City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: INFORMATION
Lead Department: Transportation
Meeting Date: May 11, 2026
Report #:2603-6168
TITLE
Palo Alto Transportation Management Association 2025 Annual Report, 2027-29 Strategic Plan, and 2025 Commute Survey
RECOMMENDATION
No action is recommended; this is for information only.
The 2025 Annual Report, 2027-29 Strategic Plan, and 2025 Commute Survey by the Palo Alto Transportation Management Association are being transmitted for compliance with the contractual agreement.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City contracts with the Palo Alto Transportation Management Association (TMA) to implement programs to reduce single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips to and from Palo Alto. The funding agreement between the Palo Alto TMA and the City restricts the use of City funds to trip reduction programs and requires the TMA to report on the use of these funds. The attached Annual Report covers the 2025 calendar year, detailing how the City’s contribution was used to support SOV trip reduction, including the results of the Fall 2025 Commute Survey.
The attachment also includes the FY 2027-29 TMA Strategic Plan. The work of the TMA supports the City’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) Goals by working to reduce vehicle miles traveled and increasing the mode share for active transportation and transit. Additional program history can be found in the April 23, 2024, Finance Committee Staff Report.1 1 Finance Committee, April 23, 2024, Agenda Item #6; SR #2403-2761, https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=4692&meetingTemplateType=2&co mp iledMeetingDocumentId=9724
BACKGROUND
On September 16, 2013, City Council directed staff to explore the potential for a transportation demand management (TDM) plan to reduce dependence on solo driving and address traffic and parking concerns in the Downtown and California Avenue districts3 TMA formation was a key component of this approach. To this end, on August 11, 2014, City authorized a consulting contract that resulted in TMA-formation as a program of Silicon Valley Community Foundation in January 20164 Palo Alto TMA was subsequently incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity on February 12, 2018.
On November 13, 2017, Council adopted the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, which included policies and programs related to the TMA’s work to reduce single-occupant vehicle commute trips (see Table 1). These programs included expansion of PATMA programs from Downtown to California Avenue and other areas of the city (like Stanford Research Park), increased employer participation, and partnerships with Stanford University, to reduce parking and travel demand.
Table 1: Comprehensive Plan Policies and Programs related to PATMA Policy Program Description
T-1.1 Take a comprehensive approach to reducing single-occupant vehicle trips by involving those who live, work and shop in Palo Alto in developing strategies that make it easier and more convenient not to drive.
T-1.2 Collaborate with Palo Alto employers and business owners to develop, implement and expand comprehensive programs like the TMA to reduce single-occupant vehicle commute trips, including through incentives.
T1.2.1 Create a long-term education program to change the travel habits of residents, visitors, shoppers and workers by informing them about transportation alternatives, incentives, and impacts. Work with the PAUSD and other public and private interests, such as the Chamber of Commerce and Commuter Wallet partners, to develop and implement this program.
T1.2.4 Evaluate the performance of pilot programs implemented by the Palo Alto Transportation Management Association and pursue expansion from Downtown to California Avenue and other areas of the city when appropriate.
T1.2.6 Pursue full participation of Palo Alto employers in the TMA.
T-1.13 Encourage services that complement and enhance the transportation options available to help Palo Alto residents and employees make first/last mile connections and travel within the city for daily needs without using a single- occupancy vehicle, including shuttle, taxi and ridesharing services.
T-2.2 As part of the effort to reduce traffic congestion, seek ongoing funding and engage employers to operate and expand TMAs to address transportation and parking issues as appropriate in the City’s employment districts. 3 City Council, September 16, 2013, Agenda Item #12; SR #4087, https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=757&dbid=0&repo=PaloAlto&searchid=5783b38f- f4fb-425c-afda-dd1615e126cc
4 City Council, August 11, 2014; Agenda Item #4; SR #4766, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/43344 Table 1: Comprehensive Plan Policies and Programs related to PATMA Policy Program Description
T2.2.1 Work in partnership with the Palo Alto TMA and Stanford University to aggregate data and realize measurable reductions in single-occupant vehicle commuting to and from Downtown and in the Stanford Research Park.
T-5.5 Minimize the need for employees to park in and adjacent to commercial centers, employment districts and schools.
T7.1.1 Expand transportation opportunities for transit-dependent riders by supporting discounts for taxi fares, rideshare services and transit, by coordinating transit systems to be shared by multiple senior housing developments, by maintaining a database of volunteer drivers and other transit options.
Between 2016 and the present, Council has authorized funding agreements with PATMA to support TDM programs aimed at reducing vehicular trips and parking demand in Palo Alto’s commercial areas. During 2020, programs were adjusted to provide additional service for essential workers; and in 2021 programs were expanded from Downtown to the California Avenue Business District. Programs were also adjusted in response to changed user preferences and participation rates following the pandemic: Scoop and WAZE carpool programs were discontinued between 2021 and 2023, and the Bike Love incentive program was added in 2022.
The Bike Love program provides $5 per day (up to $600 per year) to new bicycle or e-scooter commuters in geofenced employment areas in the city. In partnership with Palo Alto-based non-profit Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange, PATMA also provides refurbished bikes at no cost to drivers who wish to begin bicycling to work in Palo Alto.
On September 11, 2023, Council approved the current three-year funding agreement with PATMA, which provided $242,000 in FY 2024 (with $25,000 to reduce SOV trips beyond the California Avenue and Downtown districts), $400,000 in FY 2025, and $400,000 in FY 2026. The FY 2025 and FY 2026 amounts include a new $10,000 Electric Bike/Scooter Pilot program from the City’s Utilities Department and a $200,000 budget to serve to workers citywide in addition to maintaining the same balance of $200,000 for services in the Downtown and California Avenue districts.
Funding levels, program types and outputs are summarized in Table 2. Outputs are summarized by calendar year and therefore summaries are not yet available for 2026, while funding is listed by fiscal year.
Table 2: Summary of PATMA Results, 2018-2025
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 # Parking Spaces
Freed Up** ~134 ~393 331 333 360 125 125 266 312 487
# Transit Pass
Participants 42 102 227 221 260 119 120 252 300 468
# Lyft Active Users
(3+/wk) 4 18 10 7 10 5 4 3 4 3
# Waze Active
Users start ~100 44 95 88 0.7 0.5 stop
#Scoop
Registrations 666 1,308
# Scoop Active
Users ~88 173 50 10 2 stop
# Bike Love Users
(3+/wk) start 11 8 16
# Bike Love Users
(1+/mo) 33 29 43
# Survey
Responses NA NA 496 1,471 N/A 551 511 738 885 920
FY agreement
amount ($k) 100 100 480 480 750 350 150 200 242 400 400 Council approval
or consideration
date
6/13/16
2/13/17
7 6/27/17 12/10/18
5/15 &
6/17/19
8 5/13 &
5/26/20 9 11/30/20 6/2021 6/2022 9/11/23
3/x/24 10
2/12 &
6/17/24
11 6/16/25
12 *Numbers for Q1 only due to pandemic
**Transit pass holders + Lyft users + Waze users + Scoop users + Bike Love 3+ users 7 City Council, June 13, 2016: Agenda Item #10; SR #6823, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/52687 8 Finance Committee, April 16, 2019; Agenda Item #4; SR #10198, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/70194, Presentation:
https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?t=63435.61&BlobID=70664 9 City Council, May 26, 2020; Informational Report; SR #11307, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?t=64175.41&BlobID=76770; City Council, May 26, 2020; Agenda Item #1; SR #11376; https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/76803, Action Minutes: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?t=48631.05&BlobID=77870 10 City Council, September 11, 2023; Agenda Item #7; SR #2308-1883; https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=2983&meetingTemplateType=2 11 City Council, February 12, 2024; Agenda Item #11; SR #2311-2233; https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=3638&meetingTemplateType=2&comp iledMeetingDocumentId=9079; City Council, June 17, 2024; Agenda Item #28; SR#2406-3140; https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=5334&meetingTemplateType=2&compile dMeetingDocumentId=10470
12 City Council, June 16, 2025; Agenda Item #23, SR #2503-4250; https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=6448&dbid=0&repo=PaloAlto
ANALYSIS
Regular reports are required under the TMA’s funding agreement with the City. In the past year, the TMA has reached new service milestones by providing commute support to over 500 workers. The TMA helped 471 low-income workers either via free transit passes or guaranteed rides home via an after-hours Lyft service. An additional 59 commuters participated in the Bike Love $5/day program. These programs reduced daily parking demand by almost 500 spaces in business districts.
To support new transit users, PATMA provides free Clipper Cards loaded with annual or monthly passes for Caltrain, VTA buses, SamTrans buses, and Dumbarton Transbay buses. The TMA receives free Caltrain GoPasses via Caltrain’s PassForward Program which provides over $1.5 million in transit pass value yearly to the TMA.
To support new bicyclists, PATMA promotes its Bike Love incentive app and provides free refurbished bicycles. A feature of the Bike Love app designed by mobile app developer Motion is the restriction that the $5 per day incentive (up to $600 per year) be spent at Palo Alto businesses, thereby re-circulating City funds into the local economy.
The attached Annual Report covers the 2025 calendar year, detailing how public funds were spent to support SOV trip reduction, including the results of the Fall 2025 Downtown Commute Survey. The attachment also includes the 2027-2029 TMA Strategic Plan which is required to be updated by the funding agreement.
The Annual Report highlights several accomplishments, noting that in 2025, the TMA:
Reduced close to 500 parking spaces not needed in commercial areas around Palo Alto Serves and markets to low wage service sector workers beyond Downtown and California Ave, such as along El Camino Real, at the Stanford Mall, in Midtown, and in South Palo Alto
Supports small businesses around the Caltrans El Camino Real repaving project by offering train and bus passes and refurbished bikes to workers who used to park on El Camino Real
The following insights gleaned from the 2025 Commute Survey point to additional mode shift opportunities among workers in Palo Alto.
Overall, the drive alone rate fell from 62% among respondents last year to 55% this year.
The highest drive alone rates are among government employees even though their drive alone rate fell from 72% in 2024 to 67% in 2025. (BayPass for benefitted City of Palo Alto workers became available mid-2025.)
72% of respondents live in cities served by a train or bus that runs to Palo Alto. Service sector workers tend to live closer to work and government workers tend to live farthest away.
136 respondents (14.7%) live less than five miles from work and are open to an active commute.
Total travel time or schedule is the overarching consideration when deciding how to commute. (Total travel time includes in-vehicle time plus access time and wait time, which is affected by service reliability or on-time performance.) 217 respondents (23.5%) said they needed more bike parking at work Barriers to a sustainable commute include perceptions about the timeliness of trains and buses, safety of stations and stops, safety of biking and scootering on roads with cars, and demands outside of work on their time.
These data point to the potential for mode shift among workers who live less than five miles from work or who can take one train or bus to work in Palo Alto.
Policy Implications
The City’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) includes two mobility goals that are directly supported by the work of the TMA:
Reduce total vehicle miles traveled 12% by 2030, compared to a 2019 baseline, by reducing commute vehicle miles traveled 20%, visitor vehicles miles traveled 10%, and resident vehicle miles traveled 6%
Increase the mode share for active transportation (walking, biking) and transit from 19% to 40% of local work trips by 2030
In addition, the transportation demand management (TDM) services provided by the TMA are consistent with Comprehensive Plan policies and programs as listed in Table 1.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
The current funding agreement is a three-year agreement expiring at the end of FY 2026 (June 30, 2026). As part of the FY 2026 Adopted Budget, a total of $400,000 was approved as the ongoing funding amount for the TMA from the University Avenue Parking Fund ($200,000) and the General Fund ($200,000).
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Monthly Palo Alto TMA Board of Directors meetings are open to the public and occur at 9 a.m. on the third Thursday of the month. Information about board meetings can be found at the Palo Alto TMA website: https://www.paloaltotma.org/
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Transmission of these reports is for informational purposes only and does not approve any specific project or funding. It can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility of a significant impact on the environment (State CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3)) and this item is exempt from CEQA review.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: 2025 Palo Alto TMA Annual Report, 2027-29 Strategic Plan, and 2025 Commute Survey
APPROVED BY:
Ria Hutabarat Lo, Chief Transportation Official