Plan Bay Area 2050
Plan Bay Area 2050 is a long-range plan created by the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) in collaboration with Bay Area residents, partner agencies and nonprofit organizations. It lays out a $1.4 trillion vision for a more equitable and resilient future for Bay Area residents and was adopted by the ABAG Executive Board and the MTC on October 21, 2021. The unanimous votes by both boards capped a nearly four-year process guided by the voices of more than 20,000 Bay Area residents.
Plan Bay Area 2050 is now the nine-county Bay Area's official long-range plan across the key elements of housing, economic development, transportation and environmental resilience. The heart of Plan Bay Area 2050 is 35 strategies — public policies or investments that can be implemented in the Bay Area by cities, counties, the region or the state.
Plan Bay Area 2050 serves as the Bay Area’s Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), as required by federal regulations, and the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS), as required by state statute.
The adopted final Plan Bay Area 2050, as well as the Environmental Impact Report, Implementation Plan and all supplemental reports, can be found online at planbayarea.org/finalplan2050.
Guiding Principles
Plan Bay Area 2050 aims to make the region more affordable, connected, diverse, healthy and vibrant – these are the five Guiding Principles of the plan.
They were developed in conjunction with members of the public, partners and elected officials.
Advancing Equity
Each strategy in Plan Bay Area 2050 has been crafted to advance equity, with particular attention paid to the needs of people living in Equity Priority Communities.
Increasing Resilience
The plan builds upon the foundation of the Horizon initiative, which explored “What if…” scenarios — called Futures — for the region’s future. Each Future included different possibilities for the economy, population growth, the severity of natural hazards and adoption rates for telecommuting or autonomous vehicles.
The 35 strategies included in Plan Bay Area 2050 proved effective across multiple Futures, or respond to challenges that remained unaddressed after the conclusion of the Horizon effort.
A Shared Vision
Plan Bay Area 2050 reflects a shared vision that cannot be enacted by any single agency or organization.
Only through partnership with local, state and federal governments — as well as with advocacy groups, the private sector and Bay Area residents — will the plan’s vision of creating a Bay Area that is a better place to live and work come to life.
Strategies for the Future
Plan Bay Area 2050 focuses on the interrelated elements of housing, the economy, transportation and the environment.
The heart of the plan is 35 strategies that take a comprehensive look at the Bay Area’s challenges, and identify actions to be taken in the coming years, including:
- Envisioning a next-generation network of frequent-service transit lines
- Tackling the regional housing crisis
- Creating pathways to the middle class through inclusive economic growth
- Pioneering a suite of protections against sea level rise
What’s Next?
The final Implementation Plan for Plan Bay Area 2050 transitions the Plan Bay Area 2050 process from long-range planning to near-term action. It details approximately 80 concrete actions that ABAG, MTC and our partners can take to advance the plan’s 35 strategies over a five-year period. The Implementation Plan is included as Chapter 7 of Plan Bay Area 2050.
Consistency with Plan Bay Area 2050
A growing number of environmental streamlining provisions and state funding programs require consistency with an applicable Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS). In the San Francisco Bay Area, the applicable SCS is Plan Bay Area 2050. Visit the MTC website to learn more about the available resources that are intended for use in evaluating development projects and funding applications for consistency with Plan Bay Area 2050.