REPORT TO PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Santa Clara Vision Zero Project Introduction and Discussion
Report
COUNCIL PILLAR
Enhance Community Engagement and Transparency
BACKGROUND
Vision Zero is a strategy aimed at eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while also promoting safe, healthy, and fair mobility for everyone. Vision Zero recognizes that people will sometimes make mistakes, so the road system and related policies should be designed to ensure those inevitable mistakes do not result in severe injuries or fatalities. Vision Zero is a multidisciplinary approach, bringing together diverse and necessary stakeholders to address this complex problem.
The objective of developing and implementing a Vision Zero Plan is listed in both the City’s Bicycle Plan and Pedestrian Master Plan. In December 2023, the City Council received Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant funding from the Federal Highway Administration to establish a Santa Clara Vision Zero Plan (Plan). On May 28, 2024, the City Council approved an agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. for professional services for the Santa Clara Vision Zero Plan.
The Plan kicked off in July 2024. This effort will involve extensive community engagement and a thorough citywide safety analysis to identify the most frequent types, locations, severity, and demographics of collisions in Santa Clara. The Plan will develop a collision countermeasure toolbox, which will include programmatic measures and roadway improvements that address traffic safety issues. Additionally, the Plan will identify a priority list of potential traffic safety improvements and implementable actions to guide the City’s efforts to achieving Vision Zero.
DISCUSSION
The development of the Plan will be built upon the framework of a Safe Systems approach. The U.S. Department of Transportation adopted the Safe System Approach as a guide to address roadway safety. Compared to the traditional approach, the Safe System approach anticipates human mistakes and emphasizes collaboration across all safety stakeholders. The approach includes six principles:
1. Death and serious injuries are unacceptable.
2. Humans make mistakes.
3. Humans are vulnerable.
4. Responsibility is shared.
5. Safety is proactive.
6. Redundancy is crucial.
The Plan will include the following components and activities:
1. Leadership Commitment and Goal Setting: Identify a goal and timeline with either a target date for achieving zero roadway fatalities and severe injuries, or an ambitious percentage reduction of roadway fatalities and severe injuries by a specific date with an eventual goal of eliminating roadway fatalities and severe injuries.
2. Strategic Planning: Establish a working group or similar body that guides and advises the Plan development, implementation, and monitoring.
3. Policy and Process Changes: Assess current policies, plans, guidelines, and/or standards to identify opportunities to improve how processes prioritize transportation safety.
4. Safety Analysis: Systemic and data-driven analysis of existing conditions and historical collision trends that provides a baseline level of crashes involving fatalities and serious injuries in the city. Based on the analysis performed, a geospatial identification of higher-risk locations is developed, also known as a High-Injury Network.
5. Collaboration and Community Engagement: Robust engagement with the public and relevant stakeholders including the community groups, that allows for both community representation and feedback. Information received from engagement and collaboration is analyzed and incorporated into the Plan.
6. Equity Considerations: Identify underserved communities and vulnerable population. Analysis includes both population characteristics and initial equity impact assessments of the proposed projects and strategies.
7. Strategy and Project Selections: Develop a countermeasure toolbox and a comprehensive set of projects and strategies that will address the safety problems described in the Action Plan. There are two major categories of project/program recommendations: (1) strategies and programmatic measures for Engineering, Education, and Enforcement; and (2) project prioritization or location-specific engineering recommendations. These strategies and countermeasures focus on a Safe System Approach, effective interventions, and consider multidisciplinary activities.
8. Strategies for Implementation and Evaluation: Identify next steps to implement the priority projects and programmatic measure and how to measure the progress in the Plan. The measurement of progress over time will be done after a Plan is adopted by the Council.
Stay Involved in the Project
The project team will engage the public in plan development through online surveys, interactive mapping, community workshops and pop-up events, and via the City’s communication channels. Staff will provide a verbal report on project overview, schedule, and upcoming community outreach activities.
An online survey is open for community input on where they experience traffic safety issues: <https://engagekh.mysocialpinpoint.com/SCVZ>. Senior Advisory Commission members can visit the project webpage link and subscribe for project updates at <http://SantaClaraCA.gov/VisionZero>. The project team encourages the Senior Advisory Commission to provide feedback and participate in the online survey and community workshop.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(5) in that it is a governmental organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Senior Advisory Commission’s agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall Council Chambers. A complete agenda packet is available on the City’s website and in the City Clerk’s Office at least 72 hours prior to a Regular Meeting and 24 hours prior to a Special Meeting. A hard copy of any agenda report may be requested by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at (408) 615-2220, email clerk@santaclaraca.gov <mailto:clerk@santaclaraca.gov> or at the public information desk at any City of Santa Clara public library.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Note and file the Santa Clara Vision Zero Project presentation.
Staff
Written by: Nicole He, Associate Engineer
Reviewed by: Dale Seale, Deputy Parks & Recreation Director
Approved by: Cynthia Bojorquez, Assistant City Manager and Acting Director Parks & Recreation