TO: TRANSPORTATION AND FROM: John Ristow
ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: MAJOR LOCAL TRANSPORTATION DATE: November 16, 2022
PLANNING REPORT
Approved Date
11/23/22
RECOMMENDATION
Accept a report on major local transportation planning efforts being implemented in San José.
BACKGROUND
San José has adopted ambitious transportation goals and policies in the Envision San José 2040 General Plan (General Plan) and Climate Smart San José (Climate Smart). These plans envision a sustainable and human-centered transportation system supporting a more equitable, environmentally sustainable, economically dynamic, dense, and transit-oriented city. The transportation goals and policies of the General Plan aim to increase bicycle, pedestrian, and transit travel while reducing motor vehicle trips, thereby increasing the City’s share of travel by biking, walking, and taking transit. The General Plan promotes San José as a “walking- and bicycling-first City” and calls for designing streets for people, not just cars, to support a diverse range of urban activities and functions.
Climate Smart builds on the General Plan’s vision. It assessed the climate implications of building out the General Plan and found that the General Plan alone is not enough to meet the City’s carbon commitments, let alone align with the decarbonization rates implied by the Paris Agreement. With 51% of San José’s greenhouse gas emissions coming from transportation, according to the 2019 greenhouse gas inventory assessment1 , Climate Smart doubles down on
the importance of a robust multi-modal transportation network to set the City on a path to meeting the Paris Agreement’s emissions reduction goals.
In November 2021, given the latest climate science from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)2 and going beyond Climate Smart goals, the City Council adopted a resolution setting an aspirational goal for San José to be carbon neutral by 2030, a commitment to reduce 1 City of San José. (2022). Pathway to Carbon Neutrality by 2030. 2 IPCC, 2022: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S.
Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press.
T&E AGENDA: 12/05/22
ITEM: d.4
TRANSPORTATION AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
November 16, 2022
Subject: Major Local Transportation Planning Report
our community’s net Greenhouse Gas emissions (from our transport, buildings, grid-supplied energy, industry, and treatment of waste) down to zero by 2030.
The General Plan and Climate Smart call for change to the transportation system on a significant scale. The City is rising to the challenge of these ambitious goals through Citywide strategic plans such as the Move San José Plan3, community-based plans such as En Movimiento4, and modal plans such as the Better Bike Plan 20255
. These plans clarify what must be done to reach
the City’s goals, meet community needs, and focus transportation project implementation efforts once they are adopted.
In 2022, numerous transportation planning efforts came to City Council for consideration, including:
• Emerging Mobility Action Plan (Apr 2022)6
• Move San José (Aug 2022)
• Transit First Policy (Aug 2022)7
• Downtown Transportation Plan (Nov 2022)8
• Updates to City Council Policy 5-1 (Transportation Analysis Policy) (Nov 2022)9 • Parking and Transportation Demand Management Ordinance (Nov 2022)10 • West San José Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan (scheduled for Dec 202211) The new planning efforts getting underway are the focus of the Transportation and Environment Committee report for December 2022.
ANALYSIS
3 Move San José Plan: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/transportation/projectsplanning/move-san-jose 4 En Movimiento Plan: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/transportation/planningpolicies/east-san-jos-mtip 5 Better Bike Plan 2025: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/transportation/walkingand-biking/better-bike-plan-2025 6 Emerging Mobility Action Plan: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departmentsoffices/transportation/projects-planning/emerging-mobility-action-plan 7 Transit Frist Policy: https://sanjose.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5738619&GUID=F9D16ABA-1D47- 463C-A10F-DAADB636FE23 8 Downtown Transportation Plan: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departmentsoffices/transportation/projects-planning/downtown-transportation-plan 9 Updates to City Council Policy 5-1:
https://sanjose.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5938565&GUID=B853F242-6022-49E8-9736- A7B4A58FBA7A
10 Parking and Transportation Demand Management Ordinance:
https://sanjose.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5938535&GUID=7F1860A2-AA13-4A0A-9A4EE293F93F91CA 11 West San José Multimodal Transportation Plan: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departmentsoffices/transportation/projects-planning/west-san-jos-mtip
TRANSPORTATION AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
November 16, 2022
Subject: Major Local Transportation Planning Report
The transportation planning team is embarking on the following efforts to continue creating the path for a transportation system that strives to meet the City’s ambitious goals:
• Move San José & Decision Support System (Phase 2)
• North San José Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan • Multi-Jurisdictional Stevens Creek Vision Study
• King Road Complete Street Study
• Santa Clara Street Transit and Streetscape Enhancement Study • Monterey Road Transit Priority Study & Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Feasibility Study
A. Move San José & Decision Support System (Phase 2)
Move San José is a strategic, data- and equity-driven citywide transportation plan that focuses the City’s transportation resources on the projects, programs, and policies that will most effectively meet the Climate Smart and General Plan transportation goals. Move San José was adopted by the City Council in August 2022 (https://gis.sanjoseca.gov/maps/movesj).
Move San José used an equity-centered outreach campaign to articulate the City’s transportation goals and develop data-driven strategies to address them. The data-driven strategies are informed by a Decision Support System that uses key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify needs around the city and will continue to monitor progress over time toward achieving the City’s transportation goals.
Building on the Decision Support System developed during Move San José (Phase I), the City, with its partner UC Berkeley’s Institute for Transportation Studies Smart Cities, will start work on Phase II of the Decision Support System in early 2023. It will be funded primarily through a Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant. Decision Support System Phase II will allow the City to define, evaluate and prioritize projects based on their potential impact on Decision Support System KPIs. Three main deliverables will be:
1) Decision Support System Potential Impact Assessment Model, to assess how proposed project(s) might affect relevant KPIs and thus contribute to the identified goal; 2) Decision Support System Effective Impact Assessment Model, to quantify the real impact of projects by comparing the effective KPI changes before and after each project’s implementation; and
3) Decision Support System Public Interface, to increase transparency and accountability.
B. North San José Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan The City creates Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan following or in parallel to Urban Village plans when they are called for to develop proposed transportation improvements addressing community needs and accommodating growth. The plans identify and prioritize transportation network designs, projects, and programs that improve safety, equity, access, and
TRANSPORTATION AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
November 16, 2022
Subject: Major Local Transportation Planning Report
the environment in consultation with the community. Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan design corridors and intersections to make walking, biking, and transit desirable.
1. North San Jose Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan North San José is expected to see the most significant housing growth in the City, with 97,000 new jobs and 24,000 new housing units planned. With the May 2022 retirement of the 2005 North San José Area Development Policy, staff recognized the need for a new plan in North San José – one based in community input with quick-build and long-term transportation improvements. This plan will identify a prioritized list of transportation programs and policies incentivizing sustainable travel for people who live, work, and enjoy north San José. The North San Jose Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan will capitalize on the recent retirement of the North San José Area Development Policy. The plan will address deficiencies in the current network – namely those for people taking transit, walking, and bicycling – and reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions.
The North San Jose Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan will be funded by the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant for FY 2022-23. A Request for Proposals will be released in the first quarter of 2023.
2. Berryessa Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan The Berryessa Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan is a companion transportation plan to the Berryessa BART Urban Village Plan. The Berryessa Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan uses advanced modeling techniques to inform a preferred transportation network. It establishes evaluative criteria and a prioritization method for projects, programmatic measures, and policies in the Study Area. The plan identifies more than 20 transportation improvement projects as well as programmatic measures, and policies. These efforts will support the existing demand and future growth in and near the Berryessa BART Urban Village, including the US-101/Mabury Rd-Berryessa Rd-Oakland Rd corridor improvement project. Transportation Demand Management programs such as free transit passes, parking pricing, and a transportation management association are also part of the plan.
Further work needed on the plan includes the final raking of projects and programs, the development of conceptual designs and implementation strategies, as well as a final round of public input. Work on this Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan will recommence in mid-2023.
C. Complete Streets Plans
The City, often in partnership with the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and/or neighboring jurisdictions, creates complete street plans for projects identified in Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan and other programs such as the Better Bike Plan 2025 and Vision Zero initiative. Through community-based planning processes, complete street plans identify design features that prioritize bicycle, pedestrian, and transit travel while still serving motorists and develop conceptual design and subsequent detailed design plans. Unlike area
TRANSPORTATION AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
November 16, 2022
Subject: Major Local Transportation Planning Report
plans, these corridor level design plans typically have enough information to accurately estimate construction costs and secure grant funding.
The following new corridor plans are under development:
1. Stevens Creek Boulevard Vision Study
The West San José Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan identified multiple needs along the Stevens Creek Boulevard corridor, including transit priority improvement (https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/transportation/projectsplanning/west-san-jos-mtip). Due to the shared jurisdictional borders in the corridor, implementing this project requires a coordinated and cooperative multijurisdictional approach to plan for its future. This will ensure the plan serves all stakeholders, including residents, businesses, and visitors, with safe, convenient, and practical multimodal mobility.
This study aims to develop conceptual design plans for the corridor.
In May 2022, the City Council directed staff to finalize multiple funding agreements with the County of Santa Clara, VTA, City of Santa Clara, and City of Cupertino to support the total study cost of $794,400. The inter-jurisdictional group, led by a steering committee of elected officials from the jurisdictions, will kick off this study in collaboration with the four agencies in December 2022.
2. King Road Complete Streets Study
The King Road transit-priority
improvement project (between I-280 and
Mabury Rd) is identified in En
Movimiento
(https://www.sanjoseca.gov/yourgovernment/departmentsoffices/transportation/planningpolicies/east-san-jos-mtip). The City secured Caltrans’ Sustainable
Transportation Planning Grant funding
($451,000) to conduct a complete street
study for the southern section of King Rd
between Capitol Expwy and I-280. The
study aims to develop conceptual design
plans for the southern section of King Rd,
complementing the northern section (En
Movimiento) to make King Rd, one of San
José’s highest bus ridership corridors, a
safer and more inviting place to walk, bike
and take transit, for historically underresourced East San José communities. A Request for Proposal was released in Figure 1 - King Road Complete Streets Plan Project Area B MTIP A d d f k l
TRANSPORTATION AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
November 16, 2022
Subject: Major Local Transportation Planning Report
April 2022 and the selection process was completed in August 2022; contract negotiations are underway. The study is expected to begin in early 2023.
3. Santa Clara Street Transit and Streetscape Enhancement Study Santa Clara Street Transit and Streetscape Enhancement is one of the "Big Moves" recommended in the Downtown Transportation Plan (https://www.sanjoseca.gov/yourgovernment/departments-offices/transportation/projects-planning/downtown-transportationplan). To implement this Big Move, the City will conduct a comprehensive complete street study to develop a preferred design alternative and roadmap for transforming the ‘main street’ of the city between White St and US-101 with a particular focus on the downtown core from White St to 9th St. The project seeks to lay the groundwork for a street that is a source of civic pride, one that effectively balances the competing desires that San José residents, workers, and visitors have for the street in the areas of transportation, commerce, and public space. The study will leverage significant investments being made along the street, both in the realm of public transportation (e.g., BART Silicon Valley Phase II, Diridon Integrated Station Concept, LRT, frequent bus service) and private development (Downtown West and other significant projects through the downtown core). The study is expected to begin in early 2023.
4. Monterey Road Transit Study & Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Feasibility Study In March 2022, the City and VTA began community engagement and design efforts to develop short-term, quick-build transit priority and safety improvements on Monterey Rd.
The study’s transportation analysis and design plans cover improved facilities such as dedicated bus lanes with protected bike lanes on Monterey Rd from Alma St to Ford Dr.
Additional enhancements to bus stops and intersections for safer pedestrian access to transit are also being explored.
Further south along Monterey Rd, the City of San José is partnering with several local agencies, non-profits, and jurisdictions, including the Peninsula Opens Space Trust, the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority, and the County of Santa Clara, to identify short- and long-term projects to increase the ability of wildlife to safely cross the Monterey Rd corridor generally between Metcalf Rd and Bailey Ave. This work will identify and describe future actions and designs, to support wildlife, such as deer, badger, mountain lion, and bobcat to cross the corridor and increase driver safety, including possible modifications to roadway medians, improvements to existing crossing infrastructure like culverts, and the creation of new specifically designed wildlife crossing structures. Key to the project's success is its coordination and inclusion of stakeholders, projects, and plans in and around the corridor like California Highspeed Rail, Union Pacific Railroad, and land use planning work concurrently being conducted near Coyote Valley by the Department of Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement.
TRANSPORTATION AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
November 16, 2022
Subject: Major Local Transportation Planning Report
COORDINATION
The memo has been coordinated with the City Attorney's Office. /s/
JOHN RISTOW
Director of Transportation
For questions, contact Ramses Madou, Division Manager of Planning, Policy, and Sustainability, Department of Transportation, [email protected], 408-975-3283.