1 BURLINGAME CITY COUNCIL
Approved Minutes
City Council Study Session on September 2, 2025
1. CALL TO ORDER
A duly noticed meeting of the Burlingame City Council was held on the above date in person and via Zoom at 6:02 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL
MEMBERS PRESENT: Brownrigg, Colson, Pappajohn, Stevenson, Thayer MEMBERS ABSENT: None
3. REQUEST FOR AB 2449 REMOTE PARTICIPATION
There were no requests.
4. STUDY SESSION
a. STUDY SESSION – VISION ZERO PROJECT UPDATE
DPW Murtuza explained that the City hired Fehr and Peers to assist with the creation of a Vision Zero Action Plan. He introduced Fehr & Peers’ Principal Dana Weissman.
Ms. Weissman began by explaining that Burlingame’s Vision Zero Action Plan establishes the City’s goal of:
Reaching zero serious injury and fatal collisions on local roadways Reinforcing the City’s commitment to safer streets.
She noted that the purpose of the Vision Zero Action Plan is to prioritize projects and strategies the City can advance to help achieve this critical goal.
Ms. Weissman reviewed the three steps in creating a Vision Zero Action Plan:
1. Gather and analyze safety data and community input (winter to summer 2025)
2. Define safety projects and identify safety countermeasures (summer to fall 2025)
3. Prepare safety plan (fall 2025 to winter 2026)
2 Ms. Weissman reviewed the steps that staff and the consultants had accomplished:
Conducted extensive outreach and engagement efforts throughout the spring and early summer and reached a wide cross section of the Burlingame community, soliciting valuable input on people’s safety concerns and desires.
Undertook a robust data collection and analysis process and looked at collision trends, collision hot spots, and the factors that make a given location more prone to poor safety outcomes.
Ms. Weissman explained that during the summer, her firm conducted its first round of citywide outreach and engagement for the project. She stated that they focused on soliciting input on safety needs and desired outcomes. She reviewed the types of outreach conducted including:
Established a project website that has seen nearly 1,500 visits from 900 different people Hosted an online map-based survey that saw 650 contributions by 250 different people Hosted two pop-up events: one at the Fresh Market and one at Burlingame High School Posted public displays and flyers at Burlingame Main Library, the Community Center, and Easton Library
Promoted the online survey and events through various channels, including Burlingame eNews, Burlingame Elementary School District Newsletters, Live Play Burlingame, and City social media accounts
Facilitated two Community Advisory Committee meetings and two Task Force meetings
Ms. Weissman showed a map depicting the feedback the City received from the online map survey. She noted that the pins on the map show individual comments associated with specific travel modes and that most of the comments were in regard to the downtown areas of Broadway and Burlingame Avenue, El Camino Real, California Drive, and Hillside Drive. She reviewed the common themes from the feedback:
Safety for people walking and biking, especially at crossings Slowing vehicle speeds and improving driver visibility Need for enforcement and education
Specific location priorities such as schools, downtown, and El Camino Real
Ms. Weissman reviewed a bar chart depicting the number of injury collisions per year in Burlingame:
2020 – 86
2021 – 94
2022 – 112
2023 – 120
2024 – 145
She stated that on average, 86% of the collisions were minor injuries. She explained that 9% of the collisions resulted in fatalities or serious injuries, and these are the focus of Vision Zero.
Councilmember Colson asked about the number of injury collisions prior to the start of the pandemic. Ms.
Weissman replied that prior to the pandemic, the numbers were equal to today’s numbers.
3 Councilmember Pappajohn asked if they had data for this year. Ms. Weissman replied that the 2025 data is only provisional.
Ms. Weissman stated that they reviewed the who, when, why, and how of collisions to better understand the collision trends in Burlingame. She explained that it was determined that while people walking and biking are involved in 22% of all injury collisions, this group makes up over 50% of serious injuries and fatal collisions. She added that the data showed that collisions often happen in late afternoon when travel activity is high, but serious injury and fatal collisions peak late in the night. She noted that the top collision factors in Burlingame are unsafe speeds, right-of-way violations, improper turning, and driving under the influence.
Ms. Weissman stated that in collecting the data, they thought about where collisions occur in two ways:
Collision history – identify specific locations where high concentrations of collisions occurred in the past
Collision potential – identify locations across the city whose characteristics may make collisions more likely, regardless of whether or not that location has a history of collisions yet
Ms. Weissman stated that for collision history, they created a High Injury Network map that captured the 20% of City roadways on which 85% of serious injury and fatal collisions were recorded from 2020 to 2024.
She noted that a High Injury Network is a useful tool in safety analysis. She explained that it allows them to identify the subset of City roadways that experience the highest concentration of collisions. She added that the High Injury Network doesn’t include El Camino Real because it is owned and operated by Caltrans.
Ms. Weissman explained that for collision potential, they look at what locations may be more susceptible to collisions based on their characteristics such as:
Arterials
Signalized intersections
Areas around schools
Downtown commercial areas
Ms. Weissman stated that after reviewing the data, they looked at how to prioritize safety projects. She explained that they wanted to focus investment on the areas across Burlingame with the highest level of interest from the community and the highest safety need. She reviewed the three potential focus areas:
1. Corridors that were flagged because of their collision history and their collision potential
2. School Zones due to collision potential and input from the community and project stakeholders
3. Downtown Commercial Zones due to collision potential and input from the community and project stakeholders
Ms. Weissman discussed potential factors to consider when prioritizing safety projects:
Measured safety need
Community support
Geographic distribution
4 Quick wins versus long-term impact
Funding competitiveness
Upcoming project coordination
Programmatic strategies to complement infrastructure projects
Ms. Weissman reviewed next steps:
Continue to engage the public and stakeholders
Define and prioritize safety projects and programs
Develop conceptual layouts for a selection of priority projects Develop the Vision Zero Action Plan
Vice Mayor Brownrigg asked about how Peninsula Avenue is incorporated into the Vision Zero Action Plan as it is shared with the City of San Mateo. Ms. Weissman replied that Peninsula Avenue is included in the analysis.
DPW Murtuza stated that the City is coordinating with the City of San Mateo on safety projects for Peninsula Avenue including a potential $20 million grant.
Vice Mayor Brownrigg stated that while he understands that El Camino Real was not included in this analysis due to it being a State highway and the upcoming work, he asked that the consultants continue to ask the public for their opinions on El Camino Real. He noted that this information could be passed on to Caltrans.
Vice Mayor Brownrigg asked staff to present data to the Council in the future regarding how completed traffic calming initiatives have assisted with Vision Zero.
Councilmember Thayer asked if playgrounds and parks were considered as potential focus areas. Ms.
Weissman replied in the affirmative. She explained that the consultants didn’t hear as much about playgrounds and parks in the conversations with the communities. However, she noted that they have data about collisions around these areas and can include it if the Council would like it to be a focus area.
Councilmember Colson discussed the Broadway Grade Separation. She asked if there is a way to use this data in the future for grants. DPW Murtuza replied in the affirmative.
Mayor Stevenson opened the item up for public comment
Grace, an avid walker, discussed her concerns including: sign pollution on California Drive, bikes on sidewalks, sidewalk dining, and individuals complying with stop signs.
Manito Velasco voiced appreciation for the City painting daylight redzones and pedestrian flashing beacons and asked the City to continue rolling out improvements and not be slowed down by waiting to first complete the Vision Zero Plan.
5 Burlingame School District Superintendent Marla Silversmith thanked the City for their partnership. She discussed the District’s partnership with the Police Department in regard to schools’ reopening and bike to school days!
Mayor Stevenson closed public comment.
Vice Mayor Brownrigg discussed lowering speeds in the focus areas. He discussed AI-enabled stop signals, which have assisted other communities in decreasing collisions.
Councilmember Thayer asked that the City continue with traffic calming projects while working on Vision Zero. She explained that wherever the historical data is showing the City has issues, the City should prioritize these areas.
Councilmember Pappajohn concurred with her colleagues about decreasing speed. She discussed her time on the Vision Zero Committee and the engagement from community members.
Councilmember Colson talked about her week at Burning Man and talking with the CEO of Burning Man about their minimal amount of collisions on the playa. She noted that she believed this is because of the low speeds and the courtesy that individuals gives to each other.
Mayor Stevenson asked for continued public engagement as the City completes the Vision Zero Action Plan.
He noted the need to focus on school areas for traffic calming. He thanked the school districts for their assistance in this project. He voiced support for reducing speeds and further education to the public on bike and pedestrian safety.
The Council thanked staff and Ms. Weissman for their presentation.
5. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Stevenson adjourned the meeting at 7:04 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
/ s /
Meaghan Hassel-Shearer
City Clerk