CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
Meeting: July 9, 2024
Subject
Adoption of Vision Zero Action Plan.
Recommended Action
Adopt Resolution No. 24-xxxx, adopting the Cupertino Vision Zero Action Plan.
Reasons for Recommendation
Cupertino’s Vision Zero Action Plan (Plan) is an important step towards eliminating citywide multimodal traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Through this Plan, a goal is set to reduce fatalities and serious injuries to zero within the next 16 years.
Background
In 2022, the Transportation Division completed the development of a comprehensive Local Roadway Safety Plan (LRSP). The LRSP identifies transportation safety improvement needs throughout the City of Cupertino for all modes of transportation and for all ages and abilities to reduce fatal and severe injury collisions. The LRSP came to fruition through a decision-making process that relied on a data-driven collision analysis of local roadways, partnership with stakeholders, and public outreach. The result is a Plan containing a toolbox of countermeasures to address the safety patterns as well as proposed projects to improve safety at key locations.
Building on the guidance provided by the LRSP, Cupertino’s Vision Zero Action Plan advances to the next level the efforts to achieve transportation safety improvements by identifying strategies to eliminate all fatal and serious injury accidents and by setting achievable goals to do so. The Vision Zero concept originated in Europe and consists of an approach that recognizes that people are vulnerable and make mistakes, that deaths and serious injuries on the roadways are unacceptable, that redundancy is crucial and that responsibility for roadway safety is shared. Consequently, Vision Zero is a multi-disciplinary approach that considers roadway design, speeds, behaviors, technology, and policies to enhance safety.
In a manner similar to that taken with the LRSP, the development of the Vision Zero Plan began with a data-driven approach; however, rather than evaluating five years of collision data Vision Zero analyzed ten years, with a focus on fatalities and serious injuries. From the data, a network of high-injury intersections and corridors was identified, and a toolbox of countermeasures was developed to guide the implementation of safety projects. The countermeasures cover aspects of roadway design, pedestrian and bicycle safety, speed management, operations and signal timing, signage and marking, transit safety, as well as elements of education, public awareness, and enforcement.
The Plan identifies nine collision profiles that emphasize the trends observed in collisions resulting in fatalities or serious injuries. The profiles were developed through the analysis of collision data and relevant environmental factors. Each profile identifies a collision type that is considered a priority concern, and accompanying each profile are safety countermeasures drawn from the toolbox that is most applicable to the specific crash and location context. The nine collision profiles are 1) Pedestrians and bicyclists are most vulnerable; 2) Unsafe speeds; 3) Improved intersection safety for all; 4) Pedestrian code violation; 5) Majority of bicycle collisions are broadside collisions; 6) Teenagers biking near schools and parks; 7) Driving under the influence; 8) Bicycle collisions and automobile right-of-way violation; and 9) Collisions near transit stops.
The Vision Zero Plan aims to achieve the objective of reducing fatalities and serious injuries by recommending a focus of investment along eight key priority corridors and implementing a series of actions over the next several years. The priority corridors constitute the High Injury Network (HIN) and include Stevens Creek Boulevard, Homestead Road, McClellan Road, De Anza Boulevard, Stelling Road, Wolfe Road/Miller Avenue, Bollinger Road, and Blaney Avenue. The implementable actions are outlined as a set of steps to act as a pathway towards achieving Vision Zero, with each action assigned a specific timeline and a performance metric to gauge progress. Short-term actions can be executed within a two-year timeframe, while the more extensive long-term actions can be realized within a period of five to ten years. The implementation of the actions will necessitate a collaboration between City departments, the local community, and partner organizations. A comprehensive table of actions, including the safety strategy addressed, timeline, progress measure, key partners, and a qualitative determination of the resources needed to complete the action begins on page 83 of the Plan. Crucial to the success of the Vision Zero Plan is ongoing education and enforcement and, more critically, continuous data collection and analysis that will be performed in collaboration with a Task Force. The Task Force will consist of a stakeholder group that will use collaboration, data-driven strategies, and community engagement to ensure the goals of the Plan are achieved. The work of the Task Force will also inform the development of periodic future updates of the Plan, a necessary step to ensure that adjustments to implementable actions and strategies, identified through the course of ongoing data collection, analysis, and public engagement, necessary to achieve the Plan’s goals can be achieved.
Finally, the adoption of a Vision Zero Plan significantly strengthens the City’s application for safety-related transportation grant funding and is a requirement for some grant programs including the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Program administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Public Outreach
Extensive public outreach was performed to help inform the development of the Vision Zero Plan. This began with a community meeting held virtually on October 4, 2023, where the project was introduced, the principles and benefits of the Vision Zero Plan were described, collision analysis findings were presented, and feedback was solicited from the public on observed safety problem areas. This was followed by a second community meeting on January 23, where the countermeasures toolbox, collision profiles, action plan, vision zero programs, and next steps were presented and discussed, followed by an open discussion and a question-and-answer session. Additionally, one stakeholder meeting was held, consisting of City staff, Santa Clara County Sheriff and Fire Department staff, Cupertino Union School District and Fremont Union High School District staff, and members of the Cupertino Bicycle Pedestrian Commission. The purpose of the stakeholder meeting was to solicit feedback and present findings to our partners who may have knowledge and expertise in their specific areas of public service.
Throughout the Plan development process, City staff maintained an online project dashboard as a means to collect feedback from the community on a continuous basis, and a webpage was maintained at www.cupertino.org/visionzero to provide ongoing project updates. Information on how to access the dashboard and the website was provided at community meetings, which were widely advertised via the City’s social media accounts, email distributions, Safe Routes to School groups, Cupertino Scene articles, distributed flyers, and other means.
Bicycle Pedestrian Commission
The draft Vision Zero Policy and Action Plan was presented to the Cupertino Bicycle Pedestrian Commission at the regular meeting of March 20. At the meeting, staff received valuable feedback on the Plan, which was incorporated into a revised draft that was presented to the Commission at a Special Bicycle Pedestrian Commission meeting on June 13. The commission unanimously approved a motion to recommend that the City Council adopt the Vision Zero Plan, including some additional edits which have subsequently been incorporated into the Final Draft presented to Council for adoption.
Sustainability Impact
No sustainability impact.
Fiscal Impact
There is no fiscal impact resulting from the adoption of the Plan. The development of the Plan was achieved through a City Council allocation of $100,000, all of which has been expended to create the final draft being considered for adoption. Significant further revisions to the Plan would likely require a contract and budget amendment.
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
The proposed Vision Zero Action Plan is exempt from CEQA under CEQA Guidelines section 15162 (Feasibility and Planning Studies). _____________________________________
Prepared by: David Stillman, Transportation Manager
Reviewed by: Chad Mosley, Director of Public Works
Approved for Submission by: Pamela Wu, City Manager
Attachments:
A – Draft Resolution
B – Draft Vision Zero Action Plan