CITY OF OAKLAND
TO: Public.Works & Transportation
Committee
SUBJECT: 2023 BPAC Annual Report
RECOMMENDATION
AGENDA REPORT
FROM: Councilmember Gallo and
Bicyclist and Pedestrian
Advisory Commission
DATE: March 12, 2024
Councilmember Gallo Recommends That The City Council Receive An Informational Report On The Bicyclist And Pedestrian Advisory Commission's 2023 Activities.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) presents the attached informational report (Attachment A)to the Public Works and Transportation Committee per Ordinance No. 13215 C.M.S: 'The Commission shall provide annual reports to the Public Works Committee of the City Council to summarize the Commission's work over the course of the year and to identify key policy issues affecting the safety of and access for bicyclists and pedestrians in Oakland."
BACKGROUND/ LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The BPAC was established per Council Ordinance No. 13215 C.M.S. in February 2014 and first met in September of that year. The nine commissioners are appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council. The Chair of the Public Works and Transportation Committee is named in the Ordinance as the liaison between the BPAC and the City Council, and this informational report has been prepared at the Chair's request. The BPAC is staffed and supported by the Oakland Department of Transportation, Safe Streets Division, Bicycle & Pedestrian Program.
According to its establishing Ordinance, the BPAC's duties are:
1. Review and advise on proposed projects for Transportation Development Act Article 3 funding;
2. Provide input to staff on the expenditure of Measure B and Measure BB Bicycle & Pedestrian Pass through funds;
3. Provide input to staff in implementation of the City's Bicycle Plan, the Pedestrian Plan, and other related Plans;
4. Identify projects and plans that are pertinent to the Commission's purpose and prioritize those projects and plans for design review by the Commission.
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 14, 2024
Subject: 2023 BPAC Annual Report
Date: April 9, 2024 Page 2
Additional information on the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission is available at www.oaklandca.gov/boards-commissions/bicyclist-and-pedestrian-advisory-commission.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Please refer to Attachment A for the 2023 Annual Report from the City of Oakland's Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission summarizing the Commission's work and recommendations for the 2023 calendar year.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no cost to the City of Oakland associated with this informational report.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
The BPAC holds public meetings every third Thursday of the month at 6:00PM in City Hall.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Councilmember Gallo recommends that the City Council receive this informational report on the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission's 2023 activities.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Dianne Yee, 2023 Chair of the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, at [email protected]. For questions regarding the administration of the Commission, please contact Jason Patton, Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Supervisor at [email protected], (510) 238-7049.
Respectfully submitted,
Councilmember Gallo
Prepared by:
Dianne Yee_, 2023 Chair of the
Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission
Attachments (1):
A. 2023 Annual Report from the City of Oakland's Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 14, 2024
Attachment A
Oakland Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) 2023 BPAC Chair's Report to the Public Works Committee of the Oakland City Council January 16, 2024
To the Honorable Chair of the Oakland Public Works Committee, The Oakland Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) is pleased to present a summary of our work in 2023 and a set of key policy recommendations.
Early in the year, the COVID-19 emergency ended and meetings transitioned from virtual back to in-person at City Hall. This change reduced participation levels at meetings but enabled community members and staff to make face-to-face connections.
Unfortunately, the disturbing trend of highly reckless driving that rose during the pandemic continued, and many Oaklander lives were lost on the streets. Community members rallied for infrastructure improvements to prevent further loss of lives due to senseless traffic violence.
OakDOT staff and elected officials have been empathetic to roll out rapid response fixes.
However, many challenges remain, including staffing issues and coordination with other agencies. We hope that City Council will address these challenges and prioritize traffic safety.
We greatly appreciate the support from OakDOT staff, the City Administrator's office and the Office of the Mayor to enable BPAC and the public to have a productive 2023. We would like to give special recognition to the staff who directly support the work of the BPAC, Jason Patton and Pierre Gerard. During another challenging year for city staff and the community, they provided exceptional support, advice, and guidance.
Thank you for your consideration of this report and our recommendations. We continue to look forward to working with you as we strive to make the City of Oakland a great place to walk and bike for everyone.
Respectfully,
Commissioner Dianne Yee (District 3) 2023 Chair
Commissioner Grey Gardner (District 2) 2023 Vice Chair
Commissioner Andrew Campbell, (District 1)
Commissioner Alex Frank (District 4)
Commissioner Michael Lok (District 4)
Commissioner Phoenix Mangrum (District 5)
Commissioner David Ralston (District 2)
Commissioner Patricia Schader, (District 7)
Commissioner Nick Whipps (District 6)
2023 Chair's Report
to the Public Works Committee of the
Oakland City Council
2 Recommendations
This report summarizes many of the topics that the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) focused on in 2023. There has been greater awareness at the City-level of the impact that transportation infrastructure has on safety, or lack of. Funding safe infrastructure is a critical investment to allow Oaklanders to move freely and thrive. The following are several recommendations that we urge the Public Works Committee to consider:
1. Reduce violence on our roads, including through better coordination between the Department of Transportation (OakDOT), Oakland Police Department (OPD), and the Office of Violence Prevention.
o Speeding drivers, hit-and-runs, and crashes and crimes committed via stolen vehicles are unfortunately a continuing trend.
o OakDOT should continue its focus on high injury corridors with hard infrastructure, but this is not enough.
o Low cost, quick fix improvements should be made in dangerous locations. o A multi-pronged effort is needed to prevent reckless and dangerous driving.
Increased traffic enforcement could be part of the answer, coupled with equitable enforcement. Consider red-light cameras for locations with frequent speeding to help alleviate the coverage area for traffic enforcement staff. o Continue working on the Safe Oakland Streets Initiative by funding quick-build projects and focusing enforcement on high-injury corridors.
2. Continue the city's commitment to the most protective infrastructure possible for people walking and biking. Set goals for bikeway implementation. o Expand the network of protected bike lanes and fill in bikeway gaps. o Utilize traffic calming devices such as speed bumps and traffic circles to slow vehicular traffic on neighborhood bike routes.
o Update the 2019 Bicycle Plan and the 2017 Pedestrian Plan.
3. Connect East Oakland to the shoreline.
o Access to the shoreline is important for recreation, social gathe,rings, and the health benefits of being in nature. However, unlike residents near Jack London Square and Lake Merritt, the residents of East Oakland cannot access the shoreline that is closest to them. Roads, train tracks, industrial spaces, and the Coliseum site are all barriers.
o While Coliseum redevelopment is pending, find short term solutions to provide access through the site or other routes.
4. Coordinate with other agencies to provide safe connections. o Delays and opposition to collaboration have left bikeway gaps and pedestrian hazards unchanged. These include crossings with Caltrans, such as freeway underpasses; Union Pacific Railroad, which hinders East Oakland from a safe connection to the shoreline; and corridors with AC Transit, which has a goal of reducing transit travel times but sometimes at the cost of pedestrian safety. 3 ■ The 66th Avenue - BART to Bay Trail project is planned and may take -7 -1 O years to complete all phases due to crossing multiple agencies' right-of-way.
o Oakland must promote city goals in multijurisdictional locations and projects that affect Oaklanders.
5. Prioritize hiring staff to implement the 5-Year Paving Plan (5YP). o The Paving Plan has been a mechanism for adding pedestrian and bicyclist improvements throughout the city. However, short staffing for contracting and engineering roles have limited implementation of the Paving Plan. The roadways not completed via the 2019 3YP have been rolled over into the 2022 5YP. o OakDOT's Capital Contracts Division has had consistent vacancies since July 2022. The continuous recruitment for engineering positions has not been successful in drawing interested candidates.
We also reiterate the recommendations from the 2020 BPAC Chair's Report that should continue to be pursued:
• Ensure more proactive coordination with BPAC on bicycle and pedestrian-related initiatives that originate from the City of Oakland Mayor's office, City Council and departments and agencies outside of OakDOT.
• Strengthen the review of OakDOT projects by BPAC, particularly timely follow-up on comments before project final design has concluded.
• Strengthen OakDOT coordination with BPAC and community stakeholders during bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure implementation phases, including monitoring of effectiveness, safety and continued community engagement. • Continue the progress made towards filling OakDOT staffing vacancies.
An Overview of the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission The role of the BPAC is to advise the City of Oakland Department of Transportation, the Oakland City Council and other city departments on pedestrian and bicycle issues, with an overarching objective of ensuring that walking and bicycling projects and programs in Oakland are safe and equitable. The BPAC is charged with advising the City on bicyclist and pedestrian-specific plans, policies, projects, and programs, as well as the accommodation of bicyclists and pedestrians in all plans, policies, projects, and programs. In addition, the BPAC reviews Transportation Development Act Article 3 funding allocations as required by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
The BPAC was officially formed by Oakland City Council Ordinance in 2014 as a formal commission with the City of Oakland, although the commission was preceded by what was then the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee of the Oakland Public Works Department. The BPAC is comprised of nine commissioners. Commissioners are appointed by the Mayor of Oakland, and commissioners serve three-year terms during each appointment. The BPAC is governed by adopted By-laws, which can be revised and amended by a majority vote. Typically, three commissioners are appointed each year to stagger the turnover of the commission, unless 4 resignations require the need to appoint a new replacement commissioner to serve the remai11der of an existing term. Commissioners can be reappointed for multiple three-year terms; however, they can only serve two of those three-year terms consecutively.
Commissioners devote their own time and resources when serving on the BPAC and take their advisory role with the utmost seriousness and offer freely their experiences and expertise in community outreach, advocacy, engineering and planning. The BPAC commissioners come from a very diverse range of backgrounds and areas of expertise and each one brings their unique experiences as a bicyclist and pedestrian in Oakland. Many commissioners have deep connections to multiple parts of the city, and all take seriously their responsibility to improve· safety and access for people walking and biking throughout the city.
BPAC commissioners are committed to ensuring the commission is made up of motivated individuals who represent the entire City of Oakland. To help bring thi$ about, when new openings arise due to term limits (two 3-year terms) or early departures, BPAC undertakes a recruitment process for new commissioner appointments. The process ends with the BPAC recommending candidates to the mayor, who has the authority to make appointments, subject to city council approval.
Summary of BPAC Meetings Held in 2023
The BPAC holds regular commission meetings on the third Thursday of each month. Special meetings of the BPAC can be held at any time, subject to the required public notification process. The BPAC held twelve monthly regular commission meetings in 2023. Most meetings were just over two hours long. The COVID-19 state of emergency declared by Governor Gavin Newsom on March 4, 2020 and the local emergency issued by Oakland's city administrator on March 9, 2020 expired in March 2023, and the commission meetings resumed. in person. Staff acquired a video camera and was able to broadcast the meeting live in Zoom. However, the City Administrator's Office has not yet clarified whether hybrid meetings are .allowed for commissions. As such, currently, members of the public may watch the meeting on Zoom but they are not allowed to make public comments via Zoom.
BPAC is grateful to staff in the City Administrator's office, KTOP, and our supporting staff in the Department of Transportation Bike and Pedestrian Program, Pierre Gerard and Jason Patton, for helping us hold teleconference meetings, transitioning back over to in-person meetings, and complying with all relevant open meeting requirements. With the return to in-person meetings, participation by members of the public dropped. The convenience of Zoom had allowed more members of the public to attend, as well as for presenters to participate with less impact on their personal and family obligations. However, there has been a steady number of public attendees in-person, including regular attendees and others who are interested in a specific agenda item.
Recent Bicyclist and Pedestrian Fatal Crashes
This standing agenda item continues to be a hot topic, as crashes have not subsided. There were three incidents that garnered a lot of attention and discussion. The first was multiple 5 incidents of drivers assaulting. cyclists in February, a trend that erupted from social media onto Oakland streets. The second incident was on Lakeshore Ave adjacent to Lake Merritt, where a driver doored a man and his 4-year daughter Maia, who were cycling together. OakDOT is now partnering with East Bay Municipal Utility District to rebuild the roadway on Lakeshore Avenue between E. 18th Street and El Embarcadero with protected bike lanes. The third incident are multiple crashes along International Boulevard caused by drivers speeding. Commissioners made a motion to write a letter to relevant agencies and relevant City Councilmembers to urge them to expedite the International Boulevard Quick-Build Project, provide the BPAC with a timely status update on the project's progress, and designate International Boulevard as a Business Activity District to lower posted speed limits.
Topics Discussed in 2023
Below are summaries of topics discussed at BPAC meetings in 2023. Actions taken by BPAC are indicated in bold.
BPAC Strategic Plan and Legislative _Priorities
BPAC Strategic Plan for 2023 - The BPAC adopted the following goals:
1. Be strong advocates for bicycle and pedestrian safety and hold the city accountable.
2. Be a two-way conduit for information on bicyclist and pedestrian projects.
3. Encourage equity-driven investments and policies and increase community involvement in high-injury and historically underserved areas.
4. Build relationships with policymakers and provide feedback on policies that affect walking and bicycling in Oakland.
California State Assembly Bill 645 - BPAC voted to write a letter of support for AB 645, which would allow select cities, including Oakland, to pilot automated speed enforcement cameras.
Important Transportation Programs
• Paving Plan - Sarah Fine (Complete Streets Paving & Sidewalks Program) presented a final update on the 2019 3-Year Paving Plan (3YP) and provided a status report on the adopted 2022 5-Year Paving Plan (5YP). Limited staff capacity in contracts and engineering roles have significantly slowed down the pace of redesigned roadways. • Safe Oakland Streets (SOS) - Tony Dang (OakDOT Policy & Intergovernmental Affairs Senior Advisor) provided the second annual update of the SOS initiative. The SOS Initiative was launched in 2021 with the primary goal of preventing severe and fatal crashes and related disparities. The update reported on progress made in 2022. • Slow Streets - Jason Patton of OakDOT provided an update on developing permanent Slow Streets based on lessons learned from the temporary street closures during the first two years of the COVI D-19 pandemic.
6 • Bike Plan Update - Patrick Phelan and Pierre Gerard of OakDOT provided an update on the Let's Bike Oakland Citywide Bicycle Plan (2019).
• Speed Bump Program - Joe Wang presented on the residential speed bump program, which is the most popular program among other DOT workflows. Arterial speed cushions have been piloted on West Street, 35th Ave, and MacArthur Blvd. • OakDOT Collaboration with the Oakland Fire Department - Fire Marshal Felicia Bryant gave an update on amendments to Appendix D of the Fire Code, and Jason Patton described the collaboration between the two departments on implementing traffic safety measures that are supportive of Fire Department operations. • BART Bicycle Programs and Projects - Heath Maddox, Manager of Bicycle and Micromobility Access Programs at BART, gave an overview and update on relevant BART customer access efforts in Oakland. This included the Preferred Path of Travel Capital Plan, bicycle parking, and bike stairway channels.
Focus on East Oakland
• East Bay Greenway - The Alameda County Transportation Commission is developing the design. The estimated cost of the Oakland section is about $120 million, and there is only about $18 million secured in. grant funding for this work so far.
PcQ.iect Review
• Grand Avenue Repaving Project - Charlie Ream shared the 35% design plans for Grand Avenue from Broadway to Elwood Avenue.
• Telegraph Avenue Paving Project - Cathy Deluca introduced the initial conceptual designs for the paving project on Telegraph Avenue between 52nd and Woolsey streets.
The designs include protected bike lanes and may include bus-only lanes. • Seminary Avenue Paving Project - Cathy Deluca and Colin Piethe presented on this project for Seminary Avenue between Sunnymere Boulevard Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. The project could include a new bikeway.
• Lakeside Drive Cycle Track Project - Craig Raphael provided an overview of this project which would construct a cycle track at Lakeside Drive and Lake Merritt Boulevard between International Boulevard and 19th Street. OakDOT is applying to the Safe Routes to BART program to fund this project. The BPAC voted to submit a letter of support for the Safe Routes to BART Lake Merritt Bikeway project grant application.
• Chinatown Complete Streets Plan - Manuel Corona introduced the project, which will identify a set of key corridors with multimodal upgrades through outreach to complete the conceptual designs.
• Transportation Development Act Article 3 (TDA) Projects Grant Application Update - Julieth Ortiz gave an update of existing TDA funded projects and a draft project list for fiscal year 2023-24.
• Annual Major Development Projects - Christopher Tan (Bureau of Planning), presented major project highlights for 2023, including the Town Tower, Howard Terminal Waterfront Ballpark District, 98th Ave and San Leandro St Planned Urban Development, Lake 7 Merritt BART Transit-Oriented Development, and West Oakland BART housing development. Though the Howard Terminal Waterfront Ballpark will not continue as planned, major development in the proposed District is still possible. • Cc:1ltrans Vision 980 Study - Becky Frank and Hunter Oatman-Stanford from the Office of Regional and Community Planning at Caltrans District 4 introduced this project that would develop future concepts for 1-980 based on community engagement. • AC Transit Realign Bus Service Network Plan - Owen Goetze and Maria Henderson from AC Transit presented draft service scenarios that were developed from a comprehensive review of AC Transit's bus network to respond to shifts in riders' travel patterns.
0akD0T Update
• OakDOT Budget and Organizational Update - OakDOT Director Fred Kelley, Assistant Director Megan Wier, Tony Dang, and Craig Raphael provided an organizational and budget update, including on the vacancy rate, organizational challenges, and recent accomplishments.
The Future of Mobility
• E-Bike Lending Pilot Project - Michael Randolph provided an update on this grant funded program that will provide communities with access to affordable medium- and long-term rentals with approximately 136 e-bikes, cargo bikes, and adaptive bikes at launch, while supporting community-run bike shops to perform maintenance and educate users. A motion was made to develop a letter to OakDOT regarding the Oakland E-Bike Lending Pilot Program's issues with equity and program access. Staff have followed up with commissioners to address these concerns.
The Joy of Biking and Traffic Safety Awareness
• Bike To Wherever Day (BTWD) - Chris Hwang of Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) presented plans for the May 28, 2023 festivities and how people could get involved.
Hwang returned to share highlights from the BTWD celebrations. • School Traffic Safety Demonstration - Natalie Mall, a volunteer who coordinated the project in response to a student who was hit by a driver, presented a summary of the two-day pop-up mid-block crosswalk on Broadway at Oakland Technical High School.
Three City Councilmembers and an OUSD School Board member attended the demo.
BPAC Committees and Liaisons Summaries
BPAC Committees are an important organizational element of the Commission, as they provide a forum for detailed discussion on specific topics that might otherwise be too time consuming for the full BPAC to address at regular Commission meetings. Actions originating at the committee level can be forwarded to the full BPAC for further discussion and consideration on an as- needed basis. Committees report back to the full commission at the monthly BPAC meetings. In addition to providing a management tool for the full BPAC, the BPAC committees 8 are an important linkage to volunteer members of the public, as membership in each committee is open to the public, as per the BPAC By-laws. BPAC By-laws were revised in January 2020 to provide an opportunity for members of the public to chair individual committees, which was previously reserved for commissioners. This provides the public an opportunity to participate in the advisory process at a significant level within the BPAC organizational structure. BPAC actively encourages members of the public to participate on BPAC committees. Information on the BPAC committees can be accessed at:
https://www.oaklandca.gov/resources/bicyclist-and-pedestrian-advisory- commission-bpac-co mmjttees-and-liaisons
Open Forum Liaison
The liaisons continue to track and monitor issues raised by the public during Open Forum. Open forum is an important component of the BPAC, as Open Forum/Public Comment is a standing item on the BPAC meeting agendas to provide the public with the chance to comment on items not on the agenda. Nearly 200 Open Forum public comments have been made since 2015. In many instances, this could be the only opportunity for members of the public to comment on specific bicycle and pedestrian issues. Indeed, many of the comments BPAC hears deal with larger transportation issues and are not always specific to bicycle and pedestrian topics that closely relate to certain members of the community.
Open Forum through most of 2023 was comprised of Commissioner Patricia Schader and public member Jimmy Jessup. The liaisons track issues brought to the BPAC at its monthly meetings.
The tracking document is available for public view at
http://tinyurl.com/Oakland-BPAC-OpenForumTracking
In 2023, we have received 27 comments to date, made by 18 different individuals. The month with the highest number of comments was during the February 2023 BPAC meeting, when 1 O community members commented on the recent assaults on bicyclists in which people in cars sought out bicyclists to try and knock them down by opening the cars' doors.
The issue tracking sheet categorizes comments in three categories. "For Information" denotes comments such as a recap of past events, future event announcement, or note of congratulation that are meant for informational purposes to staff, commissioners, and members of the public. "No Follow-Up Needed" comments typically indicate that the issue is addressed or resolved to satisfaction by staff or commissioners, or the commenter is referred to make input to the City via 311 or SeeClickFix. Finally, "For Investigation," indicates issues that the Open Forum Liaisons will endeavor to follow-up on and track to closure. Of the 27 comments made during 2023 BPAC meetings, comment categorization totals are as follows:
• For Information: 8
• No Follow-up Needed: 12
• For Investigation: 7
9 As a note, the 1 0 comments received addressing the February assaults on bicyclists are included in the "No Follow-Up Needed" category, as Officer Filice from Oakland Police Department was present during the meeting and addressed numerous comments.
Of the seven actions for investigation, two have been marked as resolved from the perspective of the Open Forum Liaisons. This does not necessarily indicate that, for instance, physical infrastructure changes have been installed on-site in response to an Open Forum comment, but rather that the liaison's role is complete, such that commenters have been connected with resources, an item is taken up by another BPAC committee, or otherwise that an action plan to address the issue has been initiated by another party.
Additionally, Open Forum can serve as a conduit to feed the future topic list for BPAC meeting agendas. Regardless of whether an item is "For Information," "No Follow-Up Needed", or "For Investigation," the topic may be worthwhile spending time on with additional preparation and in a future meeting forum. Topics that liaisons indicated as potential items for a future agenda include the following:
• Bicycle navigation - Oakland bike map revamp and other aids that can direct bikers to low-stress bikeways
• Speed limit establishment and AB 43
• Middle Park Boulevard - consideration of permanent road diet • Highway 13 / Bruns Court overcrossing replacement project • Status update on occurrence of assaults on bicyclists Infrastructure Committee
The Infrastructure Committee examines Oakland street and sidewalk plans and provides detailed feedback to staff. These meetings are held every other month, or as needed, and the committee reports back to the full BPAC. Agenda materials, presentations, and schematics are distributed in advance of meetings when possible, to assist committee members with formulating questions and ideas. Committee meeting agendas and notes are available online at:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1 ggS46y3dWNeAxMVwU3HTwjunj-b0pwANtZix-CisiWA/ The intent of this committee is to provide space for in-depth reviews of items that would not ordinarily be accomplished during a BPAC meeting, and especially items that help inform broader design policies and standards, which will ultimately streamline the workflow for staff.
In 2023, the Infrastructure Committee consisted of 3 commissioners and 3 members of the public. It is open to the public and does have public attendance.
Members:
• David Ralston, co-chair (commissioner)
• Robert Prinz, co-chair
• Dianne Yee (commissioner)
• Patricia Schader (commissioner)
10 • Brendan Pittman
• Reginald Burnette Jr
The Infrastructure Committee held four meetings in 2023 covering a total of 11 items. There was a break in th.e usual meeting schedule between January and July while the committee and OakDOT staff worked to re-establish in-person meetings in compliance with Brown Act requirements.
Items reviewed:
January 12, 2023 Slow Streets Update citywide
January 12, 2023 Adeline St Paving/Road Diet 3
July 6, 2023 East Oakland Neighborhood Bikeways Project 6,7 July 6, 2023 Oakland-Alameda Estuary Bridge Project 2, 3 September 7, 2023 Paving Project Review citywide
September 7, 2023 2023 On-Call Bikeway Striping Project citywide September 7, 2023 Broadway and MLK Streetscape Improvements 2, 3 November 2, 2023 San Pablo Avenue Parallel Bike Improvements 1 November 2, 2023 East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project 2,5,6, 7 November 2, 2023 Transit Supportive Design Guidelines citywide November 2, 2023 West Oakland Link 3
In 2023, the Infrastructure Committee has been successful in working with staff on:
• Continued coordination with OakDOT staff on new Slow Streets design guidelines, as an update to the Neighborhood Bike Routes implementation guide developed in 2021, and with an initial installation on 8th Street in West Oakland under construction as of 2023. • Coordination and design review of OakDOT major capital projects including Calm East Oakland Streets (previously called East Oakland Neighborhood Bikeways), the Downtown Broadway and MLK streetscape projects, the Lakeside Family Streets and 27th Street projects, as well as paving projects review. • Coordination and design review of Alameda County Transportation Commission-led major capital projects including the East Bay Greenway from Lake Merritt BART to the San Leandro border, and the Multimodal San Pablo Ave project from 16th Street to the Berkeley border.
• Coordination and review of projects and plans with other external partners including the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (West Oakland Link project), City of Alameda (Oakland-Alameda Estuary Bridge Project), and AC Transit (Transit Supportive Design Guidelines).
11 • Development of a new in-person meeting format in compliance with Brown Act requirements, while also recording and publishing audio and video from the meetings to provide a better record of the discussion and greater public access to information.
Recommendations going forward:
• Allow flexibility in the Fire Code to provide protected bikeways with adequate width. Restrictions on roadway clearance minimums as a result of Oakland Fire Department (OFD) requirements continue to impact protected bikeway design, resulting in narrow facilities that don't accommodate group riding or passing movements, or in some cases block the installation of protected bikeways altogether such as on Lakeside Dr from 14th to 17th Streets. These wider clearances also result in higher car speeds and reduced pedestrian safety at crossings. Though coordination between OFD and OakDOT is happening, there needs to be more flexibility to enable adequate protected bikeway design with a preferred minimum width of 7' for one-way facilities or 1 O' for two-way facilities.
Part of the issue results from old and tall, unsprinklered buildings in Oakland, which require OFD to be able to reach with ladder trucks. OakDOT and OFD should collaborate to create a map of these properties to know where the problem spots are, and Oakland should look into sprinkler retrofit programs and opportunities to address these known dangers proactively.
• Coordinate with state and regional agencies to support safe, local connections.
External agencies including Caltrans, Union Pacific, and others continue to delay or water down Oakland bike/walk projects, such as the San Leandro Creek trail project which would have provided the first car-free connection past the train tracks and 1-880 barriers in deep East Oakland, but which has now been shortened to end west of the freeway. Caltrans interchanges continue to be major bike/walk mobility impediments and hazard zones, which OakDOT has little authority over. We recommend that Oakland coordinate with state and regional partners to develop strategies or policy solutions to overcome these issues.
• Identify legislative or policy solutions to expedite paving. The passage of Measure U is enabling a record amount of repaving, along with street safety upgrade opportunities. We appreciate the coordination OakDOT is doing with us ahead of this work, but better access to information about planned repaving is needed so that members of the public can know where and how to engage. Delays in the paving schedule have also occurred due to Oakland's debt limit inhibiting more bond sales.
Legislative or policy opportunities should be sought to address this log jam. • Update the bicycle plan and the pedestrian plan. We recommend minor updates to Oakland's 2019 bicycle plan and the 2017 pedestrian plan in 2024, to incorporate work that has been completed since then as well as changes to design/policy standards and expectations. This is needed in order to identify network gaps and opportunities, and to stay competitive for grant funding.
• Enable hybrid meetings. The in-person meeting format, while in compliance with the Brown Act, provides less public access than the previous Zoom meeting format, especially since this committee meets during weekday daytime hours when many 12 members of the public are at work. We encourage the city to look into policy and resource needs in order to enable a hybrid format for more commission and committee meetings, not only city council sessions.
Policy & Legislative Committee
The Legislative and Policy Committee was formed as a venue to discuss and recommend policies to the full BPAC for consideration as well as to OakDOT staff and ultimately to the Oakland City Council. The committee met to discuss process and prioritization issues and policy issues of primary interest among committee members. Many issues of interest to committee members continue to be focused around road safety, particularly policies related to traffic calming.
Issues discussed by the committee include the revised fire code, the elimination of pedestrian call buttons, the reporting of information related to severe and fatal crashes, traffic signal timing, traffic calming planning and implementation, parking enforcement, and updates to the pedestrian plan. The committee initiated work on several of the issue areas identified by delegating to ad-hoc committees, including efforts to explore and potentially develop a "quick-build" policy for the city, a policy relating to traffic calming at intersections, and policies relating to the collection and availability of information following severe and fatal crashes.
Additionally, the committee has helped monitor progress on the proposed fire code revision and promote discussion of the issue at BPAC meetings.
Bicyclist and Pedestrian Police Relations Liaison
This liaison represents the BPAC at several events sponsored/promoted by OPD, such as by tabling at Toys for the Town and Trunk or Treat events. The liaison is interested in riding with new police officers .~o they can get to know the community by bicycle.
Ad-Hoc Recruitment Committee
This committee formed to recruit new commissioners. Committee members consist of both current and past commissioners as well as members of the public. They conducted a robust recruitment process including contacting City Councilmember offices and notifying stakeholder groups about the opportunity to join the BPAC. The Recruitment Committee held an Open House info session on August 23, 2023 at the Cesar Chavez branch of the Oakland Public Library in Fruitvale. Twenty-two people submitted applications. The committee put forward recommendations to the full BPAC. The recommendations were approved and forwarded to the mayor. We have requested that they be appointed and approved in time for the BPAC's January 2024 meeting.
Ad-Hoc Committee on Fire Code Amendments
This committee formed to discuss BPAC's planned response to the Oakland Fire Department's recommendations to the City Council Public Safety Committee regarding Appendix D of the City of Oakland's Fire Code
13 2023 BPAC Commissioner Biographies
Andrew Campbell, (District 1): Andrew has been a resident of Oakland since 2005. He is a daily bike commuter and enjoys exploring Oakland by bike and foot with his kids. He believes that with continued focus by the city and community, all parts of Oakland can become safe for walkers and cyclists of all ages and abilities. Before joining the BPAC, he served oil the steering committee of Grand Lake Neighbors. He is executive director of an energy policy research group at UC Berkeley.
Alex Frank, (District 4): Alex was born and raised in Oakland. His perspective includes a number of years living, walking, and riding bikes in other cities and countries around the world.
His educational background is in Economics, Public Policy, and Urban Development. He sees bicycles as one tool to help economically disadvantaged people gain a competitive edge and enjoy a fun, healthy way of getting around. His main focus is on road safety and assurance as a means to get people to try modes of transit outside of driving. His hope is this will help create more caring and thriving neighborhoods in Oakl5md. Through his work with the non-profit Campmobility.org he spends a great deal of time walking, riding and taking transit throughout Oakland, and East Oakland in particular. He is usually smiling and loves to meet new people, so feel free to reach out to him, or wave if you see him in your neighborhood.
Grey Gardner, Vice Chair (District 2): Grey is a District 2 resident living in the Eastlake area.
Having commuted to work by bike for over twenty years, he is eager to see Oakland's roads become increasingly safer and more comfortable for bicyclists and pedestrians. He served for • more than a decade as a public defender and presently works on drug policy and criminal-justice reform issues throughout the U.S.
Michael Lok (District 4): Michael Lok grew up in the East Bay, having been born at then-Merritt Hospital in Oakland (now Alta Bates Summit Medical Center) where both of his parents worked.
Having spent a lot of time in Oakland Chinatown as a teenager, Michael volunteered with Asian Health Services where he assisted in the Pedestrian Safety Campaign which led to the first pedestrian scramble systems in Oakland to be installed in 2002, that was a moment where Michael knew he wanted to focus on public service. After his education, Michael has spent his entire professional life working in Oakland focused on juvenile justice reform with the National Council on Crime and Delinquency and coordinating a student success program at Laney College. Almost 13 years since he was a youth volunteer at Asian Health Services, Michael joined the staff role to work on different public health advocacy projects.
Phoenix Mangrum (District 5): Phoenix has been a bicyclist since the age of 4. For over 10 years he has worked as a bike mechanic and bicycle safety educator with youth and adults. The focus has been teaching bike safety through the safe routes to schools program-elementary, middle and high school students. Phoenix also teaches a bike safety class for low-income adults who need a bike for transportation.
14 David Ralston (District 2): David works as policy advisor for the regional Bay Area Air District focusing on local health equity land-use planning, environmental justice policy, and community engagement around designing and implementing green infrastructure. David has also worked as a strategic planner and urban economic analyst for the City of Oakland's Redevelopment Agency helping to realize key bicycle/pedestrian projects such as Fruitvale Alive, the Laurel to Mills access project, and the San Leandro/Lisjan Creek Greenway. David enjoys working with local community and neighborhood groups as part of a larger goal to build out an accessible grassroots-led inter-connected citywide "green network" that reflects the culture and diversity of Oakland. David is an avid bicyclist and hiker when he is not at the Lake or relaxing at home with his family in District 2.
Patricia Schader, Vice Chair (District 7): Patricia grew up in East Oakland and currently resides in Deep East Oakland. When she moved back to Deep East Oakland the first item that she noticed was the lack of infrastructure. As an avid cyclist and runner, for every bike ride she would have to drive somewhere to ride because of the lack of infrastructure. However, she noticed other parts of Oakland have great bike lanes, walking paths and wide sidewalks with children in other areas on bikes in the bike lanes enjoying their bikes. She joined the BPAC to advocate to improve Infrastructure in East Oakland and bring equity and equality to the underprivileged citizens and the at-risk children in East Oakland.
Nick Whipps (District 6): Nick lives in District 6 and has been a member of BPAC since January 2022. He cares about Oakland bicycle & pedestrian equity and safety issues, especially in the Deep East.
Dianne Yee, Chair (District 3): Dianne is a transportation planner who grew up in the East Bay.
She attended UC San Diego where she saw that suburban land uses and limited transportation choices are unsustainable and inconvenient. She continued her studies at Portland State University and earned her Master in Urban and Regional Planning. She returned to Oakland to serve her community and because the Bay Area is home.
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