or more employees. In the City of Berkeley, the rule is being administered and enforced by the BAAQMD. It is in the interest of the City to exclude employers regulated by the BAAQMD from the trip-reduction-related responsibilities of this chapter so as to avoid duplicative regulation. (Ord. 6255-NS § 1 (part), 1994; Ord. 6152-NS § 2, 1992)

A. "City" means the City of Berkeley.

B. "Employee" means any person hired by an employer, including any part-time employee, temporary employee hired through an agency; or any independent contractor, partner, or joint venture participant; and who normally works at least twelve consecutive weeks per year.

C. "Employer" means any public, private, or nonprofit employer, which has a permanent worksite in the City of Berkeley. Several subsidiaries or units that occupy the same work site and report to one common governing board or governing entity or that function as one corporate unit are considered to be one employer. "Employer" shall not include contractors with no permanent place of business in the City and other businesses with no permanent worksite location in the City.

D. "Transportation alternatives" means walking, bicycling, taking transit, carpooling, vanpooling, and telecommuting.

E. "Worksite" means the place of employment, base of operation, or any work location in the City of Berkeley of an employee. It includes all of the employer’s buildings or facilities, including outdoor facilities. (Ord. 6255-NS § 1 (part), 1994; Ord. 6152-NS § 3, 1992)

All employers shall, upon the City’s request, provide the City with information about the number of employees who work at worksites located within the City. (Ord. 6255-NS § 1 (part), 1994; Ord. 6152-NS § 4, 1992)

A. Applicability--Fifty employees. The additional responsibilities imposed by this section shall apply to all employers who employ fifty or more employees at a single worksite within the City on July 1, 1994 or thereafter and who are not regulated by BAAQMD Regulation 13, Rule 1; provided however that such responsibilities shall cease upon the employer’s reduction of the workforce to below fifty employees, or upon the employer’s becoming subject to BAAQMD regulations regarding trip reduction.

B. Deadlines. Deadlines for complying with the requirements of this chapter shall be as specified in regulations promulgated by the City Manager.

C. Appointment of person with specified responsibilities. All employers subject to this section shall appoint an employee transportation coordinator (ETC), who shall be charged by the employer with the day-to-day responsibility of carrying out the employer’s duties under this chapter. The employee transportation coordinator shall be trained through a coordinator training course provided by or approved by the City, unless the appointed coordinator has served in such capacity for at least one year. The deadline by which the ETC shall be trained shall be specified in regulations promulgated by the City Manager. The City shall send a written notice of this deadline to the employer. The employer may contract out the ETC position to an individual or firm specifically for the purpose of fulfilling the employer’s responsibilities under this ordinance.

D. Dissemination of informational materials and annual report.

1. The City shall provide the employer with marketing and informational materials about transportation alternatives and the impact of single-occupant vehicles on air quality and congestion. Materials shall be provided by the City at least once per year. All materials provided to the employer are to be posted or distributed to all employees by the employer at those worksites of fifty or more employees. The City shall notify the employer of the deadline for distribution and posting in a written notice. The deadline will be calculated from the date that the employer receives such materials.

2. The City shall provide the employer with packets of basic transportation alternatives information that the employer shall distribute once to all employees at worksites of fifty or more employees. Thereafter, the employer shall distribute this packet to all new hires at worksites of fifty or more employees. The City shall notify the employer of the deadline for packet distribution in a written notice.

3. On an annual basis the employer shall report on the status of the previous year’s materials distribution on a form provided by the City. The City shall notify the employer of the deadline for submitting the form in a written notice.

E. Employee survey. Employers subject to this section shall administer surveys in the manner required by the City not more often than once per year. The survey form, instructions for administering the survey and survey processing and report generation shall be provided by the City. The City shall provide the employer written notice of the deadline for returning completed surveys.

F. Meetings. An employer’s employee transportation coordinator shall attend all trip reduction meetings held by the City. Such meetings shall be held not more often than three times per year for the purpose of updating employers on transportation alternatives and to distribute informational materials. (Ord. 6255-NS § 1 (part), 1994; Ord. 6174-NS §§ 1, 2, 1993; Ord. 6152-NS § 5, 1992)

Employers who are required to have a trip reduction program as a use permit condition or under a provision of a development agreement or other agreement with the City of Berkeley must continue to meet that requirement in addition to the provisions imposed on employers by this chapter. (Ord. 6152-NS § 6, 1992)

The City Manager is authorized to promulgate regulations and to take any and all other actions reasonable and necessary to enforce this chapter. (Ord. 6152-NS § 7, 1992)

A. Any employer violating or falling to comply with any of the requirements of this chapter shall be guilty of an infraction as set forth in Chapter 1.20 of the Berkeley Municipal Code.

B. Any employer who fails to comply with any of the requirements of Sections 14.92.040 or 14.92.050 of this chapter within ninety days of written notice of failure to comply shall be liable to the City for a civil penalty of one thousand dollars plus up to two hundred fifty dollars for each day or portion thereof that the employer is not in compliance, for a total amount up to ten thousand dollars, unless compelling circumstances including, but not limited to, the employer’s good faith efforts to comply, require a lesser amount. Penalties shall accrue commencing with the ninety-first day following notice.

C. The City Attorney may seek legal, injunctive, or other equitable relief to enforce this chapter.

D. The remedies and penalties provided in this section are cumulative and not exclusive. (Ord. 6152-NS § 8, 1992)

The City shall encourage any governmental entities that are exempt from the provisions of this chapter to provide their employees with information on commute alternatives. (Ord. 6152-NS § 9, 1992)

If any part or provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter, including the application of such part of provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby and shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, provisions of this chapter are severable. (Ord. 6152-NS § 10, 1992)

Traffic Ordinance Cross-Reference Table

This table provides users with the current disposition of the City of Berkeley Traffic Ordinance and all amending ordinances.

Thus, prior traffic ordinance Section 1.3 appears in this code as Section 14.04.040.

The prior traffic ordinance section information was derived from Ordinance 3262-NS, and all amending ordinances. Specific ordinance information can be found in the legislative history note following each section.