GreenTRIP projects take road not driven

When developer City Centric went before the Berkeley City Council for approval of its new apartment project, principals Ali Kashani and Mark Rhoades were pleasantly surprised to win unanimous approval.

Their proposal for the project, Parker Place, came armed with GreenTRIP certification, an endorsement no one had presented before in Berkeley.

Parker Place is one of five projects included in a pilot run of the certification program, which analyzes the transportation impact of a project and rewards developers for discouraging driving.

“The program is very visionary and made it easy for us to go through the process,” Kashani said. “GreenTRIP representatives came to every meeting we had with the City of Berkeley.”

GreenTRIP is beginning to gain traction among housing developers. It started out with the five-project pilot and just ended its first application period on Nov. 15.

Program director Ann Cheng said she expects the program to certify at least 10 projects in the next year. GreenTRIP is sponsored by TransForm, a Bay Area group that advocates public transportation and walkable communities.

The program gives developers points for adding features such as providing discounted transit passes, car sharing on premises and proximity to public transportation and bike lanes. Developers are also encouraged to separate the cost of parking from the cost per unit and to limit parking spaces.

The idea is to encourage residents to drive as little as possible and make it easy to not drive. Another goal is to help developers design their projects and secure entitlements.

In the case of Parker Place, the project is along a major artery, Shattuck Avenue, and is within a mile of two of BART stations.

The developers also agreed to provide two monthly AC Transit passes for each unit for 40 years and pay for the cost of one. The residents pays for the other pass. Each pass will be about $11 or $12, a significant discount from the regular price.

“A huge lesson learned during the pilot program is that there are developers who are willing to commit to the 40-year transit passes,” Cheng said.

The option also benefits transportation agencies, which can count on the revenue generated by long-term contracts.

Caltrain, for example, decided to open up its Go Pass option, which previously was only available to employers, to residential developments.

“We went to Caltrain and said, ‘We have a framework to plug your product into,’” Cheng said.

At the Ohlone in San Jose, developer Green Republic decided to absorb the cost of transit passes into the development’s costs, versus charging residents for a pass. With another project, the Crossings in San Leandro, developer Bridge Housing was able to add an additional 30 units of affordable housing instead of incorporating another level of parking.

GreenTRIP also provides specific data about traffic impacts and greenhouse gas emissions, which are often the source of opposition from neighbors during approvals.

“It’s very useful for decision makers to be able to see a development from a big-picture perspective,” Rhoades said.