Mobility Fee District

Many jurisdictions are changing the way they do business in urban areas, selecting a “pro-rata share district” approach to development application reviews in which mobility needs are considered districtwide and the responsibility for private sector involvement is defined based on proportional contributions to address districtwide needs rather than evaluating the impacts of each application independently. Often, the private sector responsibility takes the form of an applicant payment. The term “mobility fee” is an emerging term of art that describes this type of pro-rata share district. In simplest terms, Mobility Fee = (A/B) * C

A is the cost of transportation system improvements needed to accommodate the demand generated by expected land development

B is a measure of the demand generated by that expected land development

C is a policy decision regarding the balance of private-sector and public-sector responsibility in providing the improvements in item A.

This basic pro-rata share formula is quite simple, but the details of components A, B, and C vary substantially from place to place and need to be developed through a public process that considers the interests of all stakeholders.

Mobility Fee District Boundary