The Regional Council of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) unanimously approved the release of its Draft 2012-2035 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS) for public review and comment.

The draft presents a long-term strategic investment plan for transportation and housing through 2035. The SCAG region includes six counties, 191 cities and more than 18 million residents.

SCAG President Pam O'Connor noted that, "the draft 2012 RTP/SCS is the first time that transportation and community planning are working together to invest in a future that's economically prosperous and a great place for people to raise their families."

The draft is the culmination of outreach over two years that gathered input from a wide-range of communities: business, transportation, environment, labor, non-profit, health and residents.

The proposed plan meets the requirements outlined in Senate Bill 375 and defined by the California Air Resources Board for a reduction in Green House Gas Emissions (GHG) of 8% by 2020 and 16% by 2035.

SCAG will release the technical appendices to the draft plan on December 20, and the Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) on December 30. All documents are available for review online, including video and audio from the summit.

Beginning in January 2012, SCAG will conduct workshops in all six counties before the 55-day public comment period ends on February 14. The Regional Council is scheduled to certify the Final PEIR and adopt the 2012-2035 RTP/SCS on April 4.