Public Works Department
DATE: April 1, 2025
TO: Council Transportation Committee
FROM: Brandon Whyte, Active Transportation Planner
Ria Hutabarat Lo, Transportation Manager
Allison Boyer, Assistant Public Works Director
VIA: Jennifer Ng, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps
RECOMMENDATION
Recommend for staff to proceed with the development of the Active Transportation Plan, including maps and scoring criteria as presented.
BACKGROUND
On November 10, 2020 , Council directed staff to integrate and update the Pedestrian Master Plan (PMP) adopted by Council January 28, 2014 , and the Bicycle Transportation Plan (BTP) adopted by Council November 17, 2015. The intent was to align competing uses within the public right-of-way taking a more holistic approach , culminating in the development of an Active Transportation Plan (ATP).
On May 24, 2022 , the City Council authorized the City Manager to execute an agreement with NN Engineering, Inc. (NN Engineering), for development of Active Transportation Plan , Project 21-36, in an amount not to exceed $484,000. The contract was executed, and the project kickoff occurred in fall 2022. Figure 1 illustrates the key steps in sequence planned for the project along with the status of these steps.
Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
Figure 1: Original ATP Approach/Sequence
Community and Committee Engagement
The project approach includes an extensive internal and external stakeholder process to help develop and provide feedback to the ATP. Two advisory committees have been assembled to review and provide recommendations to draft elements of the ATP:
• An interdepartmental Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) comprised of 13 staff members from the Public Works, Community Services, Fire, and Community Development Departments and City Manager’s Office. T he TAC meets at each stage of the project to review draft deliverables and ensure the ATP is consistent with other ongoing initiative s such as the Biodiversity Strategy.
• An Active Transportation Plan Advisory Committee (ATPAC) to review draft deliverables and to provide a perspective from key stakeholders. The ATPAC is comprised of representatives from 12 community-based organizations, nonprofit entities, or advisory bodies.
In addition to these committees, the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee ( BPAC) has also reviewed and provided input on draft ATP elements , including the project scope on November 30, 2021 , vision statement on February 22, 2023 , existing conditions analysis on October 25, 2023, and scoring criteria on April 24, 2024.
During spring and summer 2023, a Citywide community survey was released to obtain input from the community on the City’s active transportation network. Outreach for the survey included email blasts, social media posts, lawn signs, posters, and in-person engagement events, including two bike tours, three walking tours, and several events with community -based organizations.
After an initial period of community engagement, staff conducted further outreach to ensure robust input from communities that were initially underrepresented in feedback on the projec t.
The City received 655 public responses with feedback that generally supported active 1 Existing
Conditions
Complete
2 Vision
Statement
Draft
3 Guiding
Principles
and Scoring
Criteria
Presented
to Council
4 Policy
Development
Under way
5 Holistic
Network and
Prioritized
Project List
Not Started
6 Draft and
Final Plan
Not Started
Community and Committee Engagement
Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
transportation and highlighted challenging locations and opportunities for improvement in relation to walking and biking.
Existing Conditions Analysis
An initial step in the ATP process was a review of background documents and analysis of existing conditions and community survey input. The analysis addressed active transportation conditions related to demographics, mode share, network connectivity, collisions, access , equity, biodiversity, and user perceptions. In October 2023, the TAC, ATPAC, and BPAC received a draft existing conditions analysis. Based on their review, the ATPAC provided the following feedback for development of the ATP:
• Provide more emphasis on improvements near schools;
• Improve conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists within mobile home parks and condominium complexes as part of development review and broader network connections;
• Review City policies and standards from the perspective of creating a more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly City with more tree plantings; and
• Consider the increasing issue of delivery drivers parking in bike lanes.
The BPAC recommended reviewing practices in other cities where walking and biking are part of the culture. Additionally, the BPAC emphasized the importance of:
• Ongoing bicycle- and pedestrian-count data collection;
• Improving conditions for those navigating the City with a wheelchair, including neighborhoods with narrower sidewalks and sidewalks with poles and obstructions;
• Signal operational effects on people walking, specifically including no -right-turn-on-red provisions, pedestrian-recall phasing, and signal phasing at freeway on-/off-ramps; and
• Issues associated with new technologie s such as personal delivery device s or emerging trends, such as the blocking of bike lanes by delivery drivers.
On May 28, 2024, Council received an update on the ATP, including background review, existing conditions, vision and goal setting, scoring criteria, and community and committee feedback. At this meeting, Council indicated support for the proposed guiding principles for the ATP with a referral to the Council Transportation Committee (CTC) to discuss a holistic understanding of the network, specific criteria, a revised staff recommendation of weights and scoring metrics, and a cost-benefit analysis or exploration of criteria around project fe asibility. In response to this Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
feedback, on September 3, 2024, the CTC reviewed the vision statement and a revised approach for the remaining steps of the ATP. The CTC recommended that Council support staff’s recommendations for additional funding as well as the revised scope and vision statement. In line with this recommendation, Council approved $106,000 in addi tional funding and a revised scope and vision statement on October 22, 2024.
Revised ATP Vision Statement:
Based on feedback from Council, the revised ATP Vision Statement for the Mountain View Active Transportation Plan is as follows:
“Mountain View leads the region with an Active Transportation Plan that defines a series of connected, low -stress, and green corridors that invite active transportation. The corridors include shade, wildlife habitat, and public open spaces. The plan enables the City to intentionally support a culture of walking and biking, enhance biodiversity, and reduce climate change impacts.”
Revised Project Approach
As approved by Council on October 22, 2024, the revised ATP approach is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Current ATP Approach/Sequence
The approach incorporates three key changes as listed below:
• Advancing Work on Development of a Holistic Network Vision
Council requested that staff front -load work on development of a holistic network vision that balances different modes of transportation within the City’s transportation system and available right-of-way. This approach provides the community with a vision of potential pedestrian and bicycle networks, including information on the class or type of facility that is possible and that balances all modes for applicable corridors within the City.
1 Existing
Conditions
2 Vision
Statement
3 Policy
Develop-
ment
4 Holistic
Network
with
Modal
Priorities
5 Guiding
Principles
and
Scoring
Criteria
6 Prioritized
Project
List
7 Draft
and Final
Plan
Community and Committee Engagement
Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
• Conducting Additional Community and Committee Engagement
Under the original ATP approach (Figure 1), a combined round of community and committee engagement was planned for the holistic network and prioritized project list for the draft plan. With the separation of holistic network development (Step 4) and project prioritization tasks (Step 6), an additional round of community and committee engagement has been added to the project scope (so separate rounds of engagement occur at Steps 4 and 6).
• Incorporating Planning-Level Feasibility Analysis
At their meeting on May 28, 2024, Council directed staff to explore how to incorporate cost- benefit analysis or project feasibility criteria into the network analysis to understand the possible costs and benefits of the project assessed in the prioritizati on process. For a planning-level study such as the ATP, staff noted that project feasibility consists of high - level, qualitative evaluation of key factors and batched analysis of right-of-way constraints for the network (comprising more than a hundred potential project segments).
Cost estimation is not part of the ATP but will occur for individual projects as part of later project-level feasibility studies or when projects are considered for the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Detailed cost analysis of individual projects is impracticable and cost-prohibitive for this study. Likewise, quantification of project -related benefits is infeasible and would require substantial research to determine mode shift, public health, air quality, economic, and safety benefits of individual improvements.
Consistent with a typical approach for evaluating feasibility in planning -level studies, Council, therefore, recommended a two-step qualitative approach to feasibility analysis as described below:
1. Network-Level Feasibility: As part of the holistic network vision step, the project team will evaluate whether there is sufficient space to support each corridor ’s proposed network facilities (such as wide sidewalks and Class IV-protected bikeways). This analysis will be undertaken using a street typology approach for different modal priorities to establish the right-of-way needed compared to the right-of-way generally available along the corridor segment.
2. Project-Level Feasibility: Once the overall network is defined, project feasibility (high, medium, low) will be based on constructability using clearly defined, high -level qualitative metrics. Possible factors include order-of-magnitude project costs based on recent construction experience for similar projects, potential environmental issues, expected need for interagency coordination and approvals (e.g., Caltrans or Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
Santa Clara Valley Water District encroachment permits), and anticipated need for right-of-way acquisition.
ANALYSIS
Holistic Network Vision
As part of the development of a holistic network vision, the project team has analyze d bicycle and pedestrian networks to understand the key elements and routes needed to ensure complete streets and complete networks as well as right -of-way constraints and options for balancing different modes and green street elements. The result of this analysis is represented through three maps covering the following topics:
• Draft Holistic Pedestrian Network; and
• Draft Holistic Bike Network.
Since individual segment and intersection elements have not yet been scored using scoring criteria, the network vision represents a high -level, theoretical illustration of draft network concepts and opportunities , which still need to be vetted through comm unity and committee engagement and evaluated through the project-prioritization processes.
Draft Holistic Pedestrian Network
The Draft Holistic Pedestrian Network, displayed in Attachment 1, includes the complete network of existing and potential pedestr ian links in Mountain View. The holistic network of pedestrian facilities is intended to provide sidewalks along all improved roads. In total, the network includes the following elements:
• Existing sidewalks along public roadways, including sidewalks that are currently under construction or in design;
• Existing off-street pedestrian connections , including trails on City -owned open space and paseos along public access easements across private property;
• Potential pedestrian or multi -use facilities and trails that provide connections across or along key barriers to walking and that have been identified in Precise Plans, studies, and/or the ATP community engagement process;
• Theoretical potential multi-use paths or trails that could be part of existing public rights-of- way, such as linear parks or green street opportunities highlighted in the City’s Biodiversity Strategy; and
• Sidewalk gaps and unimproved streets.
Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
Please note that many of the City’s sidewalk gaps (25%) are along unimproved streets, and the City’s Unimproved Streets Policy will not be addressed within the ATP. As such, it is anticipated that the ATP’s focus in relation to sidewalk gaps will be on the sidewalk gaps that are not located along unimproved streets.
Draft Holistic Bicycle Network
The Holistic Bike Network, displayed in Attachment 2, includes existing and potential bikeway facilities, including theoretically possible classifications for bikeways along the City’s High Injury Network as outlined in the Vi sion Zero Action Plan, bikeways along the City’s S afe Routes to School network, priority bike projects outlined in AccessMV, and bikeways anticipated as part of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority ( VTA) Countywide Bicycle Superhighway Implementation Plan:
• Examples of existing and potential off-street bikeways (trails) are illustrated in Figure 3.
• Examples of e xisting and potential on-street bikeways (Class II, III, and IV bikeways are illustrated in Figures 4 through 6.
The network map represents potential possible facilities for illustrative purposes. However, the network vision still needs to be vetted through community and committee engagement with the evaluation and prioritization of individual segments to ensure that each potential bikeway makes sense and fits the communities’ needs and resource constraints.
The Holistic Bike Network and Pedestrian Network are illustrative only and represent a starting point for evaluation as requested by Council prior to evaluating scoring criteria. Each map needs more thorough review and vetting by both the project team and the community.
Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
Figure 3: Class I Multi-Use Trail (Photo Source: Ronald Horii 2009)
Figure 4: Class II Bike Lane (conventional bike lane left; buffered bike lane right).
Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
Figure 5: Class III—Bike Boulevard
Figure 6: Class IV—Protected Bikeway
Scoring Criteria
Selection of project scoring criteria establishes parameters and weights to objectively evaluate and prioritize active transportation projects identified through the ATP process. This will allow projects to be prioritized for future funding recommendations and staff resources.
The project team developed initial draft scoring criteria spanning the four guiding principles of Access and Equity, Mobility and Connectivity, Safety and Comfort, and Sustainability and Biodiversity. These criteria were based on Council Strategic Priorities, General Plan policies, ATP Guiding Principles, and responses received from community members as part of the Citywide
Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
survey during spring and summer 2023. Additionally, definitions and weights were refined based on the following input that was provided from the TAC, ATPAC, and BPAC:
• Align definitions and parameters (e.g., low-income communities, major transit stops, high- quality transit corridors, and impervious surfaces) with state and regional laws and policies;
• Prioritize safety and comfort by allocating 35% of points to this parameter;
• Highlight the importance of access and equity, and mobility and connectivity by allocating 30% and 25% of points to these principles respectively; and
• Reflect regional laws and th e City Council’s strong direction on sustainability and biodiversity by maintaining 10% of points for this parameter.
On May 28, 2024 , Council provided additional direct to incorporate a fifth criteri on related to feasibility and implementation. As a result, the revised scoring criteria and weights were adjusted by 10% to produce the following criteria:
• Access and Equity (27%);
• Mobility and Connectivity (22%);
• Safety and Comfort (32%);
• Sustainability and Biodiversity (9%); and
• Feasibility and Implementation (10%).
The draft Feasibility and Implementation is proposed to include an order-of-magnitude cost as well as other factors impacting feasibility and implementation, such as interagency coordination needs and potential time frame for completion. Finally, potential synergies with existing projects or funding opportunities will also be considered. Draft scoring rubrics for each metric are outlined in Table 1 below.
Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
Table 1: Revised Draft Scoring Criteria
Principle Criteria Scoring Metric Score
Access and
Equity
(27%)
Supports lower income
residents
Project is not within a low- or low- to mid-
income census tract. 0
Project is within a low- to mid-income
census tract defined as having more than
14% of the population below 200% of the
federal poverty level (FPL).
7 Project is within a low-income census tract
defined as having more than 28% of the
population below 200% of FPL.
14 Fills a gap in existing
sidewalk network
Project does not close a sidewalk gap. 0
Project partially closes a sidewalk gap. 3
Project does close a sidewalk gap. 6.5
Fills a gap in All Ages and
Abilities (AAA) bicycle
network
Project does not close a gap in AAA bicycle
network. 0
Project partially close a gap in AAA bicycle
network. 3
Project does close a gap in AAA bicycle
network. 6.5
Mobility and
Connectivity
(22%)
Supports schoolchildren
Project is more than 5-minute walk
(0.25 mile) from a school (public or private). 0
Project is less than 5-minute walk (0.25 mile)
from a school or on a suggested route to
school (public or private).
4 Project fronts a school (public or private). 9
Supports other key
destinations
(commercial center,
park, trail, senior center,
or senior living
community)
Project is more than 5-minute walk
(0.25 mile) from a key destination. 0
Project is less than 5-minute walk (0.25 mile)
from a key destination. 4
Project fronts a key destination. 9
Improves first/last mile
connection to transit
Project is not within 5-minute walk
(0.25 mile) of any transit stop (bus or rail). 0
Project is within 5-minute walk (0.25 mile) of
any transit stop (bus or rail). 2
Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
Principle Criteria Scoring Metric Score
Project is within 10-minute walk (0.5 mile) of
major transit stop or high-quality transit
corridor (bus or rail).
4 Safety and
Comfort
(35%)
Addresses community
concerns
Project area has low density of community
comments (bottom third). 0
Project area has medium density of
community comments (middle third). 4
Project area has high density of community
comments (top third). 9
Addresses existing
(historic) crash
patterns
Project area has no or low density of fatal or
severe injury crashes (bottom third). 0
Project area has medium density of fatal or
severe injury crashes (middle third). 7
Project area has a relatively high density of
fatal or severe injury crashes (top third). 14
Improves pedestrian
network density
Project does not reduce pedestrian block
length at all. 0
Project reduces pedestrian block length but
not to less than 500’. 2
Project reduces pedestrian block length to
less than 500’. 4
Reduces pedestrian
crossing distance
Project does not decrease width of
pedestrian crossing distance. 0
Project does decrease width of pedestrian
crossing distance. 5
Sustainability
and
Biodiversity
(9%)
Reduces impervious
surface area
Project does not reduce impervious surface
area. 0
Project reduces impervious surface area by
up to 4%. 2
Project reduces impervious surface area by
more than 4%. 4.5
Provide plantable
space
Project does not increase open space for
plantings (based on typical cross section). 0
Project provides enough space for ground-
cover plantings (plantable spaces less than
5’ wide).
2 Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
Principle Criteria Scoring Metric Score
Project provides enough space for ground-
cover plantings and shade trees (plantable
spaces 5’ or wider).
4.5 Feasibility and
Implementation
(10%)
Order of
Magnitude Cost
(includes
environmental,
ROW, etc.)
$$$ (> $10 million) 0
$$ ($2 million to $10 million) 1
$ (< $2 million) 2
Interagency Coordination
City and 2 or more additional outside
agencies 0
City and 1 additional outside agency 1
None, only City departments 2
Practical
Implementation Time
Frame
Long-Term 0
Medium-Term 1
Short-Term 2
Opportunity to
Leverage Existing
Planned Project
No 0
Yes 2
Alignment with,
Regional and/or
Federal Funding
Sources/Opportunities
No 0
Yes 2
Community and Committee Input
On March 11, 2025 , staff presented the revised scoring criteria and potential holistic network maps to the public and the BPAC.
Public comment from that meeting included:
• Appreciation for the conversation;
• A request to ensure that the City secures publicly accessible paseos in perpetuity and gates are not installed that would block access;
• A request for a trail along the Hetch Hetchy right-of-way;
Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
• Concern that longer length projects could be penalized due to their higher cost; and
• A request for equity consideration for those traveling from other cities.
BPAC member feedback included the following:
• Various labeling and minor map updates to better reflect existing conditions. Staff agreed to make all of these changes, and they are reflected in the maps presented to the CTC.
• Concern from one member that the scoring criteria have not been tested. However, other members felt that unless a larger number of projects were test scored, the testing process may skew the criteria in unintended ways. Several BPAC members stated they did not want to delay the project further with testing of this nature.
• A request for the plan to have a project tracker. Staff explained that that was a possible part of the ATP but not up for review at this time.
• A request was made to have pedestrian crossings be presented to the CTC. Staff explained that this work will be done at a later stage in the project and that pedestrian crossing s are an important part of the pedestrian network. Staff indicated that crossing s were not presented at this time due to the level of detail and proper review that is needed. This review will be done later in the ATP process, and a map will be presented.
• BPAC members expressed interest in reviewing the Unimproved Streets Policy. Staff indicated that the ATP would likely direct this policy to be reviewed, but that review of the policy now, via the ATP, would be outside of the approved scope.
• BPAC members also stated they look forward to reviewing the policy items.
• One BPAC member stated that biodiversity should be a part of all projects and , therefore, the points for that category should be lower.
• Finally, a member noted the number of users served does not have i ts own scoring category; however, this aspect is addressed via multiple categories.
The BPAC made three motions:
1. Include Los Altos High School and Los Altos School District schools serving Mountain View students in the network map. Motion was made by Stone, seconded by Barton, and passed 5-0.
Active Transportation Plan—Scoring Criteria and Holistic Network Maps April 1, 2025
2. Recommend to CTC for staff to proceed with the development of the ATP , including maps and scoring criteria as presented with information and discussion on intersections and crossings. Motion made by Kuszmaul and failed for lack of a second.
3. Recommend to CTC for staff to proceed with the development of the ATP , including maps and scoring criteria as presented. Motion was made by Kuszmaul, seconded by Barton, and passed 3-2 with Bonte and Adamic opposed.
NEXT STEPS
With the holistic vision created, staff will turn attention towards defining specific types of active transportation improvements per roadway segment, taking into account feasibility of implementation within limited public rights-of-way. The project team will then identify projects based on prior plans, existing conditions analysis, community input (including survey and Ask Mountain View input), and staff evaluation. Projects will then be scored to create a prioritized project list. The project lis t along with policy recommendation s will be the focus of the next round of public engagement.
BW-RHL-AB/1/PWK
959-04-01-25M
Attachments: 1. Draft Holistic Pedestrian Network
2. Draft Holistic Bicycle Network