Supplemental Reports — Cupertino City Council, July 9, 2024

CC 07-09-2024
#3
Vision Zero Action Plan
Supplemental Report

CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
SUPPLEMENTAL 1
Meeting: July 9, 2024

Agenda Item #3

Subject
Adoption of Vision Zero Action Plan.

Recommended Action
Adopt Resolution No. 24-xxxx, adopting the Cupertino Vision Zero Action Plan.

Background:

Staff’s responses to questions received from councilmember are shown in italics.

Q1: Staff report states "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." But I don't see a summary of the modifications made to the original draft and then revised draft. Please provide a summary and redlined drafts to show the changes. (Chao)
Staff response: No redlined drafts were created. A table of the requested changes by the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission at and following the March 28 and June 13 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission meetings are attached at Attachments C and D, respectively.

Q2: The goal of reducing fatalities to zero is essential. However, vehicular traffic is a mode of transportation that many people rely on for their livelihood, either due to their own limited mobility or due to the distance to travel to their jobs. How does the Vision Zero Plan balance the need of sufficient vehicular traffic capacity and the safety for all? (Chao) Staff response: Vision Zero is not specific to any mode of transportation and the Plan does not endorse a move away from vehicular travel. The plan focuses on concepts that will enhance safety and serve all modes of transportation.

Q3: Many residents are concerned about the proposed lane reduction on Bollinger Road. They want safety, but they also do not wish to sacrifice one vehicle lane. Is there any specific suggetion on lane reduction on any section of the roads, bedies Bollinger Road? (Chao)
Staff response: No, nor is there a specific recommendation for lane reductions on Bollinger Road.

Q4: Is the lane reduction for Bollinger Road one of the proposals in this Vision Zero plan? From the plan, I am confused since the improvements proposed for Bollinger Road in the plan only proposed reasonable safety improvements such as buffered bike lanes. But the plan also says Alternative A from the Feasibility Study is "secured." I would just like to get a clarification on that. (Chao)
Staff response: The Plan says that funding for the Bollinger Road study has been secured, it does not state that funding is for Alternative A. The Vision Zero plan is not endorsing a specific solution for Bollinger Road; it is merely providing information that the study to evaluate alternatives is proceeding. No alternative has been selected or endorsed for implementation at this time.

Q5: Staff report states "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." Who will be on the task force? How often will they meet? Will the meeting be public? Will meeting agenda and minutes be available? How often an update will be provided to the public and the Council? (Chao)
Staff response: As stated on page 84, 93 and 94 of the Plan, the task force will include Department of Public Works, Community Development, School Districts, County Sheriff and Fire Department, Bicycle Pedestrian Commission. Updates will be provided annually to Council. Further details about the operation of the Task Force are to be determined at a later time when is the task force is convened.

Q6: The plan did not give an estimate of the implementation cost, which I usually find in Pedestrain/Bike plab. What's the estimated annual cost for data collection and analysis and maps, as suggested on page 28? Would that be done in house? (Chao)
Staff response: The Vision Zero Plan does not include cost estimates for the concepts contained within it. The FY24-25 proposed Active Transportation Plan will provide a more in-depth analysis of projects, including cost estimates. Much of the data collection can be done in-house.

Q7: From the proposed Work Plan, we would have new education and enforcement programs. Would we expect budget proposal for these items in budget update? Since we have adopted the FY24-25 budget, what programs are planned for the FY24-25? Any budget adjustment to make? (Chao) Staff response: Many programs can be wrapped into existing City workflows such as the City’s Safe Routes to School program. Budget proposals may be needed for others. These will be determined following Council approval of the Plan and development of the Task Force. No budget adjustments are currently being proposed.

Q8: Page 107 pointed out some proposed general plan updates, would we expect an amendment proposed for the general plan? (Chao) Staff response: The amendment could happen as needed in the future. Staff anticipates that these changes would be made during the next significant general plan update.

Q8A: The Land Use chapter and the Mobility Element chapter were recently updated for the Housing Element update. Did that update include the proposed ones from the Vision Zero plan? (Chao)
Staff response: No, since the Vision Zero Plan or the recommended language contained within it has not yet been approved or adopted by the City Council.

Q9: Page 95, some Transportation Technologies are recommended. Some likely make sense, but some might be costly to achieve. I would like to know whether the IT department, the City Engineer, or TICC has vetted those recommendations? Their feedback? (Chao)
Staff response: No, these recommendations have not been vetted through IT or the TICC. The City Engineer has been involved throughout the process. The intent is that the recommendations in the Vision Zero Plan provide a foundation, and the recommendations will be evaluated for feasibility of implementation once the plan is adopted by Council. It is not expected that all Vision Plan recommendations necessarily be implemented; the Plan is a toolbox of measures and programs to consider implementing if/when feasible given resources, budget or other constraints.

Q10: Are we committing to those recommendations made in the Vision Action Plan if the Council adopts the plan as a whole on July 9, 2024? (Chao) Staff response: See response to Q9 above.

Attachments Provided with Original Staff Report:

A. Draft Resolution
B. Draft Vision Zero Action Plan
Attachments Provided with Supplemental 1:

C. Comments Received Following March 28, 2024 BPC Meeting D. Comments Received Following June 13, 2024 BPC Meeting

# Comments City Response
1 Use the actual car speed across the City as KPI to measure the effectiveness of the plan Reduction in car speed alone is not a measure of the Plan's effectiveness
2 Inclusion of Miller Ave (until Bollinger) and Blaney Ave to the corridors Blaney and Miller are included on the HIN corridor.

Ranked as K and O respectively as shown in Figure 12 and included in the recommended project list.
3 Remove the "toolbox" altogether The toolbox is an integral part of the Plan to provide guidance in selecting strategies
4 Regarding the ongoing projects: provide checkmarks with more granular assessment R= Recommended (no city plans), F= feasibility/concept funded, D=design funded, C=construction funded with an indication of the coverage (e.g. which section of which corridor is covered by the aforementioned checkmarks).

Project phases are constantly evolving. The Plan is
intended to be a guide. Individual project statuses can be found in other documents such as the City's CIP dashboard. 5 Add speed reduction measures to all corridors Added to Action Items in theVision Zero Task Force:

Strategies and Assessment section, including Monitoring Speed Limits with continuous and regular Speed Surveys as per AB43 (A.8). Unsafe Speeding is also listed as a Collision Profile and a list of speed safety-related countermeasures are listed in the toolbox.
6 Define a plan with target timeframe for the City to pass a complete streets ordinance City currently has a Complete Streets Policy. An ordinance will be enacted with the upcoming Active Transportation Plan as part of the City Work Program
7 Add quick build protected bike lanes (bollards) wherever possible (ex.: buffered bike lanes) - across the City, including, but not limited to the corridors described in the Vision Zero plan Added to Enhancement Street Layout & Management
Section of Action Plan as B.3 - Quick Build Demonstration Projects or Tactical Urbanism, and added protected
bollards as a countermeasure
8 Restrict right turn on red and add pedestrian refuge islands to all major intersections with high pedestrian or cyclist traffic on the corridors
No Right on Red and Pedestrian Refuge are included in our countermeasure toolbox. We have also listed an Action
strategy - the Vulnerable Road User section of the Action plan proposes to prioritize completing projects with
regards to turning vehicles at intersections - Turning Vehicles (D3
). RTOR restrictions need to be evaluated on a
case-by-case basis. These can cause congestion and
frustration, resulting in a reduction in safety, if applied indiscriminantly.
9 The Title of the document should be Vision Zero Policy & Action Plan. The world Policy is missing from the Title page and in the Letter from the City. Make this consistent throughout the document.

The document has been updated to read - Vision Zero
Action Plan to be consistent with other cities
10 Letter from the City: The goal for achieving Vision Zero for Cupertino is set to 2040 (16 years). Recommend to set the Vision Zero goal for 2035 (or ~12 years).

Remains - 2040. While a worthy goal, this may not be
achievable with budgetary or resource constraints.

Important to set a realistic goal
11 Vision statement last page: Fix typo Zero Deaths and Safe System. Incorrectly spelled as "Dafe" system Corrected 12 Page 3: The statement (The call out) "Over 65% of Cupertino population needlessly die every year..." this statement is kind of misleading at the first read, I understand that you want to highlight about overall US numbers and put Cupertino population in perspective. However, I would recommend to consider rephrasing this statement.

Rephrased to read : Over 38,000 Americans die on
roadways in the U.S. each year, equivalent to 65% of
Cupertino's population
13 Define KSI before the first use of this acronym. Currently it is defined 20 pages later. Added to where it first appears in the document in the Introduction Chapter of the report
14 Plans and Policies chapter: Currently various plans and policies are listed in this chapter without any narrative or context as why these are listed here and how these are related to Vision Zero Policy. Provide the context and explain how these are related to Vision Zero with respect to the City of Cupertino. Otherwise, these could be moved to an Appendix the end and provide any references in the body of text where needed.

Added an introductory section for this chapter
15 The chapters need to be organized as two sections first Cupertino Vision Zero Policy that describes the Policy clearly. The second section Cupertino Vision Zero Action Plan should clearly articulation how we plan to accomplish the the policy goals. Currently this is not coming out clearly for the reader. For example, some of the chapters in the policy (for e.g. recommended projects) looks, like should be part of the Action plan. May be some chapters are just informational/references and does not belong to either policy or action plan, in which case those chapters could be moved to an appendix and those could be referenced appropriately from the body text in Policy or Action plan sections.

Plan reorganized to clarify sections
16 We have chapters on Tools (box) and profiles. However, it is not clearly articulated how the City intends to accomplish the Vision Zero goal in 15 years. The separate section on Vision Zero Action Plan should start by highlighting the action that the City intends to take to accomplish the City's Vision Zero goal. Then get into different chapters describing such actions. Currently there are list of chapters with different kind of information without clear articulation of the actions that the City needs to take.

We have provided short, mid and long-term action items in the Action Plan that give a timeframe
17 In Recommended projects, I guess this part of the Vision Zero Action Plan to bring the KSI goals on high injury corridors by certain time frame. If so, this should be clearly stated at the beginning of the chapter as to why these projects are recommended, and what are expected outcomes. The goals and expected outcomes should be defined, so the Vision Zero task force can benchmark the projects after implementation to evaluate (before and after) if those expected outcomes were accomplished due to those investments. If not they can recommend course corrections.

Paragraph has been added before the recommended
projects.

Vision Zero & Action Plan Draft Report Comments
# Comments City Response
Vision Zero & Action Plan Draft Report Comments
18 In the Action Plan chapter. List down at a high-level summary of all the actions that the City Intents to take to accomplish Vision Zero Goal. Then get into list of recommended projects and expected outcomes as one of the chapters.

Currently this reads as if the Action plan is all about infrastructure improvements on high injury corridors. However, the Action plan should be much more comprehensive that includes 5 Es.

Action Plan includes recommendations related to all E's. 19 Quick Build program. One of the actions in the action plan should include Quick build program, some of the Vision Zero cities are following this approach with constrained budget and restricted timeline to accomplish Vision Zero. Hence recommend to include this in the action plan.

Added to B.3 of the Action Plan as Quick Build
Demonstration or Tactical Urbanism
20 Schools & other critical areas in the City that need attention. In addition to improving the safety on High injury corridors, the City of Cupertino VZ Action plan should also include improving safety around targeted School zones as part of Vision zero. This is important as the community to feel safe for children walking and biking to school.

Included as implementable actions D.6 and D.8 in the
Action Plan. Also addressed as a general statement to
maintain a Safe Routes to School program. Specific
measures are outside the scope of the current effort and should be left to the SR2S program to define.
21 Part 2 of the above comment is applying specific safety improvement/recommendations to critical areas such as near DeAnza college or near shopping areas, and some of the busy residential areas near large/mega projects or closer to freeway entrances. Mitigation measures could include speed management, improving intersection signaling, applying technology to improve safety, better visibility at cross walks near intersections, etc., All these countermeasures have been included in the
toolbox, collision profile, and the Action Plan. We have also covered technology in the Transportation Technology
chapter of the report. Vision Zero is intended to focus on High KSI corridors and intersections, not subjectively
defined critical areas. This comment is better addressed through ATP development
22 VZ Task Force. It is critical to establish a VZ task force with stakeholders across as noted in A.1. This needs more explanation on the role and importance of the task force. Why VZ cities are forming such task force to monitor the VZ program, review the collected data periodically, evaluate the outcomes of implementations, and make recommendations for course correction to accomplish the goals.

Task force workplan, goals and actions clarified
23 As part of the VZ Action plan, Summarize/articulate the Goals clearly, provide measurable metrics, and indented timeline to accomplish the stated goals.

We have provided action items with a defined timeframe
and performance measure which can be used as metrics to evaluate progress
24 We can also look at the neighboring Cities like Fremont that have been successful in implementing VZ to take the learnings from them. We can also invite staff from one or two cities about their key learnings to speak at the next BPC meeting in May. This would help bringing the community along on the Vision.

Noted. Plans from adjacent cities have been researched. 25 Blaney Ave and Bubb Ave should be considered as key corridors due to the high volume of students who commute there to Lawson, Eaton, Collins, Lincoln, Kennedy, Monta Vista.

Blaney and Bubb are included on the HIN corridor. Ranked as K and H respectively as shown in Figure 12. Areas in the immediate vicinity of schools will be addressed in the Safe Routes to School Program
26 Strongly encourage that we revisit lowering speed limits. Added to Action Items in theVision Zero Task Force:

Added to Enhancement Street Layout & Management
Section of Action Plan as B.3 - Quick Build Demonstration Projects or Tactical Urbanism
29 Data collection / reporting: encourage more methods for community members to report problem areas that need to be addressed. Technology / data solutions should still respect people's digital privacy and not be used to surveil people in an oppressive or discriminatory manner.

Added to Vision Zero Program: Strategies and Assessment Section of Action Plan under the Data Collection and
Program Evaluation Section as Community-Based Safety
Reporting System/Tool (A.10)
30 For promoting transit: encourage transit-oriented infrastructure such as transit islands and bulbouts to minimize the need for buses to pull in and out of traffic. Additionally, advocate for VTA and related jurisdictions to implement an ordinance for vehicles to yield to buses merging back into traffic (see British Columbia Section 169.1). Additionally, adding transit improvements will generally increase appetite for the public to take it; increasing transit ridership would lead to a virtuous cycle that enables us to invest even more into growing a robust transit network.

Included in the transit safety section of the Toolbox, and included in the Action Plan under the Cultivating a Positive Road User Behavior - Providing Alternatives to Driving
Section called Incentive & Prioritize Transit Use (C.6) 31 Related to transit: I oppose the inclusion of explicit support for personal rapid transit (PRT) and self driving cars as a solution. This is contradictory to climate goals as it does not take cars off the road and will continue to increase our overall energy and material consumption. Beyond that, from a transportation safety perspective, having numerous independently moving vehicles introduces more points of failure into the transportation system, which increases risk of KSIs. Put plainly, if we do end up having self driving cars on the road, any malfunction in the system - whether an individual car or even the entire network - can lead to a cascade of crashes. We should be encouraging mass transit (buses, trains, light rail, etc.) that reduce the total number of vehicles on the road to reduce overall likelihood of crashes / incidents happening. If we do include mention of PRT or self driving cars, I strongly ask that we include a caveat that public, mass transit be prioritized over individualized, personal transportation solutions.

Noted. We have included language in the Partnership
section of the report that pertains to Collaborating with transit agencies and how it could benefit Vision Zero
# Comments City Response
Vision Zero & Action Plan Draft Report Comments
32 Speed Limit Reduction—At a macro level I believe the plan needs to utilize speed limit reduction and speed limit enforcement as tools to achieve the Vision Zero goal. Seventy plus percent of Cupertino’s KSIs from 2011 to 2012 have occurred on 7 top High Injury Corridors. Currently, all 7 corridors have the same two speed safety improvements:
• Recommendation for Dynamic/Variable Speed Warning Signs • Pavement friction improvement using High Friction Surface Treatment (HFST) I don’t believe these recommendations are nearly sufficient to reduce speeds. I think what is required are speed limit reductions along with appropriate enforcement mechanisms such as automated speed enforcement and high visibility enforcement. There should be a “speed limit reduction” tool included in the speed management toolbox, which should be utilized on these corridors and elsewhere in the city as deemed necessary. These tools low cost and effective.

European countries implementing Vision Zero programs have had substantial reductions in fatalities in the range of 50 percent. In the United States, the Vision Zero programs have had limited to no success. One significant difference is that European countries have adopted widespread speed reduction programs. Speed limit reductions in the United States are controversial.

However, the guiding principles that are presented early in the plan include the two regarding speed and safety (highlight added). I believe these two principles form the foundation of a solid Vision Zero plan and should be followed

Added to Action Items in theVision Zero Task Force:

Strategies and Assessment section, including Monitoring Speed Limits with continuous and regular Speed Surveys as per AB43 (A.8). Unsafe Speeding is also listed as a
Collision Profile and a list of speed limit reduction and speed safety-related countermeasures are listed in the
toolbox and Action Plan. The City regularly conducts
speed studies along its corridors to lower speed limits, specifically in areas that may be prone to traffic safety concerns.
33 Expansion of Wolf Road HIC Corridor to Include Miller Road —Wolf and Miller Roads should be analyzed as one corridor. Particular focus should be on the segment of Miller Road from Stevens Creek Blvd to Calle de Barcelona. This segment, which has two lanes each way, has no bike lane and relies on sharrows in the right car lane. The current speed limit is 35 mph. I would recommend removal of parking and installation of a bike lane along with a reduction in the speed limit.

The study area has been extended to include Miller Road 34 Provide Recommended Approach To Reduce KSIs Outside the Top 7 HICs— The plan does not provide any recommended methodology for reducing KSIs in the remainder of the city outside of the 7 HICs. To achieve Vision Zero the plan should provide solid recommendations as to how this could be achieved. One approach is to introduce the “Twenty is plenty” program in the plan. Neighborhoods should be allowed to adopt a 20mph speed limit in their neighborhoods. Europe has a similar program, but the speed limit is 30 km/hour (19 mph).

Countermeasure toolbox and Action Plan strategies are
intended to be applied citywide to reduce KSI's.
35 Bollard Installation—"Bicyclist Safety" toolbox should include a separate icon for installation of plastic bollards. The "protected bikeways" icon must not include these because the cost and complexity are rated as high--bollards are not expensive by comparison.

Countermeasure added to the Bicycle Safety Toolbox
36 Recommended Projects
Overall the recommended projects do not list any innovative improvements, and tend to be non-specific. The analysis of each road corridor does not dive into the root causes of the accidents at a particular location, but rather recommends standard remedies in a superficial manner. The advice given in the report is like being told to provide first aid if you find someone injured. It is true, but it is not actionable.

The countermeasure toolbox is intended to be applied to the recommended projects as appropriate, considering the locations, trends and types of crashes documented for each location. More detailed improvement recommendations
will be addressed in the Active Transportation Plan.
37 Eliminate check marks, be more specific about locations Many of the recommended improvements for these projects show a check mark (✓) which indicates that this improvement is in process. Unfortunately, this is frequently not true or misleading. Not only often are these improvements unapproved concepts, but many of those are only for segments of the road, not even in the areas where the majority of the KSIs occurred. The recommended improvements in the Recommended Projects need to be more specific about what stage a proposed improvement is in, on what stretch of the road it is planned, and where no improvements have been considered yet. Eliminate the check marks.

The information on planned road improvements is available publicly (or is available from city transportation staff) and should be included in the report. I personally found the information on the county Homestead Road project with a simple google search and found exactly where the Class IV lanes (indicated by a check mark in this study that they were in progress for the road) where going to be on Homestead. They are only planned for a short stretch in two places on Homestead. A large percentage of the KSI’s are on Homestead at the DeAnza intersection—where the Class IV bike lanes are not planned.

Further, there is no reason not to include at what stage these improvements are. There is a big difference between an improvement that is in the concept stage—with many approvals and funding to pass before construction—and one that is already in construction. Again, this information is easily available publicly and should be included in the report.

Project phases are constantly evolving. The Plan is
intended to be a guide. Individual project statuses can be found in other documents such as the City's CIP dashboard, or project-specific websites as noted in the comment.
38 Miller Avenue should be a part of the Wolfe Road Recommended Project One of the recommended projects is for Wolfe Road, but ignores that Wolfe Road becomes Miller Avenue without interruption, a four lane road which continues through Cupertino past Stevens Creek Boulevard to Bollinger. If the KSIs for Miller were combined with Wolfe they would be to the same level as they were for North and South Stelling which is a parallel stretch of the same length. Miller Avenue needs to be added to the Wolfe Road Recommended Project.

Done
39 Lack of significant Speed Reducing improvements on Recommended Projects The recommended improvements do not encourage speed reducing measures on roads despite their prevalence as the cause of the KSIs. There are many other methods not considered, including making changes to lane configuration, traffic calming measures, lowered speed limits with automatic speed enforcement, raised intersections, changes in road texture, and narrowing lanes. None of these are listed in the recommendations except high friction pavement, which is most effective only on curves, and speed monitoring signs. There’s no mention of a city-wide ordinance to reduce speeds. The recommendations for speed reducing measures should be updated and enhanced before approval.

Added to Action Items in theVision Zero Task Force:

Strategies and Assessment section, including Monitoring Speed Limits with continuous and regular Speed Surveys as per AB43 (A.8). Unsafe Speeding is also listed as a
Collision Profile and a list of speed limit reduction and speed safety-related countermeasures are listed in the
toolbox and Action Plan. The City regularly conducts
speed studies along its corridors to lower speed limits, specifically in areas that may be prone to traffic safety concerns.

# Comments City Response
Vision Zero & Action Plan Draft Report Comments
40 The list of Recommended Projects are on obvious high volume corridors, and do not address the 30% of KSIs elsewhere in the city
The list of Recommended Projects do not address other areas which show KSIs than the obvious high volume streets.

These high volume streets have already been identified as areas to address in the 2016 Bike Plan, the 2018 Ped Plan, and last year's LRSP. Some of the places where KSIs occurred elsewhere are obviously closely linked geographically and could be grouped by use, most likely by students or on a regular commute path. An analysis of how the 30% other KSIs could be linked and what improvements could be made should be part of the report.

Countermeasure toolbox and Action Plan strategies are
intended to be applied citywide to reduce KSI's.
41 Lack of any analysis on high-accident intersections.

Intersections are where pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists face the most risk, as shown by the KSI data here in Cupertino and across the U.S. Specific intersections such as DeAnza/Homestead, DeAnza/Stevens Creek, and Blaney/Stevens Creek should have their own analyses. The recommended intersection changes (listed under each corridor project) in the report are non specific. For example, below in Figure 1 is a sample of how Fremont is changing one of its intersections:

None of these improvements which will make a significant improvement to safety are mentioned in the report for the corridors, including tighter turning curves, elevated protected bikeways, connections to Class I trails, wider paths for pedestrians to wait, pedestrian refuge islands (not shown here) or frontage roads with connector paths. A report that is planned to reduce deaths and KSIs for all transportation users should be a reasonable blueprint for how to do that at our intersections.

We have identified pedestrians and bicyclists as being most vulnerable and intersections being unsafe as one of our top collision profiles. Appropriate countermeasures for the same are listed for each of the profiles. The high-injury intersections have been identified along the corridors as well. All the countermeasures listed are included in the Toolbox and the Active Transportation Plan will detail the recommendations for individual intersections and
corridors, which is beyond the scope of the current effort. 42 Quick build fixes
The report does not consider ideas that could be implemented quickly, such as bollards where there are already buffered bike lanes or in front of schools, or reducing speed limits and adding inexpensive drop-in infrastructure to support them.

Added to Enhancement Street Layout & Management
Section of Action Plan as B.3 - Quick Build Demonstration Projects or Tactical Urbanism
43 Recommended General Plan Updates
The report uses boilerplate encouragement (used for all cities’ Vision Zero plans) instead of making specific recommendations for Cupertino that would be useful to reduce our KSI’s. Some examples of this are:
• Add an ordinance, like San Jose, that whenever a street is ‘touched’ for paving or other improvements, it is evaluated for Complete Streets best practices. Easy and inexpensive items are implemented easily, such as painted/buffered bike lanes, bollards, etc. Concepts are made for further improvements. • Add a speed reduction ordinance city-wide for major thoroughfares, places where speeding is prevalent, and near schools and senior residential facilities. There are traffic calming measures that can naturally enforce this. • Create a comprehensive Bicycle-Pedestrian Plan or Complete Streets Plan for the city. The ones we have are out of date, and have conflicting levels of priorities. If this had been done already, then there would not be such a push to approve the Vision Zero plan in its current state.
• Find a way to report accidents other than via the police, such as through a city-sponsored app. Make it easy for residents to use. (One idea is to have the Cupertino Hackathon develop this.) This would provide a reasonable way to track progress in improvements quickly, instead of waiting for another 10 years of data.

Guidance for General Plan updates has been included.

Speed-reduction measures are listed in the toolbox. The City current has a Complete Streets policy and resolution, and an ordinance will be proposed with the Active
Transportation Plan. Development of an Active
Transportation Plan and a community-based accident
reporting system has been included in the Action Plan.
44 Other issues
There are many other issues with the report. I mention two here that are particularly concerning.

Countermeasures Toolbox
A major concern is the countermeasures toolbox and its ratings. The ratings seem arbitrary, especially efficacy, and at times unrelated to the latest studies or costs. No data is shown to demonstrate the ratings are accurate. One example is the efficacy rating of three blocks shown below in fig 2.

The efficacy of a countermeasure is based on the expected safety benefits, determined through research and industry standards. Ratings are intended as a general guide only A two -stage bicycle turn box and a training manual is rated as highly as protected bike lanes. Many cyclists do not even understand how to use a two-stage bicycle turn box. To claim these three items have the same efficacy does not seem reasonable or likely.

The cost ratings also do not match real-world use. One example how some projects can be combined (going from a buffered bike lane to a protected bike lane can be very reasonable, depending on the intersection treatment) or the use of drop-in items such as speed tables that require no concrete work. There’s no discussion of what is a one-time cost and what (like Safe Routes to School) requires ongoing expenses.

The efficacy of a countermeasure is based on the expected safety benefits, determined through research and industry standards. Ratings are intended as a general guide only

# Comments City Response
Vision Zero & Action Plan Draft Report Comments
Student Safety
A last concern is that student safety seems to be given short shrift. Most of the corridors in the recommended projects are avoided if at all possible by students, and only used if not. DeAnza, other than the crossing at Mariani, doesn’t have student use at all. There’s only two recommendations in all the projects for students: high visibility crosswalks, and traffic safety classes. This seems inadequate considering these are our most vulnerable residents, and one of them (high visibility crosswalks) seem to be already in most of these locations.

Teenagers biking around schools and parks have been
identified as a top collision profile in the Report. A detailed list of projects around schools would be identified in the Safe Routes To School Program.
45 Please remember that not everyone can ride bicycles and walk.

My husband, Jonathan has multiple sclerosis and is very disabled.

Due to the disability, he needs a ride to go to any appointments including medical appointments in a car.

Excessively long wait time at traffic lights, when there are no cars, no pedestrians, can cause undue delays to get to medical appointments.

Please set up sensors on the roads, so when there are no cars and no pedestrians, traffic lights should turn green.

Also, it is important to make sure that bicyclists and pedestrians adhere to traffic laws and safety. We frequently see bicyclists and pedestrians ignoring basic traffic rules and safety.

So it is not only cars go fast, but very often bicyclists going excessively fast and refused to slow down, let alone stop at the crosswalks and intersections.

Noted
46 I would like the City to seek grant funds for pedestrian under-crossings for the Stevens Creek Trail at the vehicular bridges at McClellan Rd and Stevens Creek Boulevard. These are currently extremely dangerous routes for school kids going to Kennedy Middle School and Monta Vista High School and they could be made safe with under-crossings.

Will be covered in ATP/Bike Plan
47 Comments are provided in the pdf. Please see the attached pdf named "Draft Vision Zero Action Plan_Tiffany Hudson_2024.04.02" to the email.

Addressed and Incorporated in the report as appropriate Page no. in VZ draft 2 From (in VZ draft 2) To
Speed Mitigating
Measures
62-77
All Recommended Projects
(Add in potential toolbox items) Under Speed Safety Improvements for each corridor add the toolbox items "Speed Limit Reduction-AB43", "Turn
Calming Program", and "Automated Speed Safety
Enforcement"
62-63 Stevens Creek Blvd. and
70-71 Stelling Road
(Add in potential toolbox items) Under Speed Safety Improvements add the toolbox item "Reduced Speed School Zone"
66-67
Blaney Avenue
(Add in potential toolbox items) Under Speed Safety Improvements add the toolbox items "Reduced Speed School Zone" and "Speed Cushions,
Speed Humps and Tables" .
15 (para 3 & 4), 16 (para 3) and
109 (para 1)
"desired operating speeds" [update language] "optimized safe and context-sensitive operating speed for all users"
15 (para 3 & 4), 16 (para 3) and
109 (para 1)
(Add in AB43 guidance) [ADD] "Reevaluate the speed limits on major streets in business and residential areas and other stretches
identified as “safety corridors” by applying the guidelines outlined in AB43."
High Injury
Intersections
62-63 Stevens Blvd. Intersections,
68-69 De Anza Blvd. Intersections,
70-71 Stelling Road Intersections,
72-73 Wolfe/Miller Intersections,
74-75 Bollinger Intersections
(Add in potential toolbox items) Add the toolbox items “Pedestrian Refuge Islands”, “No Right Turn on Red”, and “Leading Pedestrian Interval”.

High Injury
Network
Infrastructure
Implementable
Actions
86 (column 3) "Implement cost- effective safety
enhancements, encompassing the
installation of new road markings, signage,
and minor adjustments to signals." [add
additional items]
"Implement cost- effective safety enhancements, such as the installation of new road markings, signage, plastic bollards, drop-in speed tables and minor adjustments to signals."
Miller/Wolfe
Recommended
Project
72-73 "Wolfe Road serves as a crucial north-south
arterial. This four...Miller Avenue is a north-
south major collector..." [combine into one
corridor and make correction]
"Wolfe Road and Miller Avenue are a continuous north-
south corridor. Wolfe Road serves as a crucial north-south arterial with a four-lane and six-lane divided roadway. It incorporates various safety measures, including green-
painted bike lanes and high-visibility crosswalks at some intersections. Miller Avenue is a four-lane divided
roadway with no bike lanes and on-street parking in the portion north of Calle de Barcelona, becoming a four-lane undivided roadway with Class II bike lanes and on-street parking to the south of Calle de Barcelona. The speed limit on the corridor is 35 mph. From 2012 to 2021, a total of 108 collisions were reported on this corridor. Among these, 6 collisions were classified as KSI collisions. The leading causes of these fatal and severe injuries were identified as unsafe speeding, driving/riding on the wrong side of the road, improper turning, automobile right-of-way violation, and a DUI."
Stelling
Recommended
Project
70-71 "Stelling Road functions as a north-south
collector, with the segment between
Homestead Road and Stevens Creek Blvd.
serving as a two-lane and a four-lane major
collector with buffered Class II bike lanes,
and a speed limit of 30 mph. The southern
part transforms into a minor collector,
characterized by a two-lane undivided
roadway with center turn lanes at major
intersections and buffer-separated Class II
bike lanes on both sides, maintaining a
speed limit of 30 mph. Between 2012 and
2021, a total of 76 injury collisions were
reported, including 7 KSI collisions. Key
contributors to these KSI incidents were
improper turning, pedestrian right-of-way
violations, and pedestrian code violations."
" (corrections for lanes and speed limit)
"Stelling Road functions as a north-south collector, with the segment between Homestead Road and Stevens Creek
Blvd. serving as a two-lane and a four-lane major
collector, with the southern part transforming into a minor collector, characterized by a two-lane undivided roadway with center turn lanes at major intersections. The corridor has buffered Class II bike lanes on both sides north of McClellan Road, and a combination of buffered and
unbuffered south of McClellan Road. The speed limit is 30 mph north of Alves Drive, and 35mph south of Alves
Drive. Between 2012 and 2021, a total of 76 injury
collisions were reported, including 7 KSI collisions. Key contributors to these KSI incidents were improper turning, pedestrian right-of-way violations, and pedestrian code violations."
Toolbox Ratings 34 (Protected bikeways- Low-cost
option with plastic stubs or
striping)
"Protected bikeways- Low-cost option with
plastic stubs or striping" [make item specific]
Change to "Protected bikeways with plastic bollards or
similar"

34 (Two-stage Turn Box) (Update efficacy) Lower efficacy to 2 [not used by vast majority of cyclists]

36 (Leading Pedestrian Interval) (Update efficacy) Lower efficacy to 1 [efficacy very different if used without no RTOR]
Automated
Vehicles
96 (last set of bullet points) “Getting people and goods and services to their ultimate destination requires a fine-
grained approach in the urban landscape.

Where these modes and services can be
automated to minimize the risk of mistakes
results in a safer environment. This can be
accomplished through:”
“Getting people and goods and services to their ultimate destination requires a fine-grained approach in the urban landscape. Automated modes and services have the
potential to minimize the risk of mistakes resulting in a safer environment. Technology and actions include:”

96 (last set of bullet points) " Autonomous Vehicles, Micro mobility, Drones "
and
"Continue to work with tech companies and
organizations to pioneer autonomous
vehicle testing and adoption to improve
safety" [update for clarity]
Eliminate the word "Drones".
"■ Working with tech companies and organizations to
pioneer autonomous vehicle testing and adoption to
improve safety while protecting resident privacy.
[ADD] ■ Pursuing vehicle automation and micro mobility
adoption as a complement to rather than in replacement of improved public transportation and active transportation, with the goals of reduced VMT and risk of collisions."
Vision Zero Task
Force
94 (add item) 7. Improve speed data quality
Action: Create annual report from speed-monitoring
devices and any vehicle speed study reports on key
corridors in the city.

Outcome: Reliable data for speed of vehicles on key
corridors.

Aligning Existing
Improvements
with Vision Zero
15, bottom left paragraph (A correction: two sentences are repeated verbatim in the paragraph)
Eliminate repetition starting with the word "Instead, the..." Resolution iii “Provide for ongoing evaluation and
performance…”
“Establish a Vision Zero Task Force to provide for ongoing evaluation and performance…”
What is a Vision
Zero Action Plan
ii “A Vision Zero document typically
encompasses a comprehensive strategy
aimed at eliminating all traffic fatalities and
severe injuries while promoting safe,
healthy, and equitable mobility for all road
users. The specific contents of a Vision Zero
document can vary depending on the
jurisdiction and the goals of the initiative,
but here are some common elements often
included:”
“A Vision Zero document typically encompasses a
comprehensive strategy aimed at eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while promoting safe, healthy, and equitable mobility for all road users. Cupertino’s Vision Zero document aligns with these goals, and
includes the following elements:”
Acknowledgments I “City of Cupertino Bicycle Pedestrian Commission
Ilango Ganga
John Zhao
Herve Marcy
Joel Wolf
Grace John”
“City of Cupertino Bicycle Pedestrian Commission
Ilango Ganga
John Zhao
Herve Marcy
Joel Wolf
Grace John
Jack Carter
Gerhard Eschelbeck
Erik Lindskog”

CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
SUPPLEMENTAL 1
Meeting: July 9, 2024

Agenda Item #4

Subject
Implementation of an on-street two-way Class IV bike lane on Vista Drive and Forest Avenue (Alternative 3) along the Lawson Middle School frontage and prohibition of parking along the west side of Vista Drive between Forest Avenue and Merritt Drive for the accommodation of Class IV bicycle lanes and adoption of an Ordinance Municipal Code Table 11.24.150, relating to prohibition of parking along certain streets.

Recommended Action
(1) Authorize the implementation of an on-street two-way Class IV bikeway on the west side of Vista Drive between Forest Avenue and Merritt Drive and the north side of Forest Avenue between Vista Drive (west) and Vista Drive (east) and proceed with preparation of final design.
(2) Conduct the first reading of Ordinance 24-XXX, “An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Cupertino amending Table 11.24.150 of the Cupertino Municipal Code Relating to Prohibition of Parking along certain streets.”

Background:

Staff’s responses to questions received from councilmember are shown in italics.

Q1: It seems odd to cater bikepath to the location of bike care. One common question people ask: "Has alternative location for the bike cage been considered? Where?" (Chao)
Staff response: The City has no jurisdiction over school district property or the location of the bike racks. Concerns were raised during the study that relocation of the bike racks would increase the likelihood of thefts and reduce the usage due to racks potentially being further from the classrooms. Additionally, the school district was not amenable to relocating the bike racks at this time.

Q2: Staff report states: "The Lawson Middle School Bikeway Project (Project) was initiated as a result of the School Walk Audit Implementation Project." Could you clarify when the Walk Audit was done? Where one can find the Walk Aduit for Lawson Bikeway and the original plan proposed at the time? This way one can look at the project with the context of other improvements already done for Lawson Bikepath. (Chao)
Staff response: The original walk audits were done in 2016/17. The bikeway was not included at that time. The walk audit project list was revisited and amended in 2019, and an on-site bikeway was included. Following this, options were explored by City staff, Lawson School representatives, CUSD, and the Parent Teacher Association, and an off-campus alignment was recommended. The walk audit can be found here:
https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/departments/public-works/transportation- mobility/safe-routes-2-school/walk-audit-reports

Q3: Could you please include a link to the Safe Pedestrian/Bike Routes to Lawson? How would the new bike path fit into the Safe /Pedestrian Bike Routes? (Chao)
Staff response: The Suggested Route to School map can be found here:
https://www.cupertino.org/home/showpublisheddocument/34485/6384653709605700

00. The bikeway is consistent with this map.

Q4: Is there any suggested drop-off/pick-up routes for Lawson? Any change to the suggested drop-off/pick-up routes with the proposed bikeway? (Chao Staff response: The drop-off map can be found
here:
https://www.cupertino.org/home/showpublisheddocument/15187/63637973825 5100000. No changes are proposed.

Q5: It seems the last Community Meeting on the project April 2023, over a year ago. Have the Lawsom familiies been notified of the 7/9 Council meeting to consider the proposed bikepath? Through which method? Could you include a copy of the communication to ensure that the people who will be impacted by the project are well informed of the proposed bikeway? (Chao) Staff response: Letters were mailed to all residents and owners within several blocks of the proposed project. A copy of the letter is included as Attachment D.

Q6: What improvements are planned or already implemented for the intersections in the north and south entracees to the two-way bikewayto guide bikes from normal one-way bikepath to the 2-way bikeway on Vista? (Chao) Staff response: Improvements would be implemented with the project and include enhanced green bike crossing markings and signage.

Q7:

Q7A: There are driveways along the two-way bikeway. What safety measures are there so the bikes will slow down approaching driveways? (Chao) Staff response: The driveway crossings will be highlighted with green bikeway markings and warning signage will be provided to drivers exiting the driveways. Additional signage or striping can be added if needed.

Q7B: Due to the wider width of the two-way driveway, would the visibility of drivers be impacted? (I suppose not, since the width is about the same as parked cars. I'd like to double check.) (Chao)

Staff response: Visibility will not be impacted; as you note, visibility should be improved due to elimination of parked cars.

Q8: This project was considered by the SR2S group before an item appeared on the Council agenda in 2021 or 2022(?). Earlier iteration appeared in one of the SR2S newsletter include improvements to the intersections. I am curious how come the involvement of SR2S group is not mentioned in the staff report? Has the SR2S group provided input? (Chao)
Staff response: Project updates were provided at the SR2S Working Group but deeper conversations into alternatives or input into the project were reserved for the noticed community meetings. No substantive discussion occurred at the SR2S Working

Group meetings and so the SR2S Working Group was not mentioned in the staff report.

Q9: CUSD could configure a safe entrance route pathway on their property to the existing bicycle storage area, apparently this concept was discussed with some officials at CUSD. When did these discussions take place and did, or why did CUSD object to the concept? What reason(s) did CUSD provide? (Moore)
Staff response: These discussions took place in 2019-2020. This was not pursued due to space constraints along the sport track, and the undesirability of bicycle usage on the track itself.

Q10: CUSD could move the east bike storage area near the track to a safer location for the students’ use, did CUSD object to moving the bike storage area and if so, what reason(s) did CUSD provide? (Moore)
Staff response: Relocating of bike racks was considered but eliminated due to concerns about bike theft, and concerns that having the bike racks further from classrooms would discourage their use.

Q11: What other CUSD schools in Cupertino have had a bike path created eliminating a row of parking spaces similar to the proposed plan? (Moore) Staff response: No other school areas have been impacted by the loss of parking due to bike lane installation. The bike lanes installed near the tri-school area (Monta Vista HS, Kennedy MS, and Lincoln ES), as well of those along the frontage of Homestead HS were installed in areas where parking was already prohibited.

Q12: How many students travel north on Vista to the bike cages from Forest/Lozaneo during peak hours (am and pm)? (Moore)
Staff response: Approximately 30 bicyclists during the morning peak and 31 bicyclists during the afternoon peak.

Q13: Have there been accidents around this school since returning in person, if yes, where and when were they and what was the nature of them? (Moore) Staff response: There have been no reported accidents.

Q14: This is a question that many community members have in mind. Why put the Lawson bikeway on a special meeting agenda in the middle July when school families are likely on vacation, when the Lawson bikeway project was approved by the Bike Ped Commission over one year ago in May 2023? The staff report states "The results of the study were presented to the BPC at the May 17, 2023, meeting. The Commission voted 4-0, with Commissioner Ganga abstaining, to recommend that..." (Chao)
Staff response: This project is ready to move forward and is being brought to City Council now in an attempt to complete construction of the improvements in this fiscal year.

Attachments Provided with Original Staff Report:

A. Draft Ordinance
B. On-Street Two-Way Class IV Bike Lane Concept
C. Lawson Middle School bikeway Feasibility Study
Attachments Provided with Supplemental 1:

D. Letter to Residents dated June 6, 2024

June 6, 2024

Re: Notice of Council Action – Vista Drive Parking Removal for Safety Improvements

Dear resident,

On July 9, 2024, the Cupertino City Council will be considering a recommendation to install on-street, two-way protected bike lanes along the west side of Vista Drive and the north side of Forest Avenue along the Lawson Middle School frontage. The project is a result of a cooperative effort between the City of Cupertino, Lawson Middle School, the Cupertino Union School District, and the school community to enhance safety for Lawson Middle School students who ride their bicycles to school, and to further encourage more students to ride to school. The bike lanes will be constructed in the street, along the north side of Forest Avenue and the west side of Vista Drive, within the area currently designated for on-street parking. Project information can be found at www.cupertino.org/our-city/public-safety-programs/safe-routes-2-school/lawson- bikeway-feasibility-study.

To construct this improvement, on-street parking will need to be removed where the bike lanes are planned to be built. The parking removal would occur only along the Lawson Middle School frontage; no parking would be removed from in front of any residential properties. As part of the Council action on July 9, they will be conducting the first reading of an ordinance to amend the Cupertino Municipal Code to prohibit parking along the affected area. The parking removal would become effective upon the second reading of the ordinance by the City Council, at a future date to be determined.

If you have any questions or concerns about the project, please feel free to contact Matt Schroeder, Senior Transit and Transportation Planner, at [email protected].

Comments on the proposed Council action can be directed to [email protected], or you may attend the meeting on July 9, 2024, scheduled for 6:45 p.m at Cupertino Community Hall, 10350 Torre Ave or via teleconference.

Sincerely,

David Stillman
Transportation Manager

Cupertino City CouncilJuly 9, 2024

Cupertino City Council
July 9, 2024