Does your property or development in the City of Alexandria, Virginia require a transportation management plan (TMP)? A TMP, Parking Management Plan (PMP), and multimodal transportation studies are required for many real estate projects in order to comply with City regulations.

The Wells + Associates TDM team has extensive experience helping properties and developments comply with TDM regulations by developing, implementing, coordinating, and monitoring and evaluating transportation management plans and TDM programs in Northern Virginia, notably in the City of Alexandria. We make life easier for property owners, developers, and property managers, so that they can focus on their businesses.

What Is a TMP, and What Is TDM?

As the City of Alexandria puts it: “Transportation Demand Management (TDM) is a set of strategies that influence travel behavior by mode, frequency, time, route or trip length to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips.” Or, to put it another way, TMPs and TDM programs ease the demand of the existing transportation infrastructure, reduce the use of single-occupancy vehicles (SOVs), and expand the transportation choices available to commuters and tenants at individual properties and within the City itself.

Aside from helping properties build more extensive and sustainable transportation networks through management of their transportation management plans, we help them comply with local regulations so they can focus on building and operating successful communities.

Does Your Development Require a TMP?

How do you know whether your new development or project needs to develop and implement a transportation management plan? The minimum thresholds for requiring a TMP are listed here by land use:

• Residential: 20 dwelling units or more
• Commercial: 10,000 square feet or more (includes office, retail, academic, and laboratory space)
• Hotel: 30 rooms or more

According to the City’s Transportation Management Plan Ordinance, standard TMP conditions are included in approvals for development special use permits (DSUPs) and may be modified through the existing process for updating standard conditions. It is important to note that this replaces the previous policy that was in effect until May 2023, under which developments were required to submit and seek separate approval of a TMP special use permit (TMP SUP).

Developments subject to the TMP Policy must pay a fee annually for 30 years, which can either be used to benefit their own property or be paid to the City (more on this later).

Developments may be able to receive a reduced TMP rate if they meet any of the following conditions:

• Develop within an Enhanced Transit Area – 15% fee reduction
• Make an eligible transportation improvement – Up to 25% fee reduction
• Pay full value of 30-year TMP payments up-front – 35% fee reduction
• Pay partial value of 30-year TMP payments up-front – 25% fee reduction
• Pay into City Managed TMP Fund – 5% fee reduction

As mentioned, under this policy your development has two options to implement and manage the TMP:

1. Self-Managed TMP: The TMP fees are set aside for your development to manage and directly benefit the people who will live, work, or visit your property.
2. City-Managed TMP: The TMP fees are paid to the City of Alexandria for the GO Alex fund. 50% of the fee is used for citywide transportation projects and operations and the other half is used for projects within the Small Area Plan surrounding your development.

Self-Managed TMPs

Self-managed TMPs invest in their own property and have the control and flexibility to manage their annual TMP fee contributions to make transportation improvements; provide residents, employees, or visitors with transportation passes or other incentives; promote transportation options through marketing or events; or make other purchases that will reduce the number of people driving solo to travel to/from the development.

Self-managed TMPs typically include more than 500,000 square feet of commercial space or more than 300 dwelling units. However, developments that don’t meet these criteria can self-manage if they:

• Provide details on how they will be able to run the program effectively (e.g., hire a consultant or dedicated staff)
• Demonstrate a good faith effort in coordinating with the City by responding to staff requests, providing semi-annual fund and progress updates, and/or meeting with the City semi-annually (or on another agreeable schedule)
• Meets mode split goals set and monitored by the City

It is important to think about how the TMP and related requirements will be carried out and who will be responsible for overseeing the program, as developments that do not meet targets over the course of three consecutive years may be required to turn funds over to the City of Alexandria.

TMP Coordinators for Developments in the City of Alexandria

The TMP team at Wells + Associates creates customized TMPs for property developments and, where possible, assists developments in identifying neighboring TMPs to partner with. Additionally, we act as the TMP Coordinator, working directly with the City of Alexandria’s Transportation Planning Division and GO Alex to ensure compliance with TMP/TDM regulations.

TMP Coordinator services include:

• Producing required reports, which detail and summarize TMP activities and funding,
• Developing, implementing, and tracking TMP activities and participation to maximize the effectiveness of strategies,
• Conducting annual surveys to capture tenant, resident, and employee transportation behavior, as required by the City, and
• Managing TMP funds, contributions, and administration.

A Transportation Management Program includes a variety of components to mitigate vehicular traffic. These include transit subsidies; incentives for using carpools, vanpools, shuttles, bikeshare, and carshare; and marketing and outreach efforts to promote non-vehicular modes of transportation. W+A has substantial experience in customizing multimodal programs such as these for real estate developments, each of which have unique profiles, audiences, and needs.

We invite you to learn more about our work in developing TMP and TDM plans for regulated communities in Northern Virginia. Feel free to reach out to us to learn how we can help you manage your regulatory obligations while improving the transportation choices in your community.

View our Transportation Demand Management Practice

Contact our City of Alexandria TMP Team