P ublic Works Department
DA
TE: November 28, 2023
TO: C
ouncil Transportation Committee
F
ROM: Carla Ochoa, Senior Traffic Engineer
Lorenzo Lopez, City Traffic Engineer
Edward Arango, Assistant Public Works Director/City Engineer VI
A: Dawn S. Cameron, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: Speed Limit Legislation Overview and Implementation Strategy
RECOMMENDATION
R
eceive an informational report on recent speed limit legislation and provide feedback on the implementation strategy.
BACKGROUND
Hi
storically, speed limits are set and maintained either as defined by law or on the premise that the set speed limit is consistent with the free-flow conditions of the majority of motorists. In California, both practices are regulated by the California Vehicle Code (CVC) and the California Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CA MUTCD).
Sp
eed limits defined by the CVC are typically those most motorists are familiar with, including:
• L
ocal residential roadways: 25 MPH
• Local business districts: 25 MPH
• School zones: 25 MPH
• Senior zones: 25 MPH
• Alleyways: 15 MPH
• Rail crossings: 15 MPH
Sp
eed limits that are not specifically defined by CVC are set consistent with actual free -flow conditions and require rationale that is defensible in traffic court and maintains public confidence. These speed limits are typically set by an Engineering and Traffic Sur vey (E&TS) which studies existing roadway and traffic conditions to establish and maintain posted speed limits. As part of this study, the speeds of vehicles are measured under free -flow conditions to Speed Limit Legislation Overview and Implementation Strategy November 28, 2023
determine the speed at or below which 85% of the traffic surveyed is moving (i.e., 85th percentile speed). Speed limits are then set near the 85th percentile.
LEGISLATIVE OVERVIEW
Under Assembly Bill 43 (AB 43), several new provisions to the CVC relating to setting speed limits went into effect on January 1, 2022 , and other provisions will do so on June 30, 2024.
Subsequently, on January 1, 2023, additional legislation under Assembly Bill 1938 (AB 1938) went into effect. AB 1938 updates primarily provided further clarification on provisions originally introduced as part of AB 43. Table 1 below summarizes provisions pertaining to local jurisdictions, and Attachment 1 provides examples on how these can be applied. These provisions went into effect on January 1, 2022 (AB 43) or January 1, 2023 (AB 1938) unless specified as June 30, 2024 in Table 1.
Table 1: California Vehicle Code (CVC) Update Summary of AB 43* and AB 1938*
CVC # Legislation Description
627(c)(2) AB 43 Extends consideration of pedestrian and bicyclist safety for children, seniors, persons with disabilities, and the unhoused.
22358(a) AB 43 Speed limits of 15 or 20 MPH can be established if justified by an E&TS.
22358.6 AB 43 Revises CAMUTCD to allow rounding down the speed limit to the nearest 5 MPH when otherwise would have required rounding up.
AB 1938 Allows lowering the speed limit by 5 MPH, if justified by an E&TS, when mathematical rounding to the nearest 5 MPH increment requires rounding down.
This section also allows rounding down to the nearest 5MPH from the 85th percentile when mathematically the nearest 5MPH increment would have required rounding up.
All reductions shall not be more than 12.4 MPH from the 85th percentile speed.
This revision memorializes a practice previously supported per CAMUTCD.
Speed Limit Legislation Overview and Implementation Strategy November 28, 2023
CVC # Legislation Description
22358.7 AB 43 Effective June 30, 2024 or when Statewide online infraction violation tool is in place: authorizes reducing speed limits an additional 5 MPH from the 85th percentile speed under specific conditions:
• Designated safety corridors which generally include segments with the highest number of serious injury and fatality crashes.
• Roadways adjacent to any land or facility that generates high concentrations of bicyclists or pedestrians.
Additional criteria is outlined in CAMUTCD.
22358.8 AB 43 Outlines provisions for reductions from the 85th percentile speed where needed to retain the existing posted speed limit.
22358.9 AB 43 Section does not apply if speed limits have already been lowered per CVC 22358.7 or 22358.8: Authorizes 25 or 20 MPH speed limit contiguous to a business activity district where ALL the following provisions are met:
• Four traffic lanes maximum.
• Adjacent segments are posted at 30 or 25 MPH.
• Designated central or neighborhood downtown, urban
village, or in a zoning designation that prioritizes
commercial land uses at the downtown or neighborhood
scale and meets at least three (3) of the following criteria:
− At least 50% fronting properties are retail or dining commercial uses that open directly onto sidewalk.
− Street parking is present.
− Traffic signals or stop signs are in place and located no more than 600’ apart.
− Marked pedestrian crosswalks at locations not
controlled by a traffic signal, yield sign, or stop sign.
Speed Limit Legislation Overview and Implementation Strategy November 28, 2023
CVC # Legislation Description
AB 1938 Prohibits the establishment of 20 and 25 MPH business activity district zones where speed limits have already been established or reduced per CVC 22358.7 or 22358.8.
40802 AB 43 Senior zones and business activity districts, as defined in CVC, are exempt from E&TS requirement, updates the definition of a “local street,” and extends validity of E&TS up to 14 years under outlined conditions (previously 10 years).
AB 1938 Speed limits adopted under CVC 22358.7 or 22358.8 are exempt from the E&TS requirement to be revalidated.
*Provisions specific only to the State Department of Transportation and those that are primarily editorial revisions are not shown in this table. The final legislation as of January 1, 2023 can be found in Attachment 2.
While AB 43 and AB 1938 give local jurisdictions more flexibility in setting speed limi ts, one key element remains unchanged: the requirement for E&TS as the basis to establish speed limits on several types of roadways. Therefore, the majority of posted speed limit s must still be established in correlation with actual free -flow traffic conditions as determined by an E&TS.
Attachment 2 provides full CVC code references, including those that still require an E&TS.
The business activity districts designation provides the ability to lower speed limits to 20 or 25 MPH in some areas; however, reductions are limited to streets with specific land uses and roadway characteristics that meet the criteria listed in Table 1 —CVC 22358.9. Staff performed a general review of the City’s existing land uses and roadways and, based on this, staff anticipates there are limited segments that meet the criteria to be designated as business activity districts.
Since the adoption of AB 43 and AB 1938, the State has released CAMUTCD, Revision 7 (March 2023), which includes additional guidance on allowable reductions, such as clarification that the reduction and rounding requirements need not apply to existing E&TS before January 1, 2022 and can sim ply be incorporated when an E&TS is due for re evaluation. The update also includes additional criteria to establish safety corridors such crash guiding factors that may be used to determine the rating and prioritization of segments. The revision also includes guidance on defining business activity district s and high pedestrian or bicyclist generators (additional details are included in Attachment 3).
Speed Limit Legislation Overview and Implementation Strategy November 28, 2023
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
Establishing speed limits and any allowable reductions is a multifaceted task that is part of general traffic operations, but also requires long-term vision during roadway planning and design.
Therefore, an implementation approach that incorporates various strategies is most practical.
Staff recommends the following four implementation approaches : project-based, safety corridors, traffic operations, and other evaluations. The following outlines each of the strategies:
Project-Based
The most effective way to reduce speeds is through speed management strategies and roadway design. Therefore, the City is proactively incorporating speed management strategies into projects. Roadway design elements have been incorporated into upcoming projects, including road diets, bike lane improvements, speed feedback signs, speed humps, and curb extensions at corners. Some examples of recent or upcoming projects are Calderon Avenue Bicycle Improvements, Miramonte Resurfacing (includes a road diet), Villa Street Prometheus Apartment Project (included speed humps), Leong/Fairchild Resurfacing (includes speed humps), El Monte Corridor Study (includes a road diet), and the California Street Pilot project (includes a road diet and parking protected bike lanes). As projects with these improvements and speed management strategies are completed and have been in place for several months, staff then conducts new E&TS to determine if the project segments are eligible for speed reductions per CVC and CAMUTCD. An example of a successful application of s peed management strategies is the Calderon Avenue Bicycle Improvement project, where the posted/85 th percentile was 30 MPH prior to the improvements, and after the installation of the buffered bike lanes, a new E&TS was performed, justifying a speed limit reduction to 25 MPH.
Safety Corridors
As noted in Table 1, provisions under CVC 22358.7 allows an additional five MPH reduction from the 85th percentile speed for safety corridors as defined in the same code. However, this provision for additional reductions does not go into effect until June 30, 2024. Once the reductions are permitted by CVC, staff will apply it where allowable and as justified by an E &TS.
In preparation for CVC 22358.7 going into effect in 2024, staff will work to identify safety corridors in conjunction with the Vision Zero Action Plan and Local Road Safety Plan which
parallels the City’s high-injury network with the “safety corridors” as defined by CAMUTCD (see Attachment 3). Once the safety corridors are identi fied and these CVC provisions are in effect, staff will begin reassessing the three safety corridors with highest prioritization score in the high- injury network, including new E&TS, to determine which segments of these corridors may be eligible for speed limit reductions. Upon completion of the reassessment of these three high priority corridors and implementation of any speed limit reductions , staff will assess the other safety corridors for prioritization of E&TS evaluation. The Vision Zero Action Plan and Local Road Safety Plan is expected to be presented to Council in early 2024.
Speed Limit Legislation Overview and Implementation Strategy November 28, 2023
Traffic Operations
As engineering and traffic surveys reach the end of their initial seven -year renewal period, staff will reevaluate to determine if roadways are eligible for any speed limit reductions; future renewal periods will conform to the new 14-year resurvey date as applicable per CVC 40802. Any warranted speed limit reductions will be implemented by changing posted signs to the revised speed limits.
Additionally, the provisions under CVC 22358.7 also allow an additional 5 MPH reduction from the 85th percentile speed for segments which may generate high concentrations of bicyclists or pedestrians, specifically for children, seniors, pe rsons with disabilities, or the unhoused. Once this provision goes into effect on June 30, 2024, staff will consider the allowable reductions as part of E&TS updates.
Other Evaluations
Staff will be conducting a more detailed analysis to identify any segments that qualify as business activity districts and senior zones. Once any eligible segments are identified under this provision, staff will change posted signs accordingly by prioritizing higher activity roadways, such as any that may be within the Downtown Precise Plan Area. Implementation at other qualifying roadway segments will follow.
Table 2 below provides a summary of the four strategies previously mentioned and the high-level prioritization approach for each.
Speed Limit Legislation Overview and Implementation Strategy November 28, 2023
Table 2: Summary of Implementation Strategy and Prioritization Approach
Implementation
Approach
Task and Prioritization Notes
Project Based • Where feasible, implement speed management elements as part of projects currently in design.
• Reevaluate improved segments after June 30, 2024 and
approximately six months after acceptance of
improvements to determine if speed limit reduction is
appropriate and justified by an E&TS. Some locations
might include:
− Villa Street
− Miramonte Avenue
− Fairchild Drive
− Leong Drive
− California Street
Safety corridors • Identify “safety corridors” as part of Vision Zero Action Plan and Local Road Safety Plan.
• After June 30, 2024:
− Reevaluate the top three high-injury network
prioritization scores corridors to determine
eligibility for speed limit reduction.
− Upon completion of the reassessment of these
three high-priority corridors and implementation of
any speed limit reductions, staff will assess the
other safety corridors for prioritization of E&TS
evaluation.
Traffic Operations • Ongoing:
− Forgo allowable extensions for E&TS to 14 years and
instead reassess at seven-year renewal period.
− Prioritize school areas.
• After June 30, 2024:
− Implement allowable reductions to areas of high
pedestrian generators.
Speed Limit Legislation Overview and Implementation Strategy November 28, 2023
Implementation
Approach
Task and Prioritization Notes
Other • Identify Business Activity Districts and implement any allowable speed limit reductions with priority to higher activity roadways.
BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
On October 25, 2023, staff presented this overview and implementation strategy to the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) . BPAC supported the implementation strategy with emphasis to continue efforts to reduce speeds through roadway design and other speed management strategies.
BPAC also re quested that staff reach out to the Cit y of Palo Alto to discuss their strategy in previously implementing reduced speed limits prior to AB 43 . Staff confirmed reductions were implemented in 2021 in school zones and on many other streets. While a large number of Palo Alto’s streets are now posted at 25 MPH, only those that are set consistent with CVC and CAMUTCD regulations are enforceable.
NEXT STEPS
Staff will incorporate Council Transportation Committee’s feedback and move forward with the implementation strategy as outlined.
CO-LL-EA/LL/4/PWK
979-11-28-23M-1
Attachments: 1. Sample Scenarios of Speed Limit Reductions from 85th percentile Speeds
2. California Vehicle Code Provisions Amended by AB-43 and AB-1938
3. Safety Corridor and High Pedestrian and Bicyclist Generator Definitions
cc: PWD, APWD—Arango, CTE, STE—Ochoa