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10 <br /> <br />6. Energy Element <br />This element was designed to reduce energy consumed in Santa Ana’s transportation <br />system, land use and development, increase energy efficiency, and work <br />collaboratively to increase public awareness of energy conservation needs and <br />practices. <br /> <br /> The City of Santa Ana constructed the equivalent of three and one half miles of <br />bikeways in 2021, encouraging “green” travel and energy conservation. Presently, <br />the Draft General Plan Update Mobility Element is proposing updates to the <br />citywide Bikeway Master Plan to support additional on-road and off-road bike <br />facilities. The City also continuous to pursue grant funding and the implementation <br />of bikeways to promote active, alternative modes of transportation for the <br />community. <br /> The City’s Community Development Agency presently assists in management of <br />the Downtown parking resources to serve business, residents and visitor needs. <br />These parking resources offer hundreds of public parking spaces within structures, <br />metered spaces, and surface parking lots. The Downtown’s parking resources will <br />are also tools to support transit through the OC Streetcar. The OC Streetcar is the <br />first modern streetcar project to be built in Orange County and will serve Santa <br />Ana’s historic and thriving downtown, which includes federal, state, and loca l <br />courthouses, government offices, colleges, an artists’ village and a thriving <br />restaurant scene. Expected to begin carrying passengers in 202 3, it will operate <br />along a 4.15-mile route that connects the Santa Ana Regional Transportation <br />Center (SARTC) and a new transit hub at Harbor Boulevard and Westminster <br />Avenue in Garden Grove. <br /> The City’s Public Works Agency continues to monitor Orange County <br />Transportation Authority’s (OCTA) Transit Master Plan and Long Range <br />Transportation Plan to promote maximum transit options for Santa Ana <br />stakeholders, and that supports Santa Ana’s vision for Transit Oriented <br />Development (TOD). <br /> In 2021, the City continued to pursue grant funding opportunities to implement <br />traffic signal synchronizations projects. These projects help to conserve fuel and <br />improve efficiency of the traveling motorists along various corridors by reducing <br />delays and maximizing throughput traffic. <br /> The City continues to review residential and mixed -use development proposals in <br />the District Center areas, such as the Transit Zoning Code, Metro East Overlay <br />Zone, and Harbor Corridor Mixed Use Specific Plan. As part of the General Plan <br />Update underway, the City has identified opportunity "Focus Areas" for potential <br />new housing and mixed-use sustainable development. The creation of additional <br />District Center and Urban Neighborhood land use designations are proposed. <br />https://www.santa-ana.org/general-plan/meetings. As of late 2021 over 2,200 <br />residential units were under construction in within mixed use District Center and <br />Urban Neighborhood area boundaries.