2024 Regional Transportation Plan /
Sustainable Communities Strategy

StanCOG’s 2026 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) is an update to the 2022 StanCOG RTP/SCS that was previously adopted, on August 17, 2022, by the StanCOG Policy Board and subsequently amended on September 18, 2024. The RTP will guide the development of the Regional and Federal Transportation Improvement Programs (RTIP and FTIP), as well as other transportation programming documents and plans throughout the Stanislaus County region. Specifically, the 2026 RTP/SCS will update the region’s goals and policies for meeting current and future mobility needs and identify programs, actions, and a revised plan of projects intended to address these needs consistent with adopted goals and policies. The 2026 RTP/SCS will address all transportation modes, including highways, streets and roads, transit, rail, bicycle and pedestrian, and aviation, as well as transportation demand management measures and intelligent transportation systems to the horizon year of 2049.

The 2026 RTP will include an update to the SCS, which is required by California Senate Bill 375, the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008 (SB 375). As the MPO for Stanislaus County, StanCOG is required to prepare an SCS that demonstrates how GHG reduction targets will be met through integrated land use, housing, and transportation planning. If the SCS does not meet GHG emission reduction targets, an Alternative Planning Strategy (APS) may be prepared to show how the GHG emission targets would be achieved through means outside of the fiscally constrained RTP. In 2022, StanCOG identified a preferred growth scenario that met the goals of SB 375.

NOP Scoping Meeting Newspaper Advertisement

Can be viewed here

Draft Goals and Objectives

Goal	Objectives
Mobility & Accessibility	Improve the ability of people and goods to move between desired locations and provide a variety of modal and mobility options.
Social Equity	Promote equitable access to opportunities by ensuring all populations share in the benefits of transportation improvements and are provided a range of transportation and housing choices.
Economic & Community Vitality	Foster job creation, business attraction, retention, and expansion by improving quality of life. Facilitate economic development and opportunities through infrastructure investments that support goods movement within and through the region, including but not limited to the county’s strategic freight corridors.
Sustainable Development Pattern	Provide a mix of land uses and compact development patterns and encourage infill development to preserve agricultural land and natural resources.
Environmental Quality	Consider environmental impacts when making transportation investments and minimize impacts on clean air and natural resources. Support infrastructure investments that facilitate vehicle electrification and the provision of electrification infrastructure in public and private parking facilities and structures.
Safety & Health	Operate and maintain the transportation system to ensure public safety and security and improve the health of residents by improving air quality and providing more transportation options.
System Preservation	Maintain the transportation system in a state of good repair and protect the region’s investment by maximizing use of existing transportation facilities.
Smart Infrastructure	Coordinate, monitor, and integrate planning and programming for intelligent transportation systems (ITS), smart infrastructure, demand-responsive transportation, and automated vehicles.
Resiliency & Reliability	Harden infrastructure to resist, absorb, recover from, or successfully adapt to adversity or a change in conditions including climate change.
Congestion Management	Maintain or reduce congestion as compared to current levels.
Project Delivery	Efficiently use available transportation funding to expedite project delivery of transportation improvements within the region for the benefit of residents of Stanislaus County and the traveling public in general.

---

Project Schedule