DIVISIONS PLANNING

What We Do
SBCAG has federal and state legislated responsibilities to provide regional and transportation planning.  Significant planning areas include the Regional Growth Forecast, Census Information, Regional Transportation Plan, and the Regional Housing Needs Allocation.        
Major Areas
Featured
Regional Planning
About Regional Planning

SBCAG has federal and state legislated responsibilities to provide a variety of planning activities relating to housing needs, census data collection and distribution, airport land use planning, and project coordination involving adjacent regional planning agencies.
GIS Regional Data Platform

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) has created this GIS data platform to make regional datasets accessible to member jurisdictions, partner agencies, and the general public. 
Regional Growth Forecast

This thirty-year forecast provides a consistent set of population, housing, employment, and land use forecasts for Santa Barbara County jurisdictions. The forecast is adopted by the SBCAG board and used in a variety of applications such as local General Plans, public service district forecasts, business development, transportation forecasts, and air quality planning. This forecast is based on the land use capacity of local general plans and takes input from all jurisdictions, the public, and the SBCAG board. The forecast is updated periodically as new demographic data, land use policies, and changes in growth assumptions warrant. 
Census Information

SBCAG is part of the statewide Census Affiliate Data Center network whose goal is to assist in the dissemination and analysis of census data. A variety of SBCAG publications and census data provide information of interest to the SBCAG board for decision-making. Census data is also used by local jurisdictions and agencies in their long range planning activities. Local businesses use census data to assess the demographic aspects of potential markets and non-profits use the information to understand their service population.
Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC)

As the ALUC, SBCAG is responsible for protecting public health, safety and welfare by ensuring that vacant lands in the vicinity of airports are planned and zoned for uses compatible with airport operations. 
Regional Housing Needs Allocation

The California Department of Housing & Community Development estimates the number of additional housing units needed to accommodate both existing and projected housing need for all income levels. This projection is given to each Association of Governments in the State to accommodate their share of statewide housing need. For Santa Barbara County, SBCAG is charged with developing the distribution of that projection for each individual jurisdiction to include in their Housing Elements. 
Transportation Network Resiliency Assessment

SBCAG received an Adaptation Planning grant from Caltrans to identify where the multi-modal transportation network is most vulnerable to climate change impacts. Staff will work with a consultant, local jurisdictions and community groups to determine potential solutions in these areas. These adaptation strategies will be incorporated into the next cycle of the Regional Transportation Plan-Sustainable-Community Strategy. 
Transportation Planning
About Transportation Planning

SBCAG is responsible for all regional transportation planning within Santa Barbara County, including identifying and funding major infrastructure improvements, determining transit needs, creating and updating bicycle and pedestrian master plans, determining the feasibility of and planning for enhancements to the passenger rail system, and developing and implementing ongoing efforts to reduce traffic congestion throughout the region.

SBCAG is designated by state and federal governments as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), the Local Transportation Authority (LTA), and the Regional Transportation Planning Agency (RTPA). Under these designations, SBCAG has responsibility for all regional transportation planning and programming activities.
Regional Transportation Plan
Sustainable Communities Strategy

This is a comprehensive, long-range transportation planning document. This minimum 20-year plan of regional transportation needs, goals, and projects guides public policy decisions regarding transportation expenditures and financing.

Click on the image to the right or the following link to learn more about the adopted Connected 2050 RTP-SCS.

Click here to learn more about the SBCAG's 2025 RTP-SCS update.

Updated Transit Priority Area maps and AB 2097 resources can be found on the Transit and Land Use StoryMap.
Transit Planning

The California Transportation Development Act (TDA), which provides two major sources of funding for public transportation, the Local Transportation Fund (LTF) and the State Transit Assistance (STA) fund, requires an annual assessment of regional transit needs prior to making any allocation of TDA funds for streets and roads projects. The annual Transit Needs Assessment identifies the transit needs of Santa Barbara County, analyzes the adequacy of existing public transportation services and analyzes the potential alternative public transportation services. A complete copy of the current report is available on the documents page of the SBCAG website, at the SBCAG office, or by calling SBCAG.    
Passenger Rail Planning

SBCAG continually works to assist in the provision of facilities to meet expanded passenger rail service to the county and to promote inter-modal connectivity of the transportation system. SBCAG is a member of the Los Angeles—San Diego—San Louis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency and advocates for improvements to the Union Pacific Rail line and Pacific Surfliner service operated by Amtrak. 
Santa Ynez Projects

SBCAG staff are currently working on two projects in the Santa Ynez Valley - the Santa Ynez Valley Traffic Circulation and Safety Study and the Santa Ynez River Trail Alignment Study. 
Active Transportation Planning (Bicycle & Pedestrian)

SBCAG staff work with our partners to plan for active transportation projects throughout the region.
Congestion Management Process (CMP)

The SBCAG region has been designated as a Transportation Management Area (TMA) under Federal law, which requires the development and implementation of a region-wide Congestion Management Process (CMP). The CMP is a comprehensive program designed to reduce auto-related congestion through capital improvements, travel demand management, and coordinated land use planning among all jurisdictions.
Travel Demand Modeling

SBCAG conducts travel demand modeling to satisfy a series of federal and state requirements and to assess the implications of future growth on the transportation system.  Travel demand modeling estimates the amount of travel on the transportation system and provides a computer simulation of travel on the roadway network based on a variety of socioeconomic data and travel patterns.  Models are used extensively at the local, regional, and state levels to project future traffic conditions.