From: David Hunt
To: City Council (San Mateo)
Subject: Local Roadway Safety Plan Comments
Date: Monday, April 15, 2024 2:46:05 PM
Attachments: BUILT ENVIRONMENT.png
Hello council, two thoughts on the LRSP to be discussed this evening. Please don't hesitate to reach out on either topic. I would love to discuss further with all of you!
1. No Right Turn On Red (No RTOR) specifically for our Downtown Core We currently have Lead Pedestrian Intervals (LPI) in our Downtown Core. The LPIs allow for visibility and safety of pedestrians while walking downtown which is unique compared to other areas I've visited on the peninsula. As the LRSP mentions No RTOR is another low cost and high impact option in addition to our current LPIs for making our Downtown Core even safer for all users (drivers, pedestrians, etc...). San Francisco has studied this change extensively and found that in areas where they were implemented No RTOR 92% of motorists compiled with No RTOR, “close calls” between cars and people walking decreased by 80%, and cars blocking or encroaching crosswalks during a red light decreased more than 70% [1]. Similar results in Washington DC showed a 97% decrease in conflicts between cars as well [2]. This policy helps create safer streets for all users including drivers and would be a common sense and low cost option for making our Downtown Core even more amazing! Multiple cities in the United States have approved and/or implemented No Turn On Red policies — some of which are citywide policies, some are specific areas — including New York City, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Washington, District of Columbia, and Ann Arbor Michigan. [1] https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and- documents/2022/04/tenderloinntor factsheet 0.pdf
[2] https://ite.ygsclicbook.com/pubs/itejournal/2022/may-2022/live/index.html/#p=41
2. Safe Systems Pyramid
As you are considering different options for making our streets safer and more accessible please keep the Safe Systems Pyramid in mind. Safe Systems approaches are mentioned in the document for discussion tonight but not this detail which I find helps pull apart the impact and expectations we should have for different approaches.
Two examples (stolen from [3] if you want more detail):
An individual-level strategy is encouraging people to drive a safe speed via education campaigns (billboards, radio ads) and the threat of getting speeding tickets. These have some, but not widespread, deep and lasting impacts.
A population-level strategy would be road designers physically separating people driving from people walking and biking wherever possible with fully separated,