L.A. Metro Board approves tree policy for projects
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro) Board of Directors approved the agency’s first tree policy to help preserve and grow L.A. County’s urban tree canopy, which will help protect L.A. Metro customers from extreme heat and improve air quality.
The tree policy is the first of its kind among transit agencies across the country to clarify and standardize L.A. Metro’s practices for protecting the urban tree canopy throughout its transit construction program. It also establishes the agency’s commitment to a sustainable tree replacement strategy when tree removal is deemed unavoidable to build L.A. Metro projects.
“I thought that it was time to get a tree policy on the books so we can assure neighborhoods that we are not only protecting our urban canopy, but adding to it,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Director Janice Hahn, who authored the motion that led to this policy’s creation and adoption. “This policy will mean cleaner air, more shade for pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders and more walkable, livable and beautiful neighborhoods.”
Trees are highly beneficial to the environment, and they can help reduce health and safety impacts on transit riders. L.A. County’s urban tree canopy helps improve air quality, manage stormwater, reduce urban heat, and provide shade, carbon storage, and a habitat for birds and other pollinators.
L.A. Metro will also seek ways to use trees to provide shade at rail and bus stations, right-of-way, transit centers and at Metro maintenance and administrative facilities. The agency will encourage and support partnerships that expand urban canopy on transit corridors.
The policy also requires a minimum tree replacement ratio of 2:1 (or 4:1 if the tree is considered a heritage tree), planting California-native or other drought-tolerant trees and collaborating with regional partners, local agencies and communities during the planning and design of capital projects.
In 2020, the Metro Board adopted the Metro Sustainability Strategic Plan, which includes commitments to increasing runoff infiltration, capturing capacity for stormwater and reducing nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions in this decade.
An L.A. County Climate Vulnerability Assessment found that by 2050 nearly 2.2 million people will be residing in areas with exposure to extreme heat and many of them are transit riders. Exposure to heat exacerbates pre-existing health conditions and increases risk of death.
