Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Thursday, October 16, 2014 6:30 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Chair Jones called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. in the West Conference Room. ROLL CALL Present 7 - Vice Chair Kevin Jackson Commissioner John Cordes Chair David Jones Commissioner Richard Kolber Commissioner Margaret Okuzumi Commissioner Angela Rausch Commissioner Kyle Welch Council Liaison Dave Whittum (present) PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS David Simons, VTA BPAC, announced that the commission reviewed the Light Rail Efficiency Project and discussed potential impacts. He also announced the small percentage of funding the region received from the Transportation Program State Funding cycles and explained why the percentage was so small. Mr. Simons then announced that the next round of state funding will take place in the next eight to ten months and people who are involved in pedestrian policy can become reviewers of the application process. He explained the process. Vice Chair Jackson, Commissioners and staff introduced themselves to Commissioner Margaret Okuzumi. Vice Chair Jackson commented on a Study Issue proposed by the Community Development Department regarding parking, he updated the Commission on Legislative news including AB1193-Protective Bikeways, SB1183-Vehicle Registration Surcharge for Bicycle Infrastructure, AB2707-Three Position Bike City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 16, 2014 Commission Racks for buses that are 40 feet and smaller. He also announced that the California Traffic Control Devices Committee approved a new sign to help publicize the 3-foot passing law. Scott Lane, Silicon Valley Bike Coalition, reported he attended the Levi Stadium community planning meeting. He noted that 10 or 12 people spoke about the San Thomas Aquino Trail being closed and how that is in violation of the 2009 Environmental Impact Report. Mr. Lane then discussed topics on the agenda for the next meeting which will include the violation of the EIR, hours of closure for the trail, and parking issues. Chair Jones suggested to interested members to log on to the Cyclelicious website to follow comments on Levi's Stadium bike access. CONSENT CALENDAR 1.A 14-0786 Draft Minutes of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting of September 18, 2014 1.B 14-0995 2014 Work Plan Chair Jones asked for a vote to approve the Consent Calendar. Vice Chair Jackson moved and Commissioner Kolber seconded the motion to approve the consent calendar. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes 6 - Vice Chair Jackson Commissioner Cordes Chair Jones Commissioner Kolber Commissioner Okuzumi Commissioner Rausch No 0 Abstain 1 - Commissioner Welch PUBLIC COMMENTS Commissioner Cordes announced that he made two requests to the City in the last month for road improvements and both were taken care of within a couple of days. PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 14-0912 Approval of a Work Plan to Achieve the 2020 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets in the Adopted Climate Action Plan City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 16, 2014 Commission and Budget Modification No. 22 Chair Jones asked for a staff report. Gerri Caruso, Principal Planner, presented the staff report. She stated that in May 2014 the Climate Action Plan (CAP) was presented to the Commission and later adopted by Council. She then stated that Council asked staff to present the Work Plan for the Climate Action Plan to all Commissions. Ms. Caruso stated the purpose of the action plan. Melody Tovar, Regulatory Programs Division Manager, discussed the implementation of the work plan for the Climate Action Plan and gave specifics. She noted that Council asked how staff would monitor the progress of the CAP and she gave several examples noting that a budget modification would help pay for the same consultant team to develop the ongoing monitoring tool. Ms. Tovar then stated that staff will report to Council a progress report on a bi-annual basis. Ms. Tovar then spoke about funding the project and stated that the project will be funded by the general fund as well as enterprise funds and gave examples. Vice Chair Jackson referred to Alternative No. 4 on the report regarding residential energy and water audits and asked if there was any estimate on how much this would impact the effectiveness. Ms. Tovar responded that the energy audit component was quite small and noted that at this time a number was not assigned but that the goal is to match the number that was there or better. Vice Chair Jackson expressed his concerns and stated that if at all possible the numbers that the state required should be exceeded. He then thanked staff for all their work and stated that he would be supporting the recommendations. Commissioner Okuzumi referred to page 7, Activity CA-1.7, of the CAP Work Plan regarding Alternative Modes of Transportation as Safe Modes of Travel and stated that she was surprised to see Environmental Services as the lead department. She asked why the department of Public Works would not be involved. Ms. Tovar explained that the Environmental Services Department will be working closely Public Works on the Transportation side. Commissioner Okuzumi then referred to page 9, CTO-2.1 and 2.2, of the CAP Work Plan regarding bicycle parking and asked staff why the cost range to implement the two activities were listed as very high. She noted that it did not make sense to have them ranked as very high when the guidelines were already in place. Ms. Tovar stated that they would take a look at that and noted that it may have come from the overall measure development. City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 16, 2014 Commission David Simons, VTA BPAC, stated that a way to encourage home audits is to have an alternative to either pay a certain percentage transfer tax or you get the audit. Chair Jones asked for a motion. Vice Chair Jackson moved and Commissioner Kolber seconded the motion to approve Alternatives 1 through 5: 1) Approve the Climate Action Plan Work Plan 2020; 2) Approve the bi-annual CAP monitoring and reporting timeframe; 3) Approve the bi-annual CAP modification process; 4) Approve revised CAP action related to residential energy and water audits; and 5) Approve Budget Modification No. 22 to provide funding for the CAP tracking tool and for initial outreach for CAP implementation. Vice Chair Jackson stated that the Work Plan was really well thought out and appreciated Commissioner Okuzumi's points. He noted that he likes the fact that there are provisions for course corrections as it moves along. Commissioner Cordes stated that he did not know if the bi-annual update included looking at opportunities to accelerate various programs but hoped that as part of the modification recommendation that it is determined which programs could be pulled in faster. Ms. Caruso stated that if new technology or a new process becomes available it can be changed. Chair Jones stated that he was pleasantly surprised to read that a lot of the items discussed are being implemented already and supports the motion. Chair Jones thanked staff for all their work. Commissioner Welch referred to the matrix and asked staff when that matrix would be shared with the public because it is important that people see the progress. Ms. Tovar stated that City-Wide mechanisms are available but they currently do not have a prescribed way to get it out. Commissioner Kolber suggested getting information out through the Quarterly Report. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes 7 - Vice Chair Jackson Commissioner Cordes Chair Jones Commissioner Kolber Commissioner Okuzumi Commissioner Rausch Commissioner Welch City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 16, 2014 Commission No 0 NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Kolber commented on the Landbank Development approved by City Council and stated that interest was expressed to add a bike share station to the facility when the City approves the Bike Share Program. Commissioner Cordes also commented on the Landbank Development and stated that he was surprised to see that the City recommended against protective bike lanes. He asked if perhaps policy should be changed to encourage people to include protective bike lanes when they redevelop as oppose to not encouraging them to put in protective bike paths. Carol Shariat, Principal Transportation Engineer/Planner, stated that the City bike plan is followed and if there is a development coming up it is required of them to install protective bike lanes if shown in the bike plan. Commissioner Kolber stated that with the Landbank Development they are encouraging alternative transportation where they do not use cars. Mr. Simons suggested talking to a Planning Commissioner if it is something that should be a Condition on a project. He noted that after having a few projects influenced through the conditioning process it would have a lot of influence. He added that at city level, when something becomes a norm staff tends to incorporate it automatically while the same people are there. Vice Chair Jackson noted that standards have to be adopted before they go into effect before it is legal. He then added that BPAC used to review individual projects if there were significant bike facilities involved. He then noted that the Street Space Policies were adopted in 2008 and even though they do not talk about protective bike paths they talk about safety standards and suggested taking a look at those and perhaps revising some of those policies. Vice Chair Jackson announced that Fremont Avenue was recently torn up. He stated he rode his bicycle from Hollenbeck to HWY 85 and noted several problems that were not in compliance with the VTA Bicycle Technical Guidelines which included lane widths, lips on the driveways, lane markings, etc. He recommended that whoever approved the Temporary Traffic Controls for that project is referred to Chapter 4 of the VTA Bicycle Technical Guidelines and ask them to correct it. City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 16, 2014 Commission Vice Chair Jackson then asked staff if there was any progress on finding the final Pedestrian Study. Ms. Shariat responded that she has not been able to find the right person to tell her if a final version was produced. She stated she would follow-up with staff. Vice Chair Jackson then thanked staff for the copy of the Bernardo Undercrossing Feasibility Study. He expressed concerns with a lot of pending projects that were being worked on by the Traffic Manager one project in particular being the Lockheed Station Area Plan which was rescheduled for review in September but did not make it on the agenda. He asked if a new date had been determined. Ms. Shariat confirmed it was the Lawrence Station Area Plan and stated she would follow-up with a date. Commissioner Cordes asked BPAC if anyone belonged to the Steven’s Creek Trail -Joint Cities Working Team. No one from the Commission belongs to the team but referred him to the website: stevenscreektrail.insunnyvale.com. -Staff Comments Ms. Shariat reminded the BPAC members to pick up a copy of the Bernardo Undercrossing Feasibility Study on their way out. INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS 14-0994 Annual Reporting on Collisions Involving Pedestrians and Cyclists Commissioner Okuzumi announced that she participated in a webinar by the US Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. She stated that part of the webinar included how you look at crash data analysis. She then referenced the Annual Reporting Collision report under Information Only and recommended that the report go back a minimum of five years and map out the data so that they can see if there are any hot spots. She also suggested adding a few more fields in the report to include data that could help reduce incidents. Ms. Okuzumi gave other suggestions that could better the collision report. Vice Chair Jackson spoke about a new pedestrian and bicycle crash analysis tool and stated that he could send information to the Commission. He added that the tool has already received good reviews. Commissioner Rausch stated that in the past the Collisions Report has always been an Information Only item but asked the Commission if it should become a Study Issue. City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 16, 2014 Commission Commissioner Kolber asked if staff could add a geometric indicating where accidents are happening because currently the report indicates dates. Commissioner Cordes suggested putting a meeting together with Public Safety through staff to work on the issue since BPAC is trying to make safer bike routes to school. Councilmember Whittum noted that VTA has a lot of good data when it comes to applications and shared information regarding crossroads and Hot Spots County wide. Ms. Shariat stated that she would try to get the information in better format and graphically. Commissioner Okuzumi supported the proposing of a Study Issue because that would require collecting information that is not being currently collected. She then offered other suggestions on what kind of data could be collected. Ms. Shariat stated that every year there is a Caltrans highway safety grant that is used to improve intersections within the City where there have been accidents. Vice Chair Jackson asked Ms. Shariat to find out a description of what information is available and to make a determination on how to move forward. Chair Jones referred to the Collision Report under sobriety and asked staff if she knew what HNBD stood for. Ms. Shariat stated that she did not know what it stood for and would get back to the Commission. 14-0997 Proposed Study Issues for 2015 Vice Chair Jackson referred to Study Issue DPW 13-12 for Stevens Creek Trail and asked what the benefit would be for Sunnyvale acquiring it. He then referred to Study Issue DPW 15-05 for Safe Routes to School Maps and asked if they could have a phase implementation. He stated that he disagreed with staff commenting that parents already know the best routes for their children but simply do not use them. He then spoke about ways to make the Study Issue a lot less expensive. He then referred to Study Issue DPW 15-04 for Homestead Bike Lanes and stated that the Study Issue only mentions that they are available for certain hours but it does not say that it only applies on weekdays and not available at all on weekends. Referring to Study Issue DPW 15-02 he added that there is no mention under funding of doing a survey for on and off street parking. Vice Chair Jackson also stated that it would be important to mention that it would be essential for the safety City of Sunnyvale Page 7 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 16, 2014 Commission of commuters especially with the new apple building, a major corridor for elementary, middle, and high school students in that area, and for future Stevens Creek Trail users. Commissioner Okuzumi stated that she mostly agreed with staff recommendations on most of the Study Issue and referred to Study Issue DPW 15-05 Safe Routes to School. She stated that she agreed with Vice Chair Jackson in that parents will not necessarily know that best options for their child to be able to bike or walk to school. Ms. Okuzumi suggested starting with one school and using a map to try to see if parents find that helpful. She then referred to Study Issue DPW 15-03 Silver Level in the League for American Bicyclists and stated that she did not agree with spending so much money to hire a consultant because the criteria is pretty clear and perhaps a Commissioner or staff could spend some time and figure it out and follow the guidelines to achieve silver level. Commissioner Cordes asked for clarification on the Study Issue procedure and then asked what the consultant requirements were and why it cost so much to hire one. Ms. Shariat responded that the project is scoped out and they send it out for bidding and wait for the results and choose the consultant based on cost. 14-0996 Active Items List Vice Chair Jackson thanked staff for including the Active Items list on the agenda and was happy to see that a new item was added to the list. Ms. Shariat spoke briefly on the new item that was listed and stated that she attended the kick off meeting for the item and BPAC will have the opportunity to see a presentation on the item in February 2015. Commissioner Okuzumi asked staff why there were no qualifying Sunnyvale projects for TFCA 2014 cycle. Mr. Simons and Vice Chair Jackson gave an explanation of what you need to qualify and why it is so difficult to qualify. ADJOURNMENT Chair Jones adjourned the meeting at 8:25 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 8