Sunnyvale Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

August 18, 2005

Staff Reports

Consent Calendar Items

1.A) Draft Minutes from July 21, 2005

Attached (Attachment 1).

1.C) 2005 Calendar

Attached (Attachment 2).

Public Hearings/General Business

2.       Study & Budget Issue Development 

This is the scheduled initial discussion of the 2006 study and budget issue candidates for the BPAC. Study and budget issues are the City’s way of dealing with issues requiring considerable staff and/or financial resources to address, i.e. special studies, new capital projects, etc. Study Issues alert Council to policy issues they will be asked to consider during the next calendar year. Budget issues alert Council to possible service level increases of either an on-going (budget supplement) or one-time (budget modification) nature. The BPAC has an opportunity each year to propose a list of issues it feels are important to be addressed. The City Council considers issues from all City Boards and Commissions, citizens, Council members, and staff, and prioritizes them. Approved issues then form a major portion of the City’s work program for the following year.

The following are the results of the 2005 Study Issues that were submitted by the BPAC.

Continuing Items

1.     Borregas Avenue Bicycle Corridor

2.     Pedestrian Safety and Opportunities Study

Ranked Study Issues

1.     Bicycle Map Revision (2)

2.     Bicycle Plan Update (2)

3.     Update Corner Vision Triangle Ordinance ( 6 - below the line)

4.     Policy for the Allocation of Street Space (7 – below the line)

5.     Design Standards for Bike Lanes Adjacent to On-Street Parking (10 – below the line)

6.     Plan Line Study for Increased Bike Space (11- below the line)

Deferred

Dropped

1.     BPAC Review of Major Sidewalk and Bike Lane Closures

2006 Study Issue Proposals (ideas developed throughout the year)

1.     Stevens Creek Trail Access – revision of existing city policy

There committee also requested that some recommendations from the MTC Collision analysis be included as study Issue.

1.     Standardize collection of bicycle and pedestrian counts.

2.     Reevaluate and expand hazard reporting mechanisms

3.     Revise level of service guidelines to promote bicycle safety

4.     Review and modify existing educational materials

5.     Expand enforcement of the “zero-tolerance” policy for driver violation of pedestrian safety

6.     Create more extensive crosswalk policy

7.     Research wrong-way riding collisions

At this time, please suggest any new study issues to be considered. Study Issue Papers will be developed for review at the September 15, 2005 BPAC meeting and ranking at the October 20, 2005 BPAC meeting.

In November, City Council will hold a public hearing for all proposed Study and Budget Issues. The public hearing is held to gather public comment and is an opportunity for the Boards and Commissions to address the Council on their issues. The Council at this time can introduce new issues based on public comment and also request that issue papers be revised. 

In December, about 2 weeks after the public hearing, the City Council holds a Study and Budget Issue Workshop. At the workshop, the Directors present the issues and the Council has the option to drop, defer or rank the issues. Based on these rankings, a Tentative Council Meeting Agenda Calendar is prepared for the next calendar year and is presented for Council approval in mid-January.

3.     Bike Plan Update Scope of Work

The Sunnyvale Bicycle Plan states that the goals, policies and action statements contained in the Bicycle Plan should be reassessed and updated every 5 years.  The current Bicycle Plan was completed in 1993.  There have been many bike improvements and changes within the last 10 years that should be reflected in the current bike plan.  In addition, many of the goals, policies and action statements have been implemented, or should be revised in order to more effectively meet the needs of the bicycling community in Sunnyvale. The following is a draft outline for the content of the Bicycle Plan. The plan is scheduled for completion in June 2006. Please review the draft Scope of Work Outline. Staff recommends that the committee approve the Scope of Work.

Scope of Work

1.     Bicycle Plan Functions

a.     Encourage Bicycling in Sunnyvale for transportation and recreation.

b.     Define policy for bicycling in Sunnyvale.

2.     Community Conditions - Bicycling in Sunnyvale Existing conditions and Characteristics - Who, What, Where

a.     Bicycle ridership information (CIP counts, Census Data, Caltrain and VTA ridership statistics, School information)

b.     Bicycle Collision Analysis (incorporate MTC TAP info).

c.      Who is bicycling in Sunnyvale, characteristics of different types of riders (recreational, commuter, children)

d.     Land use patterns

e.     Bike Map and suitability ratings

f.       Design Standards for bicycle facilities

g.     Bicycle rack survey

h.    Traffic signal detection discussion

i.       Discussion of existing educational and safety programs

j.       Discussion of goals achieved from the previous plan

3.     Identification of Needs and Deficiencies

a.     Sunnyvale Bicycle Network defined

b.     Develop Safe Bicycle Routes to Transit and School

c.      Explore recreation bicycling opportunities

d.     Develop Safety and Education programs that will address issues from the collision analysis.

e.     Review of BPAC functions and responsibilities

4.     Update Capital Improvement Program removing completed projects from the program, reevaluating revenue sources, updating costs.

5.     Identify Goals, Policies and Action Statements

4.              Bike Map Update – Bicycle Suitability Ratings

The Sunnyvale Bike Map Update will include an update of the “Suitability Ratings”. The suitability rating system is a method of evaluating various routes across the City for their suitability for bicycle travel. It is designed to help bicyclists choose a route that best suits their skill level. Currently these are broken into beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. See current bike map for an example. Suitability ratings for all collector and arterial streets within the City must be updated. The City is collecting, compiling and analyzing data that will asses the following factors, and determine the suitability ratings for each street segment:

1.     Speed

2.     Width of outside travel lane and roadway geometry

3.     Average Weekday Daily Traffic Volume

4.     Curbside friction, including number of driveways and the presence of on-street parking.

Item #4 – Curbside Friction is a Subjective Measure that relates to the bicyclists perception of conflict points along a given roadway. A high degree of curbside friction would require increased riding skills and awareness.

The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee is being asked to provide a rating for curbside friction that will be included in the determination of suitability ratings.

At the August 15, 2005 meeting, BPAC members will be asked to agree on a side friction rating for each of the streets included in Attachment 3. A map of all the streets is also included for reference as Attachment 4. At the August 15, 2005 BPAC meeting, please come prepared to assign a rating for as many of the streets as possible.

The Rating system will be based on:

1.     The frequency of driveways along a route

2.     The presence of on-street parking

3.     Perception of potential for conflict and discomfort

Rankings can range from 1 to 5.

1 = very little side friction

5 = high degree of side friction

5.              Results of the Study for Wolfe Road Bicycle Treatment  

On June 1, 2004, the City Council awarded a contract for the construction of a capital project, Connect North and South Sunnyvale for Bicyclists.  This project, among other elements, featured the installation of a relatively new traffic control device called a “shared use arrow” or “sharrow” on Wolfe Road between Maria Lane and Old San Francisco Road. The intended purpose of the installation was to construct bicycle improvements on Wolfe Road therefore increasing motorist’s awareness of bicyclists and encourage motorists and bicyclists to share the roadway. This device had not been implemented in Sunnyvale previous to this project.  To address concerns of the bicycling community, the City Council directed staff to return to Council in one year to report on how the new system is working.

Staff has completed an evaluation of conditions before and after implementation of the sharrows. The report is included as Attachment 5. The report concludes that the devices appear to have notably affected cyclists’ behavior in a positive manner, and may have had a moderate affect on driver speeds. Driver perceptions of the devices are extremely positive.

What is a Sharrow?

A shared use arrow, or sharrow, is an on-pavement legend of a cyclist surrounded by a directional arrow (Figure 1).  The legends are placed in the outside travel lane, centered or slightly offset to the right of the lane.  The devices are intended to bring awareness to motorists and bicyclists that the lane is to be shared by both modes of travel. In addition, they are intended to discourage wrong way bicycling, bicycling on the sidewalk and bicycling in the door-zone of a parked car. Sharrows are a bike facility alternative when a separate bicycle lane is infeasible or undesirable to be installed.

Sharrows were first identified as a possible traffic control device for implementation in Sunnyvale in the Sunnyvale Bicycle Opportunities Study.  This study gives guidance for the completion of a citywide bicycle network and was approved by the City Council with the BPAC’s support in 1998. Sharrows are also included as a possible traffic control device in the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Bicycle Technical Guidelines. This document was developed in 1999 and is intened to be a guide for local agencies (such as Sunnyvale) in the planning, design and maintenance of bicycle facilities.

Figure 1: Shared Lane Marking

Sharrows have been used on an experimental basis by several jurisdictions across the country since the 1990’s.  In 2003 the City of San Francisco, in cooperation with the California Uniform Traffic Control Devices Committee (CTCDC), conducted an extensive study of sharrows and their effectiveness.  This study was closely monitored by City of Sunnyvale staff.  A final report published in February, 2004 concluded that the devices “…improved both motorists and cyclists position in the roadway…” and “….reduced sidewalk and wrong way riding.”  City staff’s position was that the devices could and would be installed on an experimental basis, based on the successful history of use in other cities.  The San Francisco study served to support this position.

Subsequent to completion of the San Francisco report, the CTCDC, which is the formal approval body for traffic control devices in California, took up consideration of sharrows as a formal traffic control device.  The CTCDC formally approved sharrows as a traffic control device in the State of California in August, 2004, just prior to installation of the devices in Sunnyvale.

Sunnyvale’s installation on Wolfe Road utilized the City of San Francisco recommended device and lane positioning.  This positioning was adopted by the CTCDC in August 2004 with the additional guidance that the “The spacing may be increased or decreased based on judgment. On streets with down grades, higher speeds or wide parked vehicles the distance from the curb lane may be increased beyond 3.4 m (11 ft)”. The City further augmented the on-pavement legends with overhead signs stating “Share the Lane” between car and bike symbols. 

Results of the Sunnyvale Installation

City staff and an engineering services firm conducted before and after studies of driver and bicyclist behavior on the segment of Wolfe Road in question.  The engineering firm’s analysis is included as Attachment 5.  A number of metrics were measured including:

·        Vehicle Speeds

·        Traffic Volume

·        Vehicle Lane Changes

·        Number of Bike Trips 

·        Position of Bikes in Roadway

·        Collision Data 

Additionally, a survey of motorists’ post-project perceptions of the sharrows was completed.  Mail back cards were distributed to 300 motor vehicles on Wolfe Road in late July 2005 between 12:00 PM and 8:00 PM. The surveys were intended to measure (1) whether drivers believe Wolfe Road is safer as a result of the treatments and (2) which treatments are most effective.

The results of these investigations found that several conditions did not significantly change pre-and post-project.  However, some notable findings were made as a result of the study, namely:

·        The devices appear to have notably affected cyclists’ behavior in a positive manner by significantly reducing riding on the sidewalk.

·        The devices may have had a moderating affect on driver speeds.  85% speeds dropped a full 2 miles per hour.

·        Driver perceptions of the devices are extremely positive.  The driver survey found, with a statistical significance to plus or minus 10 percentage points, with a confidence interval of 90 percent, that 60% of drivers believe the devices increase safety, 75% of drivers believe the devices increase awareness, 67% believe the combination of signs and markings is effective, and 88% believe the City should retain the devices.

Additionally, field observations by the engineering firm and City staff found that no unsafe motor vehicle “swerving” (to avoid bikes) was observed during the surveys. Due to the width of the curb lane, motor vehicles either (1) change lanes, (2) straddle the stitch line, or (3) stay in the curb lane to pass bikes.  A driver’s decision to choose one of these options depends on the position of the bike in the curb lane, the proximity of parked vehicles, and the proximity of other motor vehicle traffic. However, since there were few bikes on the study segment during the observations, it is difficult to draw a conclusion as to whether the treatments resulted in better conditions for bikes.  It was the opinion of the engineers in the field that conditions, from the perspective of a cyclist, were generally unchanged as a result of the treatments.      

At this time, staff requests that BPAC provide input on the sharrow devices as representatives for the bicycle community in Sunnyvale. This information will be included in the update to City Council in September.

Information Only Items

1.     Approved June 16, 2005 Meeting Minutes

Attached (Attachment 6).

2.     BPAC Active Items Report

Attached (Attachment 7).

3.     BPAC Email 

Attached (Attachment 8).