TO: TRANSPORTATION AND
ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
FROM: Khaled Tawfik
John Ristow
SUBJECT: Vehicle Concerns and
Service Improvements Status
Report
DATE: April 28, 2025
Approved Date:
5/6/25
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the status report on the San José 311 Vehicle Concerns and service improvements that enhance prioritized outcomes and resident satisfaction, including updates on addressing school setbacks, oversized vehicles, and lived-in and rented vehicles.
BACKGROUND
As vehicle blight complaints rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council made addressing vehicle-related issues a priority for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2023.
These complaints often require multi-departmental coordination to provide outreach and services to those living in vehicles; maintain pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle safety; manage parking enforcement; and address trash and biowaste. To improve responsiveness and customer satisfaction, the Information Technology Department (ITD) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) launched a cross-departmental team—including the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services (PRNS), San Jose Police Department (SJPD), the Department of Housing, Planning, Building and Code Enforcement (PBCE), and the City Manager’s Office—to reimagine the City’s approach to customer reporting, complaint routing and resolution, customer communications, performance tracking, and customer service, resulting in the creation of the San José 311 (SJ311) Vehicle Concerns option and complementary department backend systems.
Prior to the launch of Vehicle Concerns, all vehicle-related issues reported through SJ311 under the service Abandoned Vehicles were directly integrated into DOT work streams and manually triaged. The new Vehicle Concerns service automatically triages T&E AGENDA: 5/19/25
ITEM: (d) 3
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
April 28, 2025
Subject: Vehicle Concerns and Service Improvements Status Report
and routes service requests. As shown in Figure 1 below, Vehicle Concerns service requests are now routed to one of five City departments based on information provided by the reporting party, including vehicle characteristics, vehicle condition, as well as the presumed use or activity in or around the vehicle. The triage and automated routing process ensures service requests are directed to the appropriate workstreams for review and investigation, eliminating the need for customers to understand the intricacies of City services or departmental workflows.
Figure 1: SJ311 Vehicle Concerns Triage and Department Distribution Previous updates and reports on the Vehicle Blight and Vehicle Concerns programs, as well as work efforts related to the regulation of oversized and lived-in vehicles, are outlined in Attachment A.
ANALYSIS
Through the first three quarters of FY 2024-2025 the Vehicle Concerns system has received, triaged, and routed 28,453 service requests submitted by the public through SJ311. An additional 5,949 vehicle investigations were initiated by parking compliance staff during citywide proactive abandoned vehicle patrols. Figure 2 below highlights the distribution of the 34,402 vehicle reports across the five responsible departments.
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
April 28, 2025
Subject: Vehicle Concerns and Service Improvements Status Report
Figure 2: Distribution of SJ311 Vehicle Concerns Requests by Program Through the first three quarters of FY 2024-2025, staff has continued to detect and address SJ311 system defects, developed and refined frontline work processes, and in September 2024, launched the Vehicle Concerns Dashboard. 1 Transportation – Parking Compliance
Between July 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025, approximately 81% of all Vehicle Concern public service requests were routed to DOT’s Parking Compliance Unit. These requests fell into one of three categories (Abandoned Vehicles, Extended Parking Stay Enforcement, or Illegal Parking) each with their own work stream, outcomes, and customer satisfaction scores.
Abandoned Vehicles
Reports of vehicles exhibiting specific characteristics such as missing or shattered windows, on jacks or blocks, missing wheels or tires, and inoperable vehicles (as defined by the California Vehicle Code), are investigated as potentially abandoned vehicles. Between July 2024 and March 2025, DOT has closed out 98% of the service requests initiated during this time, resulting in the towing of 1,810 vehicles (21% tow rate across all abandoned vehicle investigations).
The Abandoned Vehicles service delivery, including both service requests submitted by the public (3,059 or 34%) and those proactively initiated by the Parking Compliance Unit (5,949 or 66%), is the most impactful method for removing blighted vehicles from city streets. Figure 3 below highlights the outcomes of the Abandoned Vehicle caseload. 1 SJ311 Vehicle Concerns Dashboard
https://311.sanjoseca.gov/?page=shell&shell=reports-dashboard&reports-dashboard=reports-dashboard-vehicle-concerns
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
April 28, 2025
Subject: Vehicle Concerns and Service Improvements Status Report
Figure 3: Distribution and Outcome of SJ311 Vehicle Concerns Abandoned Vehicle Service The SJ311 system triages and assigns service requests to the appropriate departmental workstream and has had a positive impact on customer satisfaction scores compared to the prior intake and routing method. Figure 4 below illustrates the improvement in customer satisfaction, comparing the previous Abandoned Vehicle program (blue bars), which concluded with a satisfaction score of 37%, to the current Vehicle Concerns model (orange bars), which has achieved average quarterly satisfaction scores ranging from 54% to 67%.
Figure 4: Abandoned Vehicle Customer Satisfaction Trends Extended Parking Stay Enforcement (EPS)
In August 2023, DOT expanded a pilot program focused on investigating vehicles reported as being stored on public streets for extended periods of time (at least 10 Source Cases Initiated &
Closed
Tows Tow Rate
PCU - Proactive Patrol 5,949 1,334 22%
Public - SJ311 2,841 476 17%
* In addition to the 2,841 closed cases, there are 116 Open Requests and 102 In-Progress cases as of 4/29/25 Abandoned Vehicles
*
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
April 28, 2025
Subject: Vehicle Concerns and Service Improvements Status Report
days) but not meeting the Abandoned Vehicle program investigation criteria. 2 The
Extended Parking Stay (EPS) Pilot Program is staffed with three (3) full-time contract staff and one (1) full-time parking compliance officer, a staffing level that was programmed to facilitate approximately 10,000 vehicle investigations annually. EPS has quickly become the largest volume of work within the Vehicle Concerns service delivery (See Figure 2) with 14,336 service requests received through the first three quarters of FY 2024-2025 and is on pace to receive approximately 19,000 service requests in FY 2024-2025. The increasing volume of EPS service requests continues to outpace resources, resulting in turnaround timelines that extend beyond the 21-day closeout goal, with 14% of cases requiring 21 days or more to complete. Additionally, during the first three quarters of 2024-2025, when responding to EPS service requests, officers found the vehicle no longer parked in the location it was originally reported approximately 51% of the time. This equates to nearly 10,000 annual unproductive field visits that expend valuable field resources. Through March 2025, EPS investigations have resulted in the issuance of 897 parking citations and the towing of 18 vehicles.
These outcomes demonstrate that most vehicle owners move their vehicle on their own or are responsive to warning notices. The overall tow enforcement rate of vehicles investigated through the EPS program is 0.012% (1/10th of 1%). This extremely low enforcement rate is in stark comparison to the enforcement rate of the Abandoned Vehicle Program tow rate of 21%.
Service delivery timelines, in combination with a low tow rate that does not meet customers’ desired outcomes, have impacted EPS customer service ratings with only 30% of customers rating the service as “Good” or “Very Good.” Illegal Parking
Launched with the SJ311 redesign in March 2024, the SJ311 Vehicle Concerns program allows users to submit instances of illegal vehicle parking, including potential violations of no-parking zones, red curbs, and fire hydrants, as well as vehicles blocking bike lanes and crosswalks. While DOT is not currently resourced to provide an ondemand response to individual illegal parking concerns, illegal parking reports are collected, aggregated over time, and used to inform parking enforcement staff deployments.
Through the first three quarters of FY 2024-2025 DOT received 5,619 illegal parking reports. Staff continues to analyze this data at regular intervals to better understand and identify areas of the city where certain types of illegal parking behaviors are of concern and modifies proactive safety patrols to accommodate temporary increased patrol frequency in the identified areas.
2 Vehicle Abatement Program Info
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/transportation/parking/vehicle-abatement
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
April 28, 2025
Subject: Vehicle Concerns and Service Improvements Status Report
“No Overnight” and “No Large Vehicle Parking” Restrictions School Pilot Throughout 2023 and 2024, the City Council and various Council committees heard items related to concerns around oversized vehicles, vehicle blight, and lived-in vehicles parked on city streets. In response to an increase in the number of oversized vehicles, such as recreational vehicles (RVs) parked for extended periods of times on public streets near schools, Council approved ordinances and resolutions authorizing the removal (towing) of vehicles parked in violation of the Large Vehicle Parking and Overnight Parking restrictions within 150 feet of three pilot schools. 3 After completing the required engineering analysis, outreaching with the impacted school, and coordinating with individual council offices parking restrictions were installed, and warning flyers were distributed to vehicles parked within the new tow enforcement zones. Following the initial warning period, the zones were incorporated into Parking Compliance Unit routine citywide patrols allowing for a check of the zones approximately every 14 days. Since enforcement began in August 2024, one vehicle has been towed, and no significant violations of the posted restrictions have been observed.
Oversize and Lived-In Vehicle Enforcement (OLIVE)
DOT’s Parking Compliance Unit focuses on addressing congregations of oversized and lived-in vehicles parked on city streets near sensitive areas through the recently launched Oversized and Lived-In Vehicle Enforcement (OLIVE) program. The OLIVE program was established to mitigate the environmental and safety concerns associated with such vehicles parked on city streets. This program is supported by a $1.6 million budget allocation that enables DOT to:
• Identify areas impacted by oversized and lived-in vehicle parking; • Establish temporary tow-away zones to facilitate clean-up and encourage vehicles to relocate; and
• Assess the feasibility of permanent parking restrictions at select locations.
A citywide inventory of oversized and lived-in vehicles, conducted between AugustOctober 2024, identified over 2,000 vehicles, with approximately half presumed to be lived-in, distributed across 400 sites. The 400 sites were analyzed to identify the 30 most impacted areas based on the size of the congregations of lived-in vehicles, blight, and proximity to sensitive areas like schools, parks, and waterways. Program 3 May 21, 2024 – City Council: Resolution Authorizing the Removal of Vehicles Parked in Violation of Lage Vehicle or Overnight Parking Restrictions on Identified Streets
https://sanjoseca.primegov.com/Portal/viewer?id=0&type=7&uid=b1505661-063d-4afe-85d2-0ce2236ab4bc
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
April 28, 2025
Subject: Vehicle Concerns and Service Improvements Status Report
information including inventory results and status updates on the implementation of the 30 priority sites can be found on the OLIVE dashboard4.
Temporary tow-away zones are established and enforced for approximately one month at each site, allowing for vehicle relocation, trash clean-up, and street sweeping.
Vehicles that do not voluntarily move out of the temporary tow-away zone are subject to towing. Since OLIVE field work began in January 2025 through April 2025, DOT has identified 681 vehicles parked across 20 OLIVE sites (see Figure 5 below), of which 167 were presumed lived-in RVs/trailers. Through engagement and enforcement efforts, 157 RVs/trailers voluntarily relocated, while 10 were towed for non-compliance.
Vehicle Type Vehicles Identified
at OLIVE sites
# of Vehicles
Towed Tow Rate
Presumed Lived-in RV's & Trailers 167 10 6%
Personal/Passenger Vehicles 514 12 2%
Figure 5: OLIVE Program Summary (January – April 2025)
Beginning in FY 2025-2026, DOT will expand the OLIVE program to annually address 50 sites citywide. DOT is currently finalizing its second oversized and presumed lived-in vehicle inventory, which will be used to identify the initial 25 sites for implementation in the first half of FY 2025-2026. DOT anticipates briefing council offices on vehicle inventory findings and potential site selection in June. A follow-up inventory will be conducted mid-year to determine the additional 25 sites to be addressed during the third and fourth quarters of FY 2025-2026.
Additional details on how partner city departments address Vehicle Concern service requests are outlined in Attachment B, including the Housing Department’s approach to reports of lived-in vehicles and PRNS’s response to trash and biowaste concerns.
Information Technology
ITD recently launched the new Vehicle Concerns Dashboard5. As part of this initiative, staff analyzed customer satisfaction data, leading to the implementation of an enhanced survey method designed to capture more actionable feedback. The new survey focuses on understanding customer satisfaction around outcomes, timeliness, and communication. It also disaggregates satisfaction scores based on the complexity of the service request and differentiating between city departments. This approach aims to 4 OLIVE Dashboard
https://csj.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/portfolio/index.html?appid=b44b50f968b94695a3d5530b3b365121
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
April 28, 2025
Subject: Vehicle Concerns and Service Improvements Status Report
provide a more detailed understanding of customer satisfaction and drive improvements in responsiveness.
As shown in Figure 6 below, the dashboard displays:
• the volume of requests and their status’,
• outcomes of service requests,
• high level and focused drill down of customer satisfaction data, and • the time taken to resolve service requests.
Users can filter the data by date, council district and program type. The dashboard also includes a map of the service request outcomes across the City where users can input an address and search for Vehicle Concerns activity around the location.
Figure 6: Vehicle Concerns Dashboard
COORDINATION
The Vehicle Concerns initiatives have been coordinated with the Information Technology Department; Department of Transportation; Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department; Housing Department; Planning, Building and Code Enforcement; Office of the City Attorney; San José Police Department; and the City Manager’s Office/Communications Office.
/s/ /s/
Khaled Tawfik John Ristow
Chief Information Officer Director
Information Technology Department Department of Transportation
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
April 28, 2025
Subject: Vehicle Concerns and Service Improvements Status Report
For questions related to Vehicle Concerns Service Deliveries, please contact Arian Collen, Division Manager, Transportation, at [email protected] For questions related to SJ311, please contact Namrata Batra Agrawal, Product and Projects Manager, Information Technology, at [email protected]
ATTACHMENT
A. Vehicle Blight and Related Program Updates, Reports and Future Work B. Individual City Department Approaches to Addressing Vehicle Concern Service Requests