City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: Transportation
Meeting Date: June 2, 2025
Report #:2503-4455
TITLE
Adoption of a Resolution Approving the Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Safety Action Plan as Recommended by the Policy & Services Committee
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt the Resolution approving the Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Safety Action Plan (Attachment A) as recommended unanimously by the Policy & Services Committee.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report presents the Final Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Safety Action Plan (Attachment B) and associated resolution (Attachment A), including a summary of how public, Policy & Services Committee, and Council comments were incorporated to shape the final plan. The Plan positions the City for federal roadway safety funding eligibility by aligning transportation planning with the Safe System Approach, identifying safety focus areas and a High Injury Network, and selects a target date for elimination of fatal and serious injury collisions of 2035.
A planning level estimate to add treatments to the 22.2-mile High Injury Network is approximately $7.8 million, for which the plan prioritizes grant funding from federal and state sources.
BACKGROUND
Federal Highway Administration requires City to have a Safe Streets for All (SS4A) compliant plan in order to be eligible for certain federal funding, Therefore, in late 2023, the City of Palo Alto and its consultant, Fehr & Peers, began the SS4A Safety Action Plan. Council received two subsequent informational reports about the SS4A Safety Action Plan; the first introduced the planning effort and provided background on the Safe System Approach while the second provided an overview of the collision analysis and stakeholder engagement (Staff Report 2309-
2039).1 The Draft Safety Action Plan was presented at a Council study session on March 3, 2025, and included a draft resolution stating the City’s commitment to the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries while acknowledging tradeoff decisions in pursuit of this goal. A summary of board, committee, and commission (BCC) feedback accompanied the report (Staff Report 2409-3522)2
Safety Focus Areas
Analysis of the 1,132 injury collisions that occurred during the 5-year period from 2018 through 2022 found that speeding was the number one reported cause of crashes in Palo Alto. Using a map-based analysis to plot crash data along with contextual information on roadway characteristics, the project team identified seven collision profiles that each represent 6-15% of the most dangerous collisions, those resulting in fatalities and severe injuries, also known as KSI collisions. There were 47 KSIs during the 5-year study period. The seven Safety Focus Areas are:
1. Alcohol Involved
2. Drivers on Residential Arterials
3. 90-Degree Angle Conflicts
4. Pedestrians on Arterials at Night
5. Minors Riding Bicycles
6. Pedestrians on Major Downtown Streets
7. Walk and Roll Routes Crossing Higher Stress Streets
Project Purpose
The primary focus of this plan is to identify - and in so doing, become eligible for funding for - proactive, citywide opportunities to improve safety for all road users in support of eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries by a target year. This Plan complies with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) SS4A requirements for a safety action plan3 and will confer eligibility for implementation funding from the annual $1 billion Safe Streets for All federal funding program as well as state grants that require such a plan, such as the Caltrans Highway Safety Improvement Program which awarded $299.6M to jurisdictions around the state in 2025.
Relationship to Other Plans
The Safety Action Plan (Attachment B) is a policy document for all modes of travel, using a safety lens to evaluate existing plans and proposed projects, ultimately setting the City up to 1 City Council, November 27, 2023; Agenda Item #18; SR #2309-2039, https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/api/compilemeetingattachmenthistory/historyattachment/?historyId=36025 c95-52b1-4da0-bc8b-fad9df86f7e8 and City Council, April 29, 2024; Agenda Item #3, SR #2404-2839, https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/api/compilemeetingattachmenthistory/historyattachment/?historyId=79d7c 1d2-b1a1-4eb9-acca-039fab91
2 City Council, March 3, 2025; Agenda Item #2; SR #2409-3522, https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=7195&meetingTemplateType=2&comp iledMeetingDocumentId=13287
3 US Department of Transportation, SS4A Action Plan Components, https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-06/SS4A_Action_Plan_Components.pdf institutionalize a new safety framework. By contrast, the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan (BPTP) Update focuses on bicyclist and pedestrian needs, identifying new projects, and building off the policy framework identified in the Safety Action Plan. As shown in Figure 1, the Safety Action Plan sets the policy foundation for transportation planning while the BPTP Update designates networks and facilities for implementation. Specific or Area Plans, like the upcoming San Antonio Road Area Plan, will prepare more detailed land use and transportation designs for implementation.
Figure 1: Relationship of the Safety Action Plan to Other Plans
ANALYSIS
Key Themes Raised in Public Review
The Draft Safety Action Plan was published on the City’s website on December 13, 2024.4 Staff distributed information about the Draft Plan through the City’s project website5 and citywide communication channels and by presenting at the boards, committees, and commissions (BCCs) noted in the Stakeholder Engagement section below. Public comments were accepted via the project website and email through March 15, 2025. Staff consolidated over 300 individual comments received from the community, BCCs, City departments, and Council, noting the following key themes:
A. Significant support for the resolution, plan, and specific initiatives such as the Rapid Response Team, Speed Management, and the Quick Build program B. Support for education to remain a key effort in the City’s roadway safety work C. Concerns about lighting related to night-time crashes D. Requests to prioritize daylighting treatments at sites with higher numbers of pedestrians and bicyclists, such as schools and the Bryant Street Bike Boulevard 4 Draft SS4A Safety Action Plan,
https://www.paloalto.gov/files/assets/public/v/1/transportation/projects/ss4asafety-action-plan/palo- alto_public-draft-safety-action-plan-121624.pdf
5 Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Safety Action Plan website, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/Departments/Transportation/Transportation-Projects/Safety-Action-Plan
E. Requests to better integrate Safe Routes to School (SRTS) education and encouragement programs into the plan
F. Requests to include the forthcoming San Antonio Road Area Plan G. Requests for a target year of 2035 for eliminating severe injuries and fatalities H. Requests to include development of regulations for minors riding e-bikes The Final Draft incorporates these comments except for Theme H about regulating minors on ebikes. At this time, only Marin County is able to restrict the use of e-bikes by minors as a pilot program due to special authority granted to it by the State.6 Target Date Discussion
For consistency with Federal funding requirements from the SS4A Self-Certification Eligibility Worksheet7, this item includes a resolution with a policy that commits to eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries by a specific target year. When the project was first brought to BCCs and shared with Council via informational reports, the zero-goal year was identified as 2030.
Discussions with stakeholders and City staff identified that more time would be needed to align internal processes and protocols and implement safety projects. This starts with more systematically addressing key risk factors and barriers to safety that exist in Palo Alto and fortifying the City’s commitment to make design, maintenance, and operation decisions in alignment with the Safe System Approach. Given the policy, planning, design, and implementation needed to create a roadway system that is self-enforcing and proactively reduces speeds, staff recommends that Council identify a zero-goal year of 2035 or 2040 with Final Plan adoption. The Resolution in Attachment A uses the target year of 2035 based on feedback from Council in March, but it is at Council’s discretion to choose a different year.
Policy and Services Committee Discussion
The Final Draft Safety Action Plan was reviewed by the Policy and Services Committee on May 13, 2025,8 endorsing it unanimously with a 2035 target date and making no other changes.
However, there was extensive discussion about the possibility of regulating minors’ use of e- bikes (specifically the motorbike kind of e-bike). As noted above, state legislation would be required before the City could move forward on this. Per Committee feedback, City's legislative liaison staff will work with the City’s legislative advocates to determine opportunities for the City in this area as the opportunities regarding legislation may occur beyond this current state legislative session. OOT staff will provide any updates regarding legislative advocacy in the forthcoming Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan Update. 6 See CVC 21214.5,
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH§ionNum=21214.5 7 Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Self-Certification Eligibility Worksheet, https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2024-02/SS4A-FY24-Self-Certification-Worksheet.pdf 8 Policy and Services Committee, May 13, 2025; Agenda Item #1; SR # 2504-4514, https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=7952&meetingTemplateType=2&comp iledMeetingDocumentId=14240
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
The FY 2025 Transportation and Parking Improvements Project (PL-12000) has the associated grant revenue and expenses for the development of the Safety Action plan budgeted, with no additional budgetary action required. It is anticipated that the study’s cost of $200,000 and grant revenue of $160,000 will be fully expended and reimbursed (respectively) by the end of FY 2025. Additional information regarding the initial project cost, grant funding, and associated budget amendment can be found in Staff Report 2305-1525.9 Future projects will be funded via the City’s various Transportation Capital Improvement Programs as resources allow. In addition, staff will seek grants to support Safety Action Plan projects. A rough estimate of the cost to design and construct quick-build projects is $350,000 per mile, based on City of San Jose experience, inclusive of community engagement and education. The City’s ’High Injury Network‘ is 22.2 miles, comprised of roads operated by the City, the County, and Caltrans. A planning level estimate to add treatments to the entire network is approximately $7.8 million. As quick build projects are for demonstration purposes and last for short- and medium-term duration, additional costs would be incurred once permanent improvements were scoped and designed based on the data generated by the quick build configurations.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Community Engagement for Plan Development
Chapter 2 of the plan details the community engagement conducted. Since Fall 2023, engagement opportunities included an online survey, an interactive web-based map, and tables at Bike Palo Alto and the May Fete Fair. For each phase of outreach, the project team met with the following BCCs: the City/School Transportation Safety Committee (CSTSC), the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee (PABAC), and the Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC). The Human Relations Commission (HRC) received one presentation on January 9,2025.
As noted in the Background section, informational reports sharing interim deliverables and summarizing committee feedback were provided to the Council for each phase of the project, and BCC feedback on the Draft Safety Action Plan was included in the March 3 Council report.
Safety Action Plan Task Force
Ongoing stakeholder engagement is required for the implementation of the Safety Action Plan.
Rather than create a new body to oversee plan implementation, staff propose to use existing BCCs staffed by the Office of Transportation: the City/School Transportation Safety Committee, the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee, and the Planning and Transportation 9 City Council, June 19, 2023; Agenda Item 35; SR #2305-1525, https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=2511&meetingTemplateType=2&comp iledMeetingDocumentId=7329
Commission. Plan progress and collision data would be shared with the three bodies that would make recommendations to the City Council about Plan activities.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Recommendation to adopt the plan and resolution is is statutorily exempt from CEQA under Public Resources Code section 21080.20.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Resolution Approving the Safe Streets for All Safety Action Plan (the Safe Streets for All Safety Action Plan is attached to this Resolution) APPROVED BY:
Ripon Bhatia, Interim Chief Transportation Official