a publication of the
Mineta Transportation Institute
College of Business
San José State University
San José, CA 95192- 0219
Created by Congress in 1991
MTI REPORT F- 08- 01
A TOWN HALL MEETING ON OUR BICYCLE SAFETY
CRISIS
February 2009
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February 2009
MTI
There is no doubt that due to rising fuel costs, more people have turned to their bicycles as an economical and
environmentally- friendly mode of transportation. The increased bicycle traffic on our roads and streets has brought
an unfortunate rise in accidents between cyclists and motor vehicles.
One of the most effective ways to address this problem is to increase awareness in motorists and cyclists. With that
awareness comes action and possible solutions. One of the best ways to increase awareness is to create an open
forum in the “ town hall” format. This forum, “ A Town Hall Meeting on Our Bicycle Safety Crisis,” held on June
28, 2008, in San José, is the first step in identifying our problems and ultimately creating recommendations and
solutions.
Bicycle commuting; Bicycle
facilities; Bicycle riders;
Bicycle routes;
Transportation planning
72
F- 08- 01
A Town Hall Meeting on Our Bicycle Safety Crisis
by Mineta Transportation Institute
All rights reserved
To order this publication, please contact the following:
Mineta Transportation Institute
College of Business
San José State University
San José, CA 95192- 0219
Tel ( 408) 924- 7560
Fax ( 408) 924- 7565
E- mail: mti@ mti. sjsu. edu
http:// transweb. sjsu. edu
Copyright © 2009
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Mineta Transportation Institute thanks the following individuals and organizations for
their cooperation in planning and presenting “ A Town Hall Meeting on Our Bicycle Safety
Crisis,” which was presented on June 28, 2008 in San José, California. This publication has
been created from the event’s transcript and has been edited for clarity.
Thank you to each of our presenters and panelists for making the time in their busy schedules
to share their knowledge and expertise, including: Chris Augenstein, Deputy Director of
Planning for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority; John Brazil, Bike/ Pedestrian
Program Coordinator, City of San José; Dr. Gloria Duffy, CEO, Commonwealth Club of
California; Carl Guardino, CEO, Silicon Valley Leadership Group; Will Kempton, Director,
Caltrans; Linda Jackson, Canadian Olympic cyclist and Sporting Director of Team TIBCO
elite women’s pro cycling; Ian McAvoy, Chief of Development, Caltrain; Therese McMillan,
Deputy Executive Director for Policy, San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation
Commission; the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, Secretary of Transportation ( retired); Chuck
Reed, Mayor, City of San José; Bijan Sartipi, Regional Director, Caltrans; and Corinne Winter,
Executive Director, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition.
MTI also thanks our event cosponsors, including the Commonwealth Club of California, the
California Department of Transportation ( Caltrans), Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Caltrain,
the City of San José, Friends of the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens, the San Francisco Bay
Area Metropolitan Transit Commission, the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, and the Santa
Clara Valley Transportation Authority.
Special recognition must be given to the liaisons from each of the sponsor organizations. These
dedicated individuals served as expert advisors to help plan the event and set the agenda. They
all worked diligently with MTI staff, including Executive Director Rod Diridon,
Communications Director Donna Maurillo, and former MTI Communications Director Leslee
Hamilton, in planning and producing this event.
MTI would also like to recognize staff members for their contributions to both the program
and to this document, including Student Graphic Artists Israr Qumer and Sahil Rahimi, and
Director Maurillo for editorial management. Thanks also to Meg Dastrup for transcription
services and to Editorial Associates Frances Cherman and Catherine Frazier for editing this
publication.
Mineta Transportation Institute
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 5
KEYNOTE SPEAKER WILL KEMPTON 11
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 25
PANEL DISCUSSION 31
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS PANEL SESSION 53
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS 71
ii Table of Contents
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iii
LIST OF FIGURES
1. Dr. Gloria Duffy 5
2. San José Mayor Chuck Reed 7
3. The Honorable Norman Y. Mineta 8
4. Carl Guardino 9
5. Will Kempton ( left) at the 2008 Million Mile Month in Sacramento 14
6. Highway 9 ( Saratoga- Los Gatos Road) and Austin Way 21
7. MTI Executive Director Rod Diridon 33
8. Bijan Sartipi 34
9. A bicyclist in downtown San José 35
10. Therese McMillan 43
11. Carquinez Bridge bike lane 45
12. Corinne Winter 47
13. Linda Jackson 53
iv List of Figures
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1
FOREWORD
With the increase in gasoline prices and a growing desire to reduce engine emissions, people
are increasingly turning to the bicycle as a means of transportation. However, inexperienced
riders are not always aware of the dangers and special considerations involved in cycling
through urban traffic. In a collision between a cyclist and a motorist, it’s the motorist who has
the advantage. As a result, cycling injuries and fatalities have been increasing not only in
California, but also throughout the United States.
Public safety and transportation agencies, community organizations, elected officials, and
citizens- at- large are rightly concerned about this disturbing trend. They want workable ways
to address it while continuing to encourage people to leave their cars parked. Consequently,
this Town Hall Forum was created to bring the community together, present the facts, and
discuss possible solutions. The Mineta Transportation Institute plans to offer additional
meetings as a follow- up to this first event.
MTI is grateful for the many people who are concerned enough to address this problem with
public discussions and information exchanges. Along with those individuals and organizations
recognized in the Acknowledgements, I also thank those individuals who worked as liaisons
between MTI and their organizations. The product of their efforts is this most informative
forum and ultimately this report.
The Mineta Transportation Institute has three primary functions— research, education, and
information transfer. It is in the role of information transfer that we are fulfilling, along with
the event cosponsors’ efforts to organize and present this forum. We hope that this edited
summary will contribute to an understanding of the issues facing bicycling advocates and
transportation planners and policy makers, all of whom are working toward the best possible
solutions to the future transporatation needs of California and the United States.
Rod Diridon, Sr.
Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute
2 Foreword
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3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
There is no doubt that due to rising fuel costs, more people have turned to their bicycles as an
economical and ecological- friendly mode of transportation. With the increase of bicycle traffic
on our roads and streets has been an unfortunate rise in the number of incidents between
cyclists and motor vehicles.
A major way to address this problem is to increase awareness in motorists and cyclists, and
with that awareness comes action and possible solutions. One of the best ways to increase
awareness is to create an open forum in the “ town hall” format. This forum, “ A Town Hall
Meeting on Our Bicycle Safety Crisis,” is the first step in identifying problems and ultimately
creating recommendations and solutions.
On June 28, 2008, the Mineta Transportation Institute ( MTI), along with several state and
local transportation policymaking and bicycle advocacy organizations, presented this public
forum at San José’s City Council Chambers. Cosponsoring organizations include the California
Department of Transportation, Caltrain, City of San José, Friends of the Guadalupe River Park
& Gardens, San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Silicon Valley
Bicycle Coalition, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and Santa Clara Valley Transportation
Authority.
Over the past 10 years nearly 200 Bay Area bicyclists have been killed and more than 25,000
injured, according to the California Highway Patrol ( CHP). During that same time, Santa
Clara County had the highest number of fatalities and injuries per capita compared to the nine
other Bay Area counties.
The city of San José has a fine record of bicyclist safety, but even one death ( cyclist versus
automobile) per year is unacceptable. San José boasts 150 miles of bike lanes on its city streets
and 50 miles of creek trails and other places for cycling aficionados to enjoy.
Welcoming words were given by Dr. Gloria Duffy, CEO, Commonwealth Club of California;
Chuck Reed, mayor of San José; the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, secretary of transportation
( ret.); Carl Guardino, president and CEO of Silicon Valley Leadership Group
The keynote address was given by director of Caltrans Will Kempton. Moderator for the
keynote speaker’s question and answer session was Carl Guardino.
Panel discussion members included Chris Augenstein, deputy director of planning for Santa
Clara Valley Transportation Authority; John Brazil, bike/ pedestrian program coordinator, City
of San José; Linda Jackson, Canadian Olympic cyclist and sporting director of Team TIBCO
elite women’s pro cycling; Ian McAvoy, chief of development at Caltrain; Therese McMillan,
deputy executive director for policy, San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation
Commission; Bijan Sartipi, regional director, Caltrans; and Corinne Winter, executive director,
4 Executive Summary
Mineta Transportation Institute
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. Moderator for the panel discussion was Rod Diridon,
executive director of MTI.
Each speaker shared information about proposals for regional and statewide bicycle
improvements and policy changes that would favor and encourage bicycling as an alternative
to automobiles. The audience, including interested community members and bicycling
advocates, asked numerous thought- provoking questions that let policymakers in attendance
better understand what the biking public desires for increasing safety and usability between
transportation modes.
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5
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
DR. GLORIA DUFFY
Good afternoon, everyone. The clock has struck one, and we have a marathon event this
afternoon, so I think we’d better get started. Welcome to the Commonwealth Club Silicon
Valley’s Bicycle Safety Town Hall Meeting. I’m Gloria Duffy, president and CEO of the
Commonwealth Club.
Today, we are here to discuss a very important topic— how we can make the roads safer for
both cyclists and motorists. Too many bicycle- versus- car accidents are occurring in the Bay
Area, and of course, it is an uneven match when the two come into contact, with cyclists being
the ones injured or killed at what have become alarming rates, especially in Silicon Valley.
According to the California Highway Patrol, 200 cyclists have been killed and 25,000 injured
in the nine Bay Area counties over the past decade.
Figure 1 Dr. Gloria Duffy
Two trends are coming together to produce this dangerous result: The increasing distraction of
motorists due to cell phones, sleepiness, iPods, kids in the car, and so many other activities;
and the increasing number of cyclists on the roads for sport or commuting. As gas prices
skyrocket and our concern about climate change deepens, it is wonderful that more people are
taking to their bicycles for transportation. But this means that the cyclist– motorist safety
problem is likely to get worse. This is why we decided to organize today’s forum— not only to
bring attention to the issue, but also to spur a quest for solutions.
6 Welcome and Introductory Remarks
Mineta Transportation Institute
A major way to address the problem will be to increase education and awareness for both
motorists and cyclists, but there are serious questions as to whether awareness will be enough.
It’s clear that we must also consider changes in public policy, possibly licensing cyclists;
perhaps physically separating roadways and bikeways, as some European countries do, and I’m
sure there will be other ideas from our keynote speaker and our panelists.
Today’s forum is only a start, and we hope it will stimulate not only awareness, but also action
on the part of policy makers, activists, and interest groups. What we have planned for today is
a presentation by Caltrans director Will Kempton, with questions and answers from the
audience moderated by Silicon Valley Leadership Group president and CEO Carl Guardino.
Then we will move to a broader panel discussion with representatives of cycling groups,
transit agencies, and other experts, which will be moderated by my husband, Mineta
Transportation Institute Executive Director Rod Diridon.
A very big thanks to all of our cosponsors today, and there are many of them— the Mineta
Transportation Institute, Caltrans, Caltrain, the City of San José, Friends of the Guadalupe
River Park and Gardens, the San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transit Commission, the
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and the Santa Clara
Valley Transportation Authority.
A special welcome to any Commonwealth Club members who are here. We’re over 18,000
strong in the Bay Area— people committed to ongoing discussion of important local, regional,
national, and international issues in ways that set the stage for better public policy. For those
of you who are not members, please consider joining today so your voice can be heard on the
questions that matter to you and our society. Your membership helps to support the 100
programs we hold in Silicon Valley every year, as well the Club’s far- reaching radio, Internet,
and television broadcasts. If you join today, you will receive a special discount, which our staff
can tell you about at the membership table outside.
Now please join me in welcoming our host for today, San José Mayor Chuck Reed.
MAYOR CHUCK REED
Thank you, Gloria. I’d like to welcome the Commonwealth Club to San José, a city that takes
riding a bike seriously. We have 150 miles of bike lanes on our city streets, 50 miles of creek
trails and other places for bicycles to ride, and we will double those numbers over the next few
years because we want more people riding bicycles. I am looking forward to getting the results
of this forum; we are especially interested in the policy recommendations that might come out
of it.
Mineta Transportation Institute
Welcome and Introductory Remarks 7
Figure 2 San José Mayor Chuck Reed
San José has a great record of public safety in this area. Our serious injuries in auto crashes are
half the national average, yet last year, we had 37 deaths by automobile. About half of those
were pedestrians and cyclists, and, while that’s more than the number of homicides we had, it
is still too many deaths and too many injuries. We look forward to working on those issues,
and we have staff here that do that, day in and day out. Our department of transportation and
our police department work to bring those rates down and to keep our streets safe and keep our
cyclists, in particular, safe.
We are anxious for any new ideas and suggestions that people have. So thank you for coming
to our city hall. Hope you have a great time here. You’ve got a bunch of great panelists and
lots of experts, and I’m anxiously looking forward to the results. Thanks for coming!
DR. GLORIA DUFFY
Thank you very much, Mayor Reed, and thank you for giving us this beautiful space to meet
in today. Now I’d like to introduce a special surprise guest. No stranger to San José, of course.
Please welcome the former Secretary of Transportation, former mayor of San José, former
Congressional leader representing San José, the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta.
THE HONORABLE NORMAN Y. MINETA
Thank you very much, Dr. Duffy, and thanks to all of the co- sponsoring organizations for
today’s bicycle safety meeting. I was the proud author of the Intermodal Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, ISTEA, in which we introduced, for the first time,
federal funding for bicycle paths, rails- to- trails and a number of other programs, at the great
insistence of my good friend and colleague, Congressman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota.
8 Welcome and Introductory Remarks
Mineta Transportation Institute
Figure 3 The Honorable Norman Y. Mineta
Jim came to me and talked to me about putting an element in the ISTEA legislation as it
relates to bicycling. He’s an avid bicycler— probably does 110, 120 miles a weekend— and so I
put the provision into that bill. But, as this symposium is all about the safety of bicycling, it is
important that we put our attention to whether it’s the engineering aspects or the educational
aspects of cycling, but today we are really dealing with the safety aspects of bicycling. How do
you get the mix of modes into our travel system and yet make sure there is safety? So I want to
thank the Commonwealth Club, Dr. Duffy, and Carl Guardino for being today’s moderator,
and Will Kempton for offering the keynote presentation, and all the participants of today’s
panel, in bringing this hot focus on bicycle safety. As Dr. Duffy stated, with energy prices
increasing and with the increasing awareness of greenhouse gases, we really know there’s going
to be an increase in bicycling. We’ve got to make sure that the safety element is part of that
major focus as we see this phenomenon occurring.
Thanks to all of you for being here today and participating, and for coming up with ideas to be
able to make the whole issue of bicycling and intermodal transportation a safety issue. Thanks
a million.
DR. GLORIA DUFFY
Thank you, Secretary Mineta, and we’re especially honored to have you with us today. You’ve
done so much as a leader with the foresight to promote multiple modes of transportation in
Mineta Transportation Institute
Welcome and Introductory Remarks 9
the U. S., anticipating the day when we would be faced with the type of environmental and
price crisis we are facing today. So it’s thanks to you that we have a diversity of transportation
modes.
Now it is my pleasure to welcome the moderator for our first session, Carl Guardino, who, in
addition to being president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, is an avid cyclist
who promotes cycling for health and environmental purposes personally and through his
organization. He is a real trouper to be here today— he’s thrown his back out, and he jokes that
he’s still on two wheels. We’re very happy to have you, Carl, and I’m pleased to turn the
program over to you.
CARL GUARDINO
What an honor it is to be here with Norman Mineta in the audience. Thank you again, Mr.
Cabinet Secretary, for being here.
Mayor Reed, thank you for your “ Green Vision” and the tremendous work that you are doing
here in San José.
Dr. Duffy, thank you. I join you in welcoming all of the participants in our town hall meeting
this afternoon.
Figure 4 Carl Guardino
I had a bit of a mishap five days ago. I’d like to say that I was saving children from a burning
building, but you’d probably find out that wasn’t the case. But I was putting on my cycling
shoes when my chronically bad back went out again, and here I am, five days later.
10 Welcome and Introductory Remarks
Mineta Transportation Institute
As CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and one of 11 members of the California
Transportation Commission, I feel it’s imperative that we all find constructive ways for
cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists to co- exist in safety and in security. When a car and a
cyclist collide, the car is often dented, and all too often, the cyclist dies. No one wins in that
scenario no matter who was at fault. So we need to move forward in a way that funds more bike
and pedestrian facilities but also encourages everyone on two wheels to obey all the laws in the
streets.
I think all of us in this room are cyclists, and I know you’re as discouraged as I am when we see
people without their helmets, running through lights, and not obeying the traffic signals, as
well as the discouragement cyclists have when cars are not paying as much attention as they
should be when we’re on bikes. We can all do better, and that’s why we’re here today.
During today’s program, we’re going to have time for your questions, so please write them
down on the question cards that you should have been provided. Members of the
Commonwealth Club staff and volunteers will be collecting them throughout the program
and bringing them to me so that we can ask those questions of Director Kempton.
Please now join me in welcoming our distinguished speaker, Will Kempton, the director of
Caltrans, who will offer some insight into what can be done to make the roadways safe for all
of us who use them.
Director Kempton’s career in transportation began with Caltrans in 1973, where he held
management positions in the area of finance and in the director’s office and was appointed as
assistant director in charge of Legislative and Congressional affairs. Over the course of Will’s
career, he also served as executive director of the Santa Clara County Traffic Authority Measure
A of 1984, delivering three major road improvements on time and on budget. After that, he
was the City Parks and Recreation commissioner and assistant city manager for the city of
Folsom.
In 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger had the wisdom and good judgment to appoint him as the
director of the California Department of Transportation, and he’s responsible for managing the
day- to- day operations of California’s vast state transportation system, including more than
50,000 lane- miles of state highways stretching from Mexico to Oregon and from the Pacific
Ocean to Nevada and Arizona.
As director, Will oversees an annual operating budget of more than $ 13.8 billion, with 22,000
employees and $ 10 billion in transportation improvements currently under construction. He
is the man who accomplished the awesome feat of rebuilding and reopening the MacArthur
Maze on I- 580 in an amazing 26 days last year after a tanker- truck fire caused it to collapse.
Equally impressive, he is an avid athlete and marathon runner with a personal best of three
hours and five minutes, which, for those of us who are runners, is lightning fast, and for me
today seems even faster. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming a great friend to
Silicon Valley, the leader of the California Department of Transportation, Mr. Will Kempton.
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11
KEYNOTE SPEAKER WILL KEMPTON
WILL KEMPTON
Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure to be here, and thank you very much for the invitation to
appear before this group. Mayor Reed, what a great facility you have here. Having spent a lot
of time in the Silicon Valley and going to a lot of council chambers around the area, I have to
tell you this is the premier facility of any that I can recall. In fact, I think this would compare
with any local governmental council chamber in the state of California, and, believe me, I have
been to a lot of them.
I do want to also thank Secretary Norm Mineta for his words, and I also want to recognize his
contribution to transportation. He certainly has been a mentor to me, and a great, great asset
to not only Silicon Valley and the State of California but also to this nation, in terms of his
service. Norm, it’s great to see you here today.
You may wonder why Norm is in town. We were having a meeting today of the Board of
Trustees of the Norman Y. Mineta Transportation Institute, a division of San José State
University’s College of Business, just one of the university transportation centers around this
country that receive substantial research dollars. As director of the State Department of
Transportation, I can tell you we rely heavily on these university transportation centers for the
kind of research that we need to support our program. There is no other center that has done
the amount of work for us, and been as contributory, as MTI has.
Of the 15 Transportation Management masters and certificate program students graduating
this evening, I think eight of the graduates are Caltrans employees. It gives us a great
opportunity to be able to move our employees through a complete training program,
including an opportunity to earn a master of science degree in transportation management.
Finally, I want to recognize our district director, Bijan Sartipi, and our chief deputy director in
District 4, Dan McElhinney. I appreciate your coming out on a Saturday. It tells folks that we
truly are interested in the subject matter. I am honored to be here and hope to take you
through a rather informal discussion of some of the issues that I see facing bicycle commuting
in this state and how we might move forward in the future.
At Caltrans are trying to change our transportation bureaucracy to a mobility company. We
are really trying to be more responsive; I hope you have seen the change. Even those of you
that don’t have a lot to do with state government, I hope you’ve seen some better service out
on the roadway. I know there are a lot of problems out there. We’re scrambling to invest our
dollars wisely with the help of Commissioner Guardino as a member of the State
Transportation Commission. We’re trying to get more money out on the street to effect the
changes that are necessary, and I’m sure we’re going to talk a little bit about that funding as it
relates to bicycle commuting and recreational use. But I just wanted to give you a couple of
examples of things that we have under way.
12 Keynote Speaker Will Kempton
Mineta Transportation Institute
First of all, the month of May was Bicycle Commute Month, and Caltrans in Sacramento and
across the state participated in that program. In the Sacramento region we have a contest that’s
called the “ Million Mile Month,” and the goal is, through the month of May, to have a million
miles ridden by bicycle commuters and recreationalists in the Sacramento area.
Figure 5 Will Kempton ( left) at the 2008 Million Mile Month in Sacramento
( photo by Marie Schelling, www. bikeweek. com)
Last year during Bicycle Commute Month, we had about 850,000 miles ridden by our area
cyclists. This year, we broke the million mile barrier, which is a very, very significant
accomplishment, and I’m very proud that Caltrans was a huge part of that. In fact, as one of
the large employers in the region, we were named the number one bicycle commuting
organization. We had more miles— a total of 65,000 miles— over our next- nearest competitor,
which was the entire Cal EPA agency. They were at 58,000 miles— so we smoked ’ em! I am
competitive, and I like to win, so that was a wonderful accomplishment.
Then there’s the individual Bike- to- Work Day, and although I live in Folsom, California,
which is about 26 miles east of Sacramento, that doesn’t lend itself, given my level of skill, to
make that trip with any regularity on a bicycle because of the time that it takes.
But, of course, on Bike- to- Work Day, and during the Million Mile Month, I did quite a bit
more riding. And on Bike- to- Work Day, I joined Senator Tom Torlakson. On that day we rode
Mineta Transportation Institute
Keynote Speaker Will Kempton 13
from the Ryde Hotel on State Route 160 near the Sacramento River, and a group of us rode all
the way into Sacramento on the levee, about 35 miles.
Well, on the day we picked for Bike- to- Work Day, there was a north wind blowing at 35 miles
an hour, and guess which direction the Ryde Hotel is from Sacramento? It’s south. And you’re
up on the levee, and there are no screens. You have occasional trees that you ride by, but that
wind is going 35 miles an hour, blowing in the face. And, of course, Sen. Torlakson is a very
accomplished bicyclist, and he surrounds himself with what I call “ bicycle studs.” These are
people, and maybe many of you in the audience fill this bill, male or female cyclists that get
out there on the road, and you cannot hold them down. One is always going a little bit faster
than the person next to you, and that person then tries to speed up a little bit faster. And so
this casual, 15 mile- per- hour pace that I was guaranteed in order for me to commit to do this
little exercise worked its way up to 22 miles an hour in no time. So here I am trying to draft so
that I can stay out of the wind, and not doing a very good job of it because I was struggling to
keep that pace going for that 35 miles on top of a levee, exposed to a windstorm of
monumental proportions, or at least it seemed to me, after I hit about mile 20. But we did
make it; we got into town and we had completed the task.
I want to tell you about an effort that we’re promoting. It’s primarily out of headquarters
because this is a Sacramento- based group. There’s an organization called Breathe California.
Some of you may know it within Sacramento; it’s the former local chapter of the Lung
Association. They sponsor a three- day bicycle trek every year in September. You go to the
foothills, you ride for three days, and you have degrees of difficulty for the various parts of the
ride. I always try to do the “ moderate.” I’m too embarrassed to do the easy course and not good
enough to do the difficult course. You ride roughly 105 to 110 miles over the three- day
period. We started out with a Caltrans team of seven two years ago, and we rode all over the
foothills. That was a very enjoyable experience, and we raised a lot of money for Breathe
California. Last year, we upped our team to 22 individuals, and we were able to spend time
around the Napa Valley, which I found much more enjoyable because at the end of the day you
have something to look forward to.
This year my goal is to get the Caltrans team up to 50. We have our own bicycle jerseys. We
have a very great time, good camaraderie, and we’re looking forward to a very successful event
this year riding around the Napa Valley again.
So if you look at Caltrans’ mission of improving mobility across California, bicycle mobility is
an integral part of that mission. The key goal that we have— and our number one priority at
Caltrans— is safety. The key goal that we have is making bicycle commuting and traveling by
the various modes as safe as possible. We want to provide the safest transportation system in
the nation for users and workers. And “ users” do include bicyclists. So today we want to
discuss improving bicycle safety, and I’m hopeful that we’ll have a good exchange in the
question- and- answer period, as well as when we hear from the panelists.
14 Keynote Speaker Will Kempton
Mineta Transportation Institute
Let me just start by saying I’m not here to tell you what a great job Caltrans is doing with
respect to promoting bicycle commuting and the recreational use of bicycles, because we’re
not. We haven’t in the past. I don’t think Caltrans has done a good job over the past decades in
promoting alternative forms of transportation. We’re getting better at that, and obviously
we’re getting a lot of help from the marketplace by virtue of the current price of gasoline and
what that is doing to literally push people into using more transit, into looking at other ways
of getting around, including bicycling and walking.
Governor Schwarzenegger is a huge supporter of biking and walking, from a fitness
perspective. It’s something that he presses us on. The Safe Routes to School program that is in
effect due to the work of then- Congressman Mineta and the current chair of the Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee of the House of Representatives does provide resources for
improving and encouraging kids to get on their bikes, as opposed to having Mom or Dad pop
’ em in the car and drive ’ em a couple of blocks.
When I was young, if you wanted to get to school or you wanted to get around, you just
hopped on your bike and you went. It provided a great source of mobility, and we want to
bring that back. But there are good reasons why parents take their kids by car. Now we want
to create the safe environment that is necessary to allow for walking and biking to school.
You’re not going to get a lot of defensiveness from me today. I hope we have a very honest and
open exchange. There are a lot of things we need to do better. There is much more that we can
do, but I think you will see we are moving in the right direction, and that’s what I’d like to
share with you.
Let me give you some real- life examples of what happens when you’re out on the roadway. Let’s
take Leah. She’s riding her bicycle down a major local arterial. She’s obeying the rules. She’s on
the right side of the roadway. A car passes her, obviously at a greater rate of speed. The car
turns on its right turn signal and proceeds to crowd over to the right side of the intersection.
Leah is coming up on her bicycle and has to put on the brakes to avoid a collision, while the
driver, not even looking to the right, is looking left to watch the oncoming traffic. Ultimately
he makes the turn without ever turning or swiveling his head to look to the right. How many
of you bicyclists have had that happen as you? Almost unanimous!
Let’s take Scott, riding to an event here in San José on a conventional local highway, and he
nearly gets clipped by a car riding by. These SUVs are particularly egregious in this because
they have side- view mirrors that match the size of a small billboard as they go by you, and it
doesn’t seem that people judge very effectively how that mirror is sticking out there and how
it can come close to hitting the bicycle rider.
And then there’s Will, who rides recreationally, and who only goes about fifteen miles an hour.
He is on a bike trail, and there is a huge crack in the bike trail where the asphalt has separated.
He hits that going fifteen miles an hour. The front wheel stops instantly, and Will goes over
the handlebars into, fortunately not the asphalt, but off to the side, where some of the brush
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and the dirt breaks his fall, so he is not badly injured. But we’ve all— if we’re using
bicycles— experienced those kinds of incidents, and these are real persons.
Leah Brooks is a bicycle advocate in the Sacramento area. Scott is the chief of police of the
town of Los Gatos who was riding to an event that I’m going to talk about a little bit later.
And then Will is me. Those are the kinds of problems that we have experienced, and all of us
have experienced, as bicycle commuters and recreational cyclists.
Many people don’t ride. I don’t ride a motorcycle because I think it’s completely unsafe. Every
time I’ve been on a motorcycle in my life, I’ve ended up in a wreck. So I just don’t ride a
motorcycle, and that’s what happens with bicycle commuting. A lot of people believe it’s not
safe, so they miss out on a lot.
First of all, they miss out on a very viable commuting mode. They miss out on exercise,
improved health and fitness. They miss out on the opportunity to save substantial dollars,
particularly with the price of fuel today. They miss out on some great recreation. The
community misses out, too, because we don’t experience the reduced traffic congestion, the
reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, so there’s a lot of loss to the community as well. So we
need to make bicycling part of our overall transportation plan. It’s a safe, comfortable system
that is needed to encourage new riders.
Now let me talk about the concept of “ complete streets.” How many of you have heard about
that concept? Most of the cycling community will know what it means when we talk about
complete streets. They’re designed and operated to enable safe, attractive, and comfortable
access and travel for all users, including cyclists. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit
riders of all ages and abilities are able to safely and comfortably move along and across a
complete street. There are complete streets bills in the Congress and in the state Legislature.
On May 1, 2008, Sacramento Congresswoman Doris Matsui introduced a bill in the House,
“ The Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2008”— HR 5951— to make the nation’s roadways
accessible to alternative modes of transportation. Complete streets are designed and operated
to enable access to motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, and riders of public transit.
California’s Assembly Bill 1538, the “ Complete Streets Act of 2007,” will ensure that
transportation plans of California communities meet the needs of all users of the roadway,
including pedestrians, bicyclists, users of public transit, motorists, children, the elderly, and
the disabled. To be able to accomplish what we need to do will require, commencing on
January 1, 2009, that the legislative body of a city or county, upon any revision of the
circulation element of a general plan, will need to modify the circulation element to specify
how that element will provide for the routine accommodation of all users of the highway,
defined to include motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, individuals with disabilities, seniors, and
users of public transportation.
Now we’re a long way off from seeing the benefits of this, but the very positive thing, from my
perspective, is that we’re beginning to win the battle to focus attention on these issues, and
that has been a big part of our problem— raising this issue to a level where it is a public policy
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issue that our elected officials are considering, that people are recognizing is a problem and are
beginning to say, “ We’ve got to take care of that.” And so while we will not necessarily see the
immediate benefits of this particular requirement, it is going to be, I think, a very, very
significant accomplishment for the state. It will mean that, in the future, we’ll see some
changes with respect to the design of how people get around in our local communities.
Caltrans is also developing a department policy. We have a Deputy Directive 64— that’s our
bureaucratic language for how we’re developing this— and it’s called “ Accommodating
Non- Motorized Travel.”
We’ve hijacked some of our senior managers at Caltrans, because we want that to become our
complete streets approach to doing business. And it may not incorporate all of the things that
most of you would like to see, but it’s going to make sure that we are fundamentally
considering bicycle and pedestrian transportation in the design of our facilities.
We have so many traditions and so many policies at Caltrans that are simply in place because
that’s the way we’ve always done business, and we can’t continue to act that way across the
board. You know, I’ve been pushing cultural change at the Department of Transportation that
I mentioned earlier. We want to be more innovative. We want to be more creative. And the
fact of the matter is, the situation does change. So if we can take Deputy Directive 64 and
make that into our complete streets policy so that when we do our design work, we are taking
into account these needs, and that will be a very, very positive thing.
The policy statement says, “ The Department fully considers the needs of non- motorized
travelers ( including pedestrians, bicyclists and persons with disabilities) in all programming,
planning, maintenance, construction, operations and project development activities and
products.” Now, again, you’re not going to see an immediate result from this, because this is
sort of at the front end of project development. But it does mean that our future
facilities— and I don’t mean ten years from now; it’s the facilities that are in the development
phase right now— will have this consideration as we move forward. This directive is currently
being revised to become the department’s complete streets policy.
We also are leading the strategic highway safety plan effort. That is an effort that was included
in the current authorizing legislation. Secretary Mineta talked about ISTEA, which was
probably the first true, complete authorizing legislation passed for the transportation
program. SAFETEA- LU is the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity
Act, and then “ LU” is Legacy for Users. But the rumor has it that the chairman of the
committee’s wife is named Lu, and so we have SAFETEA- LU. I love acronyms in government;
they’re just terrific. And there’s a requirement in that authorizing legislation for each state to
develop a strategic highway safety plan.
Now there have been some statistics cited. I think Dr. Duffy mentioned 200 deaths of cyclists
in the greater Bay Area as a statistic. We kill 43,000 people a year on our highways, cycling
accidents, and pedestrian accidents, as well as automobile crashes. That is nearly as many
people as were killed in the entire Vietnam War— killed every year. And we just sort of accept
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it as a way of doing business. The fact of the matter is we’ve got to do so much better. In
California, we’re killing more than 3,000 people a year on our highways, including cyclists,
pedestrians, and automobile travelers. So the Strategic Highway Safety Plan is a national effort
to try to get folks to focus on various areas of how we can reduce traffic accidents in California.
I am proud to say that the state’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan has a component dedicated to
bicycle safety, and the partners in this effort include the California Highway Patrol, the
Department of Motor Vehicles, the Office of Traffic Safety, and local cities and counties.
The bicycle safety recommended actions from the Strategic Highway Safety Plan include
establishing a safety improvement funding program, and I’m going to talk a little bit more
about funding later in my discussion here, but that is absolutely critical. We need a stable
source of funding, not just for bicycle safety, but we also need a stable source of funding if
we’re going to expand our existing system and protect it.
We want to increase helmet use. We want to utilize DMV materials to better educate drivers
about bicycles, and frankly, I think we need to focus on training, and potentially, as Dr. Duffy
indicated, licensing for our bicycle users. If we’re going to truly treat bicycle transportation as
a recognized method of commuting and people are on state highways, conventional highways,
major arterials, we need to look at the prospect of, and answer the question “ do these folks
need licensing?” What kind of education program can we employ so that we are providing
bicycle users with at least a minimum level of training and understanding about the pitfalls of
operating a two- wheel vehicle?
We need to provide law enforcement training because, frequently, our law- enforcement
officials don’t fully understand what it’s all about with respect to cycling. In my view, we have
the greatest law enforcement officials in the country, here in California, and certainly the
California Highway Patrol is the finest state police organization in the United States of
America. But their focus is on the car, on the automobile, and on the use of that mode of
transportation. So we need to make sure that our law enforcement officials get appropriate
training on the laws and operations of bicycles.
We need to improve bicycle accommodations in work zones. This is key. This is such an
important effort— bicycle lockers, shower facilities— so people can get to and from work on
bicycles, making it easier for people to use this mode of transportation. I’m proud to say that’s
an effort that we do have under way at Caltrans across the state, where we’re making sure that
we have those facilities available for folks and that we are, in fact, encouraging our employees
to bike to work.
We need to educate the public- and private- sector transportation professionals because many
of us don’t have a good enough sense about bicycle transportation. That’s why I feel blessed
that I am able to occasionally get out there and ride a bike, because it makes me much more
aware of the needs and issues.
We need to return to bicycle safety inspections at schools. As a kid, I remember you’d bring
your bike to school, and somebody from the local police department was there to go over your
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bicycle, and you got a little decal that you could put on your bike that indicated it had been
inspected, and it was a big deal, you know! You got to talk to the cops and all of that. So we
need to return to that, and make sure that, as we build the safer routes to schools, that we are
also teaching the young operators about safety.
I mentioned the Safe Routes to School program. We need to provide funding for bicycle safety
education across the board. I’ve already talked about that. And we need to take steps to
increase bicyclists’ visibility.
Now I look at some of the colors that folks are wearing here today, and, you know, you
typically have the bright colors, but the other day, I was driving home late at night down
Folsom Boulevard, which is a four- lane, 50- mile- an- hour facility, and I saw this little, dim red
light. You all know about the little light things that flash, and it was on the back of the seat of
the bicyclist, and as I pulled up, the fellow was wearing black— dark clothes. You couldn’t see
him, and if he hadn’t had that little light flashing there, I would not have noticed, and it could
have been a tragic situation. And so you will agree that’s very, very important in terms of
bicyclist visibility.
We need to increase motorists’ awareness and safety around bicyclists, and that’s what we’re
talking about when we say “ DMV materials,” and we need to make sure that we include as
part of the study material for our new, younger drivers, that right- hand- turn issue is a killer.
I’m a runner more than I am a cyclist, and, believe me, when you approach an intersection, and
you see a car pulling up to make a right turn, chances are that that driver is not going to look
your way. They’re going to be watching the traffic coming from the left, and then they’re
going to pull right out in front of you. They usually get a nice, friendly tap on the trunk as I
run by, to advise them that I was there.
We need to improve data about bicycle travel and bicycle crashes. I think if people understood
the severity of the situation, they would be much more inclined to pay attention.
There are other Strategic Highway Safety Plan challenge areas that are critical to bicycle safety.
Obviously, ensuring that vehicle drivers are competent, improving vehicle driver right- of- way
and turning decisions. We need to improve the intersections and interchange safety, and we’ll
talk about one of those interchanges here in just a moment. We need to reduce speeding and
aggressive driving. We need to improve commercial vehicle safety, improve work- zone safety,
improve post- crash survivability, and we need to improve safety data collection access and
analysis. All of these things are part of our Strategic Highway Safety Plan. Of course, these
actions will require partnerships with transportation agencies, law- enforcement agencies,
health professionals, emergency- medical services, safety advocates, and, most importantly, the
general public.
Since June of 2007, Caltrans has worked with the California Bicycle Coalition to convene a
series of bicycle advocacy summit meetings. I don’t know if we’ve actually had one in the Bay
Area, or if you’ve attended, but those summits provide a forum for discussing a broad array of
bicycling topics, such as supporting bike commuters with parking, showers, and lockers;
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Keynote Speaker Will Kempton 19
engaging bicyclists in transportation planning and transportation project implementation
activities; ensuring that all transportation projects accommodate bikes; and improving access
to bike information on Caltrans web sites. To me, partnership is the key. I preach three things
to our employees at Caltrans: “ Be better partners. Be more efficient. Provide better customer
service.” Partnership is absolutely essential to the success of this effort.
On the state highway system, approximately ten percent of total road mileage in California is
accessible to bicycles. We may have a discussion about that issue today. However, on local
roads, approximately 90 percent of the road mileage has bicycle access. So the majority of
bicycling, obviously, happens on local roads.
But having more funding is going to help solve a lot of the issues that we’re facing, and I want
to just refer to this newspaper article. As I got up at the hotel this morning, I took out the San
José Mercury News, one of my favorite papers in California, and I go to the “ B” section, and on
the front page, just below the fold, is an article saying, “ Making it safer to bike: bond money
to improve Saratoga intersection.” And so I read the article and looked at the little map, and
you see Saratoga- Los Gatos Road, which is State Route 9, a state highway, at Austin Way, an
intersection where there have been a number of accidents in the recent past. If I’m not
mistaken, I think ten accidents have occurred in the recent past.
Figure 6 Highway 9 ( Saratoga- Los Gatos Road) and Austin Way
( view from Quito Road)
So Commissioner Guardino— these guys get appointed to the Transportation Commission,
and you can’t keep ’ em off your back, I’m telling you, they’re after you for all kinds of
money— comes to me and says, “ I want to fund a project at this location. It’s a high accident
concentration, and we need some money for it.” So we have a conversation. Usually, he’s doing
most of the talking, because he and I run together when he comes to the state capitol for the
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Transportation Commission Meetings, and he always runs faster than I care to, and so I’m
trying to keep up with him, and I can’t say too much, so he does most of the talking. But he is
asking me about sources of money for a bicycle project, and I give him some advice, and so he
goes back and reads one of these Transportation Commission reports, and this is a very thick
report, with a lot of pages, a lot of statistics, a lot of data, and he finds that Proposition 116,
which was approved by the voters back in 1990, has a balance left of $ 460,000 for bicycle
transportation, and so he asks me about that, and I say, “ Go for it!”
So Carl works with Bijan Sartipi, and they get that money, which requires a 20 percent
match— and congratulations to the City of Saratoga, the Town of Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, as
well as the County of Santa Clara. All get together, come up with the required 20 percent
match, and yesterday, they did a ground- breaking for that bicycle project, which is now going
to fix that problem at Austin Way and Saratoga- Los Gatos Road. So just an example of how
difficult it is to get money for a small project like that to correct what is a major safety issue.
Money is key to what we need to do in bicycle transportation.
The bicycle account provides state funds for city and county projects that improve bicycle
safety and convenience, and that was only recently increased from $ 3.5 million to $ 7.2 million
annually. That is a drop in the bucket. That could fund maybe 14 projects of the size that Carl
was successful in getting funded here in Santa Clara County. It is a pittance given the need
that we have out there.
So we need more money. We need a dedicated funding source, because, obviously, the needs for
transportation across all modes are extremely significant, and, while we might be talking
about tens or scores of millions of dollars that are needed for bicycle projects around the state,
we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars needed in the transit arena, and maybe
even billions of dollars needed in other modes of transportation across the state, so we really
have to look to provide a dedicated source of funding.
Now one thing that is key to that, and I have told the bicycle advocates— because I meet with
them regularly, on a quarterly basis— that I will support some sort of an increase in funding
for the Bicycle Transportation Account if, in fact, we can more efficiently spend what we have.
This is a problem, because we do allocate money, but it’s usually such a small amount of
money that the local agency has to hoard it until they can get the rest of the dollars from
another source to complete that project. And so what happens is those dollars remain unspent.
So when the bicycle advocates or I go to the state legislature, to the department of finance, to
the state controller, and say, “ We need more money for bicycle projects,” they look at the
records. “ Well, you’re carrying an unobligated balance here of, you know, $ 7 million or $ 8
million. This is over a multiple- year period, and you haven’t spent that money. How can you
say you need more dollars?”
Well, the fact of the matter is we have got to become more efficient at spending what we have,
and I have volunteered Caltrans’ support to work with the bicycle community to make sure
that those dollars that have already been allocated to projects get spent more effectively.
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Historically, funding from federal— this is one source, and I’m frankly a little skeptical of this
source— but funding from federal, state, regional, and local sources pumps approximately
$ 100 million per year for statewide bicycle and pedestrian projects. Now I’m going to check
that number. That was what was provided me in my speech, and when I read that it seemed a
little high to me, and if you’re a regular walker or a bicyclist, I think most of us would agree
that you don’t see that kind of investment being made. Now they may have included in that
the accommodations that are taken when a local agency does design a street, and puts in a
Class 3 bike path or something of that nature. That is one source relative to the funding that is
available. But if that is, in fact, a correct number, it is not enough. We are not doing enough,
and we need a dedicated source of funding.
Now Caltrans is developing training for recognizing and meeting bike needs on highway
projects. We actually have bicycle coordinators in each one of our 12 transportation districts,
and a statewide bicycle coordinator. We want them to be active. We want them to be
proactive, to be innovative, so that they can actually become your advocates for our program,
in our program, and effect the changes that are necessary.
We have a committee that’s working to ensure that traffic signals detect bikes, as required
under state legislation, and we also are looking at being able to track bicycle commuting
through what we call “ intelligent transportation systems.” We’re doing a study that relates to
automobiles being able to detect and determine the volume of traffic on our freeways and
highways by cell phone.
And the same thing can happen if we use that technology to apply to bicycle users and
pedestrians. If you’re carrying a cell phone, and every time I go out on the bike, I take a cell
phone because you never know when you’re going to get stranded, having those cell phones
there and being able to track bicycle usage is going to be very, very positive.
Finally, since 1992, Caltrans has supported the California Bicycle Advisory Committee, which
is the committee advising us on bicycle issues. That is the group that I meet with on a regular
basis, and it’s another example of partnership, and it’s absolutely essential that we engage in
those partnerships. Represented on the Caltrans committees that work on bicycling and
walking issues are several different bicycle coalitions, and Caltrans is proud to be a part of that
effort.
Let me finish off by reiterating our mission: we improve mobility across California. And that is
for all modes, including bicycles and pedestrians. So we like to say, “ We’re here to get you
there,” including those of you on bicycles. Let me stop there and hopefully, we can move into
the question period.
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23
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
CARL GUARDINO
Will you join me in thanking Director Will Kempton for his remarks? In addition to being
honored by having Secretary Norman Mineta with us today, we’re also delighted that another
local elected official is here with us today. Ken Yeager, from our County Board of Supervisors,
is an avid cyclist. Ken, thank you for joining us.
Director Kempton, thank you for your inspiring remarks, and all the work that you are doing
to improve bicycle safety in California. We have more questions than we could ever get to, but
we will get to as many as we can. There are numerous questions about the driver’s test in the
DMV. This card captures the point of several of those questions.
Are there any plans to include a question on the California driver’s license exam that tests
drivers’ knowledge of bicycles’ statutes as vehicles, proper sharing of the road, etc., which
would then drive inclusion of car- bike safety into the driver’s manual?
WILL KEMPTON
The answer is yes, and we are working with George Valverde, the director of the Department
of Motor Vehicles, on this very subject. It goes beyond just a question or two on the driver’s
test. It really is about using the handbook that is provided and actually having appropriate
information in the handbook about bicycle safety. Because as we strive to increase the share of
the commute and mobility that is attributed to cycling, we need to make sure that we’re
providing adequate safety and information so that people are prepared. So that discussion is
underway, and I’m not getting any resistance, frankly. I think we’ll be able to do that in fairly
short order.
CARL GUARDINO
Question: How does Caltrans get funding for bicycle projects? How does MTC, the
Metropolitan Transportation Commission, play into this? And can you summarize the process
for project request funding?
WILL KEMPTON
There are a couple of ways that you can get bicycle funding, and, certainly, there is the Bicycle
Transportation Account, which is essentially more of a project grant- type program, only $ 7.2
million annually. But then bicycle projects and pedestrian projects are also available through
what we call the Regional Transportation Improvement Program. Of the money that’s
available for transportation in California that can be applied to project work, 75 percent of
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that is— and I’ll use the term loosely—“ controlled” by the regional transportation planning
agencies in your area. That includes— it starts with— the Santa Clara County VTA and moves
through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and so the regional transportation
improvement program that is developed every two years— it’s a five- year rolling
program— can, in fact, include project work for bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
But the most common way that bicycle and pedestrian improvements are included in
transportation projects and funding is through the larger projects, and then assessing the effect
of those projects. That’s why this design directive or deputy directive that I’m talking about,
which is employing a complete- streets concept in how we do business, is so important, because
that means the project work that we do— if we’re coming in and widening a conventional
highway as an example— that we take into account the need to have appropriate bicycle lanes
and the appropriate clearances in place. That is probably the biggest and the best opportunity
to make sure that we’re providing funding for bicycle commuting.
CARL GUARDINO
A number of questions about children on bikes and safety. This one encapsulates them well:
What are the prospects to promote and provide a cycling safety class for children and families?
The recent fatality of a 12- year- old girl could have had lack of training as a factor, as she was
riding on the sidewalk at the time.
WILL KEMPTON
Well, getting a change in school curricula is a difficult assignment. I know that, because we’re
trying to develop a workforce to help with infrastructure development in the future, and we’re
working with the superintendent of public instruction, and other local education officials, to
try to incorporate in the broad range of curricula around the state requirements that will
enable people to either become engineers, or to take up a construction trade, or whatever. So I
know some of the difficulties that we would experience in that route, trying to get schools to
make formal adjustments in what they teach. But I think law enforcement can really provide a
very significant aspect of that, particularly at the elementary school level. I previously
mentioned that there used to be the bicycle inspection programs where you can actually have
law enforcement officers going to schools, and, as a component of ongoing education, talk to
the young people. Talk to them about bicycle safety. Check out their bicycles, make sure that
they’re in good operating condition.
CARL GUARDINO
Question: How can we make sure adults on bikes wear helmets? Might that need to provide
some funding for low- income workers?”
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Keynote Presentation Questions and Answers 25
WILL KEMPTON
Any time you get into that kind of subsidy, it raises a whole range of issues, but I certainly
think one of the things that we’ve talked about at Caltrans would be to have bicycles that
would be available for our employees, so that if an employee has to go to a meeting that’s ten,
12 blocks away, too far for some people to walk, and they’ll usually hop in a state vehicle and
drive that distance. So having not only the bicycle helmets available, but having a bicycle
that’s designated as a state vehicle— we’ll put a big “ CT” on the fender or something to
designate it as a state vehicle— we will encourage folks to get their helmet, hop on that bike
and ride to the meeting.
I think that the suggestion would have to be handled at the local level. Frankly, if we used the
private sector, if we could get communications going with the large, private sector companies,
maybe there’s something that we might be able to pilot. From Caltrans’ perspective I’d
certainly be willing, and we have quite a few facilities around the state, and generally in most
areas, there is a major employer, so maybe that’s something that we could look at as a pilot
effort.
But this business about trying to cut short these 20- minute commutes that people would go
on, getting Caltrans employees to ride a bike… the light rail runs right in that direction, but
people will end up driving. So if we had bicycles available, hop on the bike, and make that trip
by bicycle, and we would provide the helmets.
CARL GUARDINO
Smart!
Why is it possible to rebuild the MacArthur Maze in record time, yet a simple bike path
required as part of the 237 freeway conversion has no end in sight more than a decade and a
half later?
WILL KEMPTON
To be candid, I don’t know the project, and I would have to say that if it’s taking that long,
something’s wrong, either in terms of funding availability or some other, probably
environmental, issue. I always like to come out to these kinds of forums, because I always learn
new things, and find out where there’s another problem that we can try to tackle. So I will
look into that.
But the same question could be asked of ongoing, regular transportation projects. How can
you do the MacArthur Maze in 26 days, and it takes you two to three years to do another
transportation project? The answer is very simple: When you have an emergency, and an
emergency proclamation is declared by the governor, and the president declares a disaster that
opens us up for emergency funding, you not only have an available source of money, you have
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relief from the environmental and permitting process. That doesn’t mean you can go out and
do anything you want. You’ve got to be careful in terms of consideration for the environment.
But you do not have to go through the very, very lengthy project development process.
If we had had to do MacArthur Maze under traditional means, and doing it as a regular
project, that road would still be closed, and we might be getting around, at this point, to
actually issuing a contract. It takes a long time under normal process requirements to deliver a
project. These projects were done on an emergency basis, and that’s why we were able to move
so quickly.
CARL GUARDINO
Since that question seemed to resonate with a lot of our audience, we’ll save that for our
regional panel later, and perhaps folks at the regional level…
WILL KEMPTON
Maybe we talk with some of the folks afterwards; I’ll be happy to stay around. I really do what
to know about some of the difficulties that are with that project.
CARL GUARDINO
With 10 minutes left, let me move on to our next question. We seem to believe that a line
drawn on the pavement and a bike lane sign are going to protect cyclists. What statistics, if
any, support that idea? How much safer is a physical separation of cars and cyclists?
WILL KEMPTON
Well, physical separation is absolutely a safer situation, and, depending on the circumstances,
or the use or type of the facility, it can be a lot safer. We actually have sections of our interstate
highway where bicyclists can operate [ with no physical barrier]. I would never use those
facilities because there’s just too much of an opportunity for somebody who’s traveling 65
miles an hour, even if they’re observing the speed limit or potentially faster, for being
distracted for a moment, with cell phones, and BlackBerrys, and all of the things that we now
do while we’re driving, it just doesn’t add up from my perspective. So, no question, a separated
bicycle facility, if we had the resources, would be the way to go because it is a much safer
situation.
Just as we make our highways safer by providing wider lanes and wider shoulders, so we can
provide for recovery time and response, making sure we have an adequate space for bicycle use
is also helpful.
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Keynote Presentation Questions and Answers 27
I know this is a problem for cyclists— much of our infrastructure on a highway or a local
roadway, is not bicycle- friendly. An example of this is a lot of you have gone over the drainage
system, and you get stuck in the grates. That’s a real problem. That’s happened to me, and I’ve
tipped over in the street as a result of that. So how can we make those kinds of facilities more
bicycle- friendly?
Although our complete streets program will provide for this, how can we make sure that we
have adequate space between cyclists and cars? I don’t know whether this is something that
the bicycle community likes very much, but rumble strips, indentions in the pavement
between the automobile roadway and the actual bike lane can be helpful. As a car drifts and
hits the rumble strip, the driver knows it. We’ve all driven over them, it makes a noise and the
driver can correct. It certainly attracts attention back to the roadway. So that’s another safety
mechanism possibly there.
CARL GUARDINO
There are numerous questions linking bikes and transit and gas prices. I think a couple of
these summed them up well: With gas at $ 4.60 a gallon and rising, and transit ridership on
BART and Caltrain at all- time highs, how do we ensure our transit systems are more
bike- friendly? Today, Caltrain is carrying close to 40,000 daily trips. BART is carrying
365,000 daily trips. When the BART extension to Santa Clara is built, how do we ensure both
BART and Caltrain welcome cyclists with more bike lockers and bikes on board?
WILL KEMPTON
I have a couple of thoughts on that. First of all, the very best way is to go before the BART or
Caltrain boards and to tell them, as a user and as a commuter, that they need to put these
bicycle facilities onboard. It’s kind of like the way we’ve treated our response to the Americans
with Disabilities Act. We do try to put forward a token effort to be responsive, and yet there is
always so much more that you could do. But I would say, number one, get to the
decision- makers. Get to the policy boards on these issues to make sure that they know that
there’s a need out there, that there’s a demand for these kinds of facilities.
I frankly think one of the most effective ways to effect these kinds of changes is to make it a
condition of funding. So as these large rail or transit operations get their money, there’s the
possibility of saying, “ Your receipt of this money is conditional on making sure that you’re
accommodating bicycle commuters as part of your ongoing transit or rail operations.” That’s
probably the most effective way to get somebody’s attention. I think most governing boards
tend to be responsive to the expression of need and requirements that their users communicate
to them.
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CARL GUARDINO
More on transit and bikes: We should increase dedicated public- transportation lanes and
rail- based public transport, such as VTA light rail. When will there be BART to San José?
WILL KEMPTON
If I could tell you that, I would quit my job, which doesn’t pay very much to begin with, and
go into the seer business. To answer the last question first, I think BART to San José is going
to happen. The support of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and the support of so many of
your elected officials and the public to bring BART to San José. Every time we see poll results
for what people in Santa Clara County think about bringing BART to San José, there’s
overwhelming support to do that.
The project remains on everybody’s plate. It remains on the screen, as we say. And we’re
chipping away at it. We’re looking to find a way to fund the traffic congestion relief programs
so that we can bring a significant amount of dollars to the fore that have already been
committed to this project. So I think eventually that will happen, and I understand that
there’s talk about maybe raising a few extra dollars locally to help with that. So that is the
BART issue.
Again, I think when you look at the other needs that we’re talking about, and how we identify
funding, how you encourage those agencies to do what they need to do, that communication
with the governing boards is vital. I think that tying funding to response to accommodating
bicycle commuting more effectively, those are the options that are available to us.
CARL GUARDINO
Question: How can we get our legislators in Sacramento to pass the three- foot berth clearance
requirement for passing bicycles that other states and Canada have as law?
WILL KEMPTON
I think it was Assemblymember Pedro Nava [ D- Santa Barbara] who carried that legislation,
and it didn’t get out of committee. You’ve got to communicate to those legislators. When a
bill is introduced, you can get with your bicycle advocates who follow Sacramento. You can
find out what the path of the bill is. You can see which committee members are on those
committees, and get to them directly. You have such a constituency out there with respect to
bicycle commuting. I see it all over the state. You need to organize. You need to become a
force, and you need to let these legislators know how important it is to do these things.
We’re looking to get a move- over law for our maintenance workers out on the freeways and
state highways. That is when you see a state transportation vehicle with its lights flashing,
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Keynote Presentation Questions and Answers 29
meaning that we’ve got workers out there, motor vehicles would have to move over into the
other lane. Now that is on the books for law enforcement, but we can’t seem to get that
through the legislature for a variety of reasons.
Same thing is true with moving over for bicycle commuters. I think that’s a very, very
appropriate thing to do, and not only that, but it’s going to teach people to be watchful of
cyclists. They’re going to have to pay more attention, because if you don’t move over, and that
cyclist gets your license number, you may be paying a fine. I think you need to really gear up
and advocate for that, because I think that could occur if the members of the legislature get
the message.
CARL GUARDINO
We are unfortunately down to the last question for Caltrans Director Kempton, but I think
you’ll agree with me why those of us on the California Transportation Commission consider
him the E. F. Hutton of transportation. When Will Kempton speaks, everyone listens. We
appreciate your service to our state, Director Kempton.
WILL KEMPTON
Oh, that’s bad, Carl!
CARL GUARDINO
There are so many good questions, but there’s a common theme here. There is a public
perception that cycling is inherently more dangerous than driving a car. Do you agree with
this? And how can this perception or reality be changed?
WILL KEMPTON
The example you used at the beginning of your comments, when there is an accident, it is
typically the car that ends up with a dent, and it is the bicyclist that ends up being hurt or
killed. Certainly when those collisions occur you would have to say that the chances are that
the cyclist is going to end up on the wrong end of the deal. But if you look at statistics, I
would say that bicycle commuting is no more dangerous than driving in an automobile. And I
think that statistics would support that statement, because we have a lot of problems out
there. Overall there are 43,000 deaths annually in this country due to traffic accidents, which
includes bicycling, bicycle folks, and pedestrians. No question that operating a motor vehicle,
or any vehicle moving at a fairly high rate of speed down a roadway, is not necessarily the safest
thing. But I don’t think that bicycle commuting inherently is any more dangerous than
driving an automobile.
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CARL GUARDINO
Our thanks to Director Will Kempton, the head of the California Department of
Transportation, and to all of you joining us here in San José and to those of you listening on
the radio. This Silicon Valley Town Hall meeting of the Commonwealth Club of California,
celebrating over a century of addressing important public policy issues, is adjourned.
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PANEL DISCUSSION
ROD DIRIDON
Welcome to our bicycle safety panel discussion. Before we begin, I have a little housekeeping
to do.
First, I’d like to mention that Breathe California, which was mentioned earlier by Director
Kempton, is very active here in Santa Clara County. They have a multi- distance bicycle
marathon, so we beginners can participate as well as the more experienced bicycle athletes. I’m
very proud to say that I’m the president of the Breathe California board this year.
Figure 7 Rod Diridon
I notice that Leslee Hamilton is here. Leslee is a San José Parks commissioner, and has done
some staff- support work. She was Director of Communications and Special Projects at the
Mineta Transportation Institute before the Guadalupe Parks and Gardens Corporation stole
her away to become their executive director. Now she’s working on creating a central park for
the City of San José. Leslee put together the packet that you have that describes the today’s
program.
The panelists’ bios are in your packet and I want to stress that you should read those bios. We
have a remarkable group of people that have come together from all over the state to share
their experiences. We want to develop a compilation of background studies and ideas which
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we hope can be used to solve some problems either through legislative action or
administrative- procedure modification.
We’ll begin with the regional director for the California Department of Transportation, Bijan
Sartipi, who is an “ engineer’s engineer.” He really knows how to do things and he has a very
distinct concern for bicycle safety.
BIJAN SARTIPI
Good afternoon, and thank you Rod. It’s really a pleasure to have the opportunity to be here on
this panel with these distinguished members. I do not have a PowerPoint presentation, but I
would like to say a few words before taking questions on the department and the district’s
activities as they relate to pedestrian safety improvements and access.
To set the stage, the district, as the owner, operates and maintains 6,200 lane- miles of
highways and freeways in the nine counties of the Bay Area. Bicycles are allowed on all
conventional highways and a few specially designated stretches of freeway shoulders. In
District 4, over 775 miles of our facility— greater than 12 percent— is available for biking.
About ten percent of our facilities statewide are available to bikes and, in the Bay Area, 12
percent. However, this is not enough.
Figure 8 Bijan Sartipi
In Santa Clara County, we have 93 miles of our highways with bike access, which is only 7
percent. In general, the percentage is lower in more urbanized areas than in rural areas. So the
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Panel Discussion 33
higher state average tends to be due to the fact that the majority of our conventional highways
are in non- urban areas.
As Director Kempton stated, Caltrans’ mission is to improve bicycle mobility, with its focus
being on safety and safe access while providing that mobility. Let me emphasize that we want
bicyclists to be safe and secure on every mile of our highways.
There have been numerous accidents and fatalities involving bicycles on state highways.
Between 2005 and the end of October 2007, there have been 788 bicycle accidents on state
highways, with a total of eight fatalities. Despite the fact that this is a disturbingly large
number this volume masks a downward trend in fatal incidents involving bicycles. There were
four in 2005, two in 2006, and two for the first ten months of 2007. Despite this downward
trend even one fatality is one too many. In Santa Clara County, of the 233 accidents that
occurred on state highways for this period, there was one fatality in 2005, and none in 2006 or
the first ten months of 2007.
Although I do not bike to work, I do ride my bike on weekends with family and friends and
stay on trails and on the streets, never on freeways even where it is allowed. I leave that for the
professionals.
In light of this, CTC commissioner Carl Guardino announced a recent funding increase for
bicycle improvements on Highway 9 in Santa Clara County.
Figure 9 A bicyclist in downtown San José
When it comes to an accident between a bike and a car, the bike loses. That said, our goal and
commitment is to make sure that we work with local cities and counties and utilize our
District Bicycle Advisory Committee to fully consider the needs of bicyclists and
non- motorized travelers in providing accommodations, from project concept in the planning
phase through design, construction, and maintenance. As Directive 64 is being updated, with
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additional proposition 1B bond- funded projects, we’re delivering a large number of capital
improvement projects to the Bay Area.
We all view transportation improvements as an opportunity to improve safety and access and
mobility for all users, including bicycles and pedestrians. We work hard to make sure that
these accesses are maintained to the fullest extent possible during construction, and one of
every five miles of our highways are under construction right now. At times, we provide
bicycle improvement as mitigations for our capital projects.
With respect to regional policies, the district participated with the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission on the development of their “ Routine Accommodations of
Pedestrian and Bicyclist Policy.” The policy uses the department’s Directive 64 as a
requirement for local projects that are funded with regional funds. Included in this policy is a
commitment by the district to maintain and share with the Bicycle Advisory Committee a
listing of ongoing project- initiation documents— those are the scoping documents that are
used for projects— on a state highway facility where bicyclists and pedestrians are permitted.
To address bicycle needs, as part of Caltrans District 4 program we have a staff member who
serves as the focal- point liaison for the internal programs and also to the community, to
address bicycle and pedestrian needs in the planning phase of the project development.
As mentioned earlier, we have a district bicycle advisory committee made up of members from
various bicycle- advocacy groups, including the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, the Peninsula
Bicycle and Pedestrian Coalition, and other public agencies and regional agencies such as
MTC [ Metropolitan Transportation Commission]. This year, we also established a new
pedestrian advisory committee as well.
Outside of improving bicycle and pedestrian access to our facility, Caltrans also contributes to
the construction of the Bay Trail. To improve access to the bay and construct bicycle facilities
as part of the permit requirements, we work with locals on the Safe Route to School program
that also has a bicycle element.
We also work with Marin County to utilize their recent funding from SAFETEA- LU to install
bicycle racks at a number of our park- and- ride facilities.
Let me conclude by restating the district’s commitment to work with local partners and to
assure practical, safe, and reliable facilities for all modes of commuting and recreation, much of
which goes specifically to bicycles and pedestrian access and safety. Thank you again for giving
me the opportunity to be on this panel, and I look forward to answering your questions.
ROD DIRIDON
Bijan, thank you very much. I neglected to mention that Jim Helmer, director of the San José
Department of Transportation is here, and we do appreciate him spending all of this time with
us and helping us arrange the panel. He is a true multi- modal transportation supporter, and a
strong supporter of bicycling.
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Now, let me introduce Ian McAvoy, chief of development at Caltrain. When we were building
the panel, someone said, “ Well, why do you want Caltrain?” And we said it’s because Caltrain
has gone the extra mile to try to create a bicycle- friendly atmosphere. In fact, I’m very proud
to have been the person on the board that made the motion that required that the lead car be
dedicated to bicycles when some people thought it was impossible to do. Ian’s made it happen,
and we all appreciate him being here.
IAN MCAVOY
Well, thank you very much, and it’s a pleasure to be here.
Before I talk about what Caltrain is and where it is going, I’d like to reflect on Director
Kempton’s war story about his 35- mile- an- hour winds. Growing up in the U. K., we used to
get a lot of winds, too. But we still made really key decisions about which way we ride. We’d
never ride into the wind; we’d ride with the wind, and it was a lot more fun to do that. So in
the future, if the wind blows one way, ride the other way. It helps!
It’s a pleasure to be here. If you read the newspapers or you watch the television, you’ll have
noticed that Caltrain has been an overwhelming success over the last several years. An example
is the introduction of the Baby Bullet service, created by focusing on customers’ needs and also
the economy. Lately we’ve seen a significant increase in ridership, which is now close to 40,000
a week. But we’ve had to deal with this increase with little or no new equipment, so we’ve
reached a threshold.
At the moment, we currently have about 2,300 bikes that come onto the Caltrain system each
weekday. This is a pretty significant portion of our overall ridership. Going back to the early
1990s, we’ve known from day one that the real benefit of public transportation is not just the
trip that you take on the train itself, but it’s the true origin- destination trip. We knew then, as
we know now, that most people who were riding Caltrain actually didn’t live very close to
Caltrain, and, in most cases, didn’t work very close to Caltrain, either. So we embraced the
concept of bicycles on the train from the very beginning when other public transportation
agencies were very fearful of allowing bicycles on trains because of the many issues raised by
their presence.
I think we can say, as far as I understood, that we do have the highest bicycle capacity of any
system in this area, maybe the highest capacity of any system west of the Mississippi. Frankly,
we’ve been a victim of our own success. We’ve done so well in terms of trying to balance the
needs of customers that we’ve found ourselves now in a position where we really have to kind
of break through some significant policy barriers, and I’m glad that we’re talking about
policies today.
What we did is engage on a strategic plan for bicycles on Caltrain. The majority of the folks
we talked to were bicycle advocates. We heard from many people from the community. We
heard what they wanted, and it’s no secret that everybody wants more bicycles and trains. All
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we heard was, “ How do I get my bicycle on the train?” and “ How do I stop getting bumped
off the train?”
Through the public outreach process, we floated a series of concepts. One of them is a
bike- share program, which is not a new concept, but it’s something that we’re very interested
in. We’ve spent some time over in Europe and in Asia, taking a look at how other systems deal
with bike sharing. We were very intrigued by the system in place in Copenhagen with what
they’ve done in terms of access to transportation systems and their bicycle- sharing programs.
We’ve also looked at bike subsidies. Obviously, we all know that bikes are very expensive, and
we’re looking to see if there are opportunities to get funding or grants to give people the
opportunity to have the bicycles that fold up.
We have looked at charging for bicycle access some type of a guaranteed- ride program, which
is very complex. We haven’t reached any conclusions yet, but we are looking toward that. One
thing that should be here right now, and I think we have the technology, is real- time
information for bicyclists. We give real- time information to others, so why not also provide
real- time information to bicyclists?
I’m sure there are going to be many questions on Caltrain because we are the lightning rod
right now when it comes to a lot of the public policy issues. I want to leave you with a couple
of thoughts. We are absolutely focused on executing the vision of access to all on Caltrain;
however, we do know that there are some significant hurdles that we have to address.
The first one is clearly how to finding funding. At the end of the day, improvements cost
money, and even though we’ve seen that more people are making a choice to move away from
their cars onto public transit, we know that the governance of funding is still a significant
issue for public transportation, which is something we need to deal with.
The second issue: the connectivity of bicyclists and the system. Dealing with the different
needs of the different types of riders that we have, we’re facing a significant problem. We’re
seeing reliability issues because of dwell times, and that’s something we need to overcome,
because we operate the system now very much on a European- or Asian- type technology, which
is we don’t like trains to be late. It’s something that we focus on, keeping the trains on time.
When trains fall out of time, you have a cascade effect on the system throughout the peaks.
Finally, we’re trying to create a balanced program for everybody. I know that in the world of
advocacy, balance is usually what’s right for the individual who’s trying to make the case for
the issue. But we’re trying to hear everybody’s view on this, and hopefully, in the
not- too- distant future, we’ll be incorporating the findings of the bicycle- access plan into our
more strategic policy vision goals. This comes especially as we move to incorporate into what
we call “ Caltrain 2025,” which involves the incorporation of high- speed rail and buying new
equipment.
I’m sure there will be plenty of questions, but I’ll finish right there. Thank you.
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ROD DIRIDON
Thank you, Ian. Our next presenter is John Brazil. John is a bicycle and pedestrian program
coordinator for the City of San José Department of Transportation.
JOHN BRAZIL
I’m John Brazil, and I am the City of San José’s bicycle and pedestrian program coordinator. I
wanted to talk about a few things; but first I’ll give you an overview for those of you who
aren’t familiar with the bicycling culture in the South Bay and San Jose. As a city we’re
fortunate to have sponsored, and continue to sponsor, lots of bicycling activities, such as the
Amgen Tour of California. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, it’s a Tour de France- style
multi- day professional bike race that attracts the best racers in the world. We’re the only city
to have hosted a stage finish in each of the last three years.
We are also one of only four cities in the U. S. to host the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s Live
Strong event, which includes a bike race and a running race. We have lots of other events for
bicycling enthusiasts, such as the handmade bike show. We also have won several awards,
including bronze- level National Bicycle- Friendly Community award.
We’re looking to improve to a higher level, and we have lots of bike organizations such as the
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, from which Corinne Winter, the executive director of that
organization, will be talking later, as well as several touring clubs such as the Almaden Cycle
Touring Club. We’re also one of fewer than a dozen cities in the U. S. to have a velodrome, the
Hellyer Velodrome.
Let me briefly talk about some of the bicycle programs we have in San José. We have a Street
Smarts public education campaign which has won national awards. It seeks to educate not just
bicyclists but pedestrians and motorists on how to share the road and be a little bit safer. There
are several cities and government agencies across the country that have adopted this successful
program.
We also have a school safety program that reaches nearly 18,000 folks a year, and another that
goes to all of our 200 kindergarten- through- ninth- grade schools and provides things like bike
rodeos to teach students how to bicycle safely, walk safely, etc.
We also partner with law enforcement. The San José Police Department and other
law- enforcement agencies partner with us on Operation Safe Passage, which occurs in the fall
when school’s back in session, trying to get motorists and bicyclists and pedestrians to pay a
little more attention, and watch out for each other.
We offer free adult bike skills classes. They’ve been successful. People who know how to ride
may want to learn a little more about how to ride safely in traffic. And then we have a detailed
collision- analysis program that I’ll talk more about in a minute.
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Now, a summary of some of our facilities: our general plan calls for a network of over 400
miles of bikeways. Those include on- street bike lanes and off- street trails. As part of that, our
trail network includes 32 trail corridors. Right now it’s partially built, but it will eventually
have over a hundred miles. We’ve completed about 48 percent of that network. For several
years we have also had building code requirements that new buildings include bike parking
and showers, and we have a program that helps bicyclists navigate around the city with a
signage system. Just this summer, we had a ribbon cutting recently for our first crosstown
bikeway signage project that has a system of signs to guide people across town on a bike.
We’re fortunate to have transportation and transit providers in the area that allow bikes on
board. Caltrain is a great success. Valley Transit Authority, who operates our light- rail and
buses, allows bikes on board. For those of you that have been to other parts of the country, you
may appreciate that not everywhere has it as nice as we do.
And then, there’s a bill that passed the state Legislature that will require signals be
bike- friendly in the future. If there are new signals built or existing signals modified, they’re
required to accommodate bikes, so that a bicyclist knows how and can get the signal to turn
green for them. Caltrans is developing standards to guide cities like San José on how to do
that, so we’ll be implementing that soon. We thank Caltrans for that leadership.
As we’ve built our bikeway network on- street, we’ve found that we’ve run out of easy facilities
to build, where there’s plenty of room to just put a stripe down, and some signs. More often,
we’re coming across streets where there isn’t enough room to add a bike lane without
removing on- street parking or travel lanes, and both of those are incredibly hard to do. With
the leadership of folks like our director, Jim Helmer, we’ve started to take a closer look at
streets where we can do lane reductions.
Take the example of a street with two travel lanes in each direction that doesn’t appear to have
enough room for bike lanes. We did an analysis of the existing motor vehicle volumes
including the future forecasted volumes where the area is built out to see if we need four lanes
in each direction. It turns out we don’t always. San Fernando Street in San José is an example
where we analyzed this and found, “ Hey, we can reduce the number of lanes and still maintain
the route for buses, still get the car volume through there, still accommodate pedestrians and
add bike lanes!”
So let’s take a look at the “ after” picture. We added high- visibility crosswalks. We maintained
the turn lanes so that cars could still make their way through, and we really had no negative
impact on the level of service for cars, and, while there are no standard metrics for bike level of
service, clearly this is an improvement for bikes.
We did “ before” counts for bikes. There were about 72 bikes in the A. M. peak, which is a
two- hour period, 7 A. M. TO 9 A. M. And we’ve done some “ after” counts, but I have to be
honest: the “ after” counts were on bike- to- work day, so they’re not really fair, but the counts
were over 200. So it went from about 70 to over 200, but if it wasn’t bike- to- work day, I
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suspect it would be still over a hundred. So that was really a great success, and it’s an example
of what can be done.
I want to talk a little bit about measuring safety. There are lots of people with lots of opinions,
and no one is necessarily right or wrong, but there are lots of ways to measure safety, and I
want to show you some numbers from San José. First of all, it’s important to look at trends,
not just one static year. That doesn’t tell you anything. But as you can see from this slide,
actually, we’re seeing a slight downward trend in bicycle collisions from 2004 to 2007, and
that’s heartening. But what we really want to know is what is the collision rate. I mean, if
collisions are going down but that’s because no one’s riding any more, that doesn’t really help
us, right? So we try and find the rates.
Moving forward, San José is conducting more extensive bike counts so that in the future, we
will be able to determine the rates of bicyclists. We’re not there yet to really consistently tell
you how many more people are biking. We think more are biking, but at any rate, as for
collisions, we can see a downward trend.
And what about fatalities? I wouldn’t necessarily call it a “ trend,” because those of you
statistics people would ask, “ Do we have a sample size large enough to really say that fatalities
are on a downward trend?” But at least fatalities are going down. You can see the numbers in
the red bars— these are the actual numbers of fatalities. So it’s not as bad as some might
suggest.
That said, of course any fatality, or any collision, or any injury is one too many, so we certainly
aren’t resting on our laurels. The programs we talked about earlier to encourage safety and
improve skills among bicyclists, motorists, and pedestrians are important programs.
We are seeing an increase in the number of facility miles we have, and that of course
encourages more people to ride. So which comes first: the chicken or the egg? Do available
facilities create more bicyclists? Or do more bicyclists demand more facilities?
I’d suggest it’s not an either/ or. It’s clearly both that are happening, but you can see,
fortunately, our number of bike lane miles is going up, which is very helpful to those of us that
ride and want safe places to ride. Keeping in mind that we don’t have separate bike facilities to
ride, but we can ride on any city street.
I just want to summarize a few points. Sometimes there is a trend to talk about—“ Well, if we
can just make that intersection safe, we’ll be okay.” I constantly get the question, “ What’s the
most dangerous intersection in San José?” And I always say I can’t answer that because that’s
not the right way to look at it.
I can tell you that there’s no intersection in San José that has more than two or three bike
collisions a year, max. Now it just doesn’t make logical sense to think about which intersection
is the most dangerous. That said, we can make physical improvements. The project on
Highway 9 is a great example of improvements that will make things safer, but I’d rather look
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at human behaviors and types of facilities that will make the whole environment safer for all of
us, so it’s people, not just streets and vehicles.
The two key factors, in my view, that we need to be focusing on are speed and inattention, and
folks alluded to that earlier. All of us have cell phones. I’ve actually used mine when I’m riding
my bike. Maybe that’s not so wise, and we can talk about whether the new law for motorists
applies to bicyclists as well, but if we all just slow down a little, particularly when we’re
driving cars, and if we all pay more attention, no matter what mode we’re in, that’s going to
go a long way. So we have to take some personal responsibility, and cities like San José, and
programs like the Bike/ Ped Program, have to take responsibility to build more and better
facilities for all of us.
Finally, there’s training. Someone alluded to it earlier: “ You know, well, maybe we should be
talking about licensing for bicyclists.” Interesting concept. I don’t know that it should be
mandated, but I really encourage everyone to take a bike skills class because you’ll really feel
better and be safer. With that, I think I’m running out of time, so I’ll wind up and thank you
very much.
ROD DIRIDON
John, thank you, and we’ll proceed with Therese McMillan, deputy executive director for
policy, San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Therese?
THERESE MCMILLAN
Thank you, Rod. I know we’re more than halfway through our allotted time, so I’m going to
make my comments brief, in large part because a number of the points that were raised earlier
are relevant to the larger Bay Area context. So let me just focus particularly on the programs
that MTC has engaged in relative to facilitating bike, and— very importantly— bike and
pedestrian movement, non- vehicular movement, and in doing that maybe touch on and
reinforce some of the important points raised earlier.
As a planning and funding agency, one of the most important things we need is good
information, and I believe we have been preparing for at least the last six years, maybe more, a
state- of- the- system report every year, which includes safety- related statistics, and tracks all
fatal and injury collisions for bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicle- to- vehicle collisions that occur. I
want to emphasize that the points that John made, the trend lines that were indicative of San
José, are what we’re also seeing region- wide. This is not to say that any fatality, any injury, is
acceptable. However, we have begun to see a flattening region- wide in terms of overall
collisions.
Now what’s interesting though, and what gives us some pause, we also believe that bicycle
collisions are under- represented, and they may in fact be under- represented in lower- income
communities for reasons we don’t fully understand. That may be an issue that needs some
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particular attention, in large part because, for lower- income communities, where car
ownership is less, bicycles become a very valuable means for movement, and ones that we have
been examining as a viable source for providing mobility for these populations. But in fact
what’s going on with that is we’re not getting good information about what’s happening in
terms of collisions among those populations and neighborhoods. We need to get a better
handle on that.
A pedestrian and bicycle safety tool kit is something that we have worked with our regional
bicycle working group to develop. We have put that on our Web site to provide, for anyone
who just clicks, examples of state- of- the- practice, in terms of safety policies and programs,
something for which I want to give credit to Sean Co. Our staff has worked very hard in
pulling that together, and it’s been a collaborative effort with a cross- section of bicycle
interests throughout the region.
Our regional bicycle working group is a very important advisory group for us. They’ve done a
lot. Particularly, they have helped to advise on the definition of a regional bike network that
will be the subject of what I’ll talk about next, which is what facility should be the focus for
infrastructure development.
Figure 10 Therese McMillan
To reiterate a point that John mentioned, what we do know, time and time again, is that the
majority of collisions are not the result of infrastructure shortcomings. They are the result of
human behavior. They are the result of speeding, of aggressive driving, of drunk
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driving— which, unfortunately, is on the uptick— and in particular for bicycle- related
collisions, this right- of- way, turning, decision- making issue. So while it is extremely
important that we do try to invest where we can in safer infrastructure, safer infrastructure is
not going to alleviate the problems that we see on the road, so there needs to be a combination
program of education and of enforcement of laws and regulations that needs to be coupled
with infrastructure development.
We will be having our commission take up recommendations for specific investments that are
incorporated into our long- range plan. The current staff proposal that’s being reviewed by our
advisory committees, and will be presented in a couple of weeks to our planning committee,
has a number of recommended investments that would benefit bicycles. We’re talking about a
25- year long- range plan, so when I say we have some discretionary investment decisions on the
order of about $ 32 billion— again, put this in the perspective of escalated cost over 25
years— but our regional bicycle interests had asked for roughly a $ 2 billion investment
program. What we are recommending is $ 1 billion, which would fully fund the regional bike
plan network except for the links related to our toll bridge facilities. As you know, in some
cases our toll bridges are being designed to include a full, grade- separated bike network, the
Carquinez Bridge being an example of that, but there are further bridge improvements to be
made. On a mile- for- mile basis, those are extremely expensive, as Bijan knows. Given the fact
that we do not have enough money for every single need in this region by a long shot, at least
we’ve made a recommendation that the bulk of the regional bike plan network would be
funded.
Importantly, and I think this is a part of our education as well, there tends to be a tendency to
say, “ If I don’t have ‘ bicycle’ in my label for this funding- investment category, then it doesn’t
help me.” Instead, what we have been trying to do is think about how investments can be
integrated to benefit multiple modes, and our investments in local streets and roads are a clear
example of that. Bikes can’t really move unless there’s a road system, and investing in our local
streets and roads, and particularly the smooth- pavement elements of that, is a major need.
We’re not nearly able to fund everything, but we’re recommending $ 7 billion of discretionary
funds, on top of a significant, hundreds- of- millions investment in what we call “ committed
funds,” which is a major priority.
Three years ago, one of the things that we have adopted is what is known as a routine
accommodation policy. One of our other speakers had talked about this; that when MTC
discretionary funds are used on local streets and roads, we have developed a checklist to
encourage the local jurisdiction to develop a complete streets investment package for it.
As you might imagine, this went through a rather contentious review among participating
advisory groups. While we have not made it mandatory, we have required that the jurisdiction
review this checklist with a local bicycle and pedestrian and community advisory group at the
local level to have the dialogue necessary to say, “ If we are doing a major pavement overlay, if
it’s an opportunity to restripe our road to put in a bike lane, if we are doing something similar
in terms of major rehabilitation or alignment, are there safer crosswalks or timed signals that
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Panel Discussion 43
can be incorporated into this design?” So the $ 7 billion in local streets and roads is subject to
this routine accommodation policy, so we have the opportunity to see a level of improvements
to help with bicycles that would be aligned with that.
Figure 11 Carquinez Bridge bike lane
In addition to that, there are two programs related to smart growth that I think are very
important in terms of facilitating bicycles. We are recommending a new program in climate
change. Greenhouse gas reduction is one of the major policy initiatives that my commission
wants to incorporate into this plan. This is brand- new, but we’ve worked with a cross section
of interests— the Transportation and Land Use Coalition ( TALC), who’s worked with other
organizations. They have recommended and helped to develop a Safe Routes to School, Safe
Routes to Transit program that we’re recommending get some significant funding. That
program clearly is speaking to safer pedestrian and bike access. This notion of education and
enforcement in addition to infrastructure is central to that.
We are recommending doubling our commission’s investment in Transportation for Livable
Communities, which focuses on not only transit- oriented development communities that Ian
and others would be familiar with, but also the access to those transit facilities through biking
and walking. That’s another area where design of a smart mixed- use infill- oriented community
can have a lot of benefits for the bicycling community.
I’m sure to get a lot more questions so I’ll wrap it up.
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ROD DIRIDON
Thank you very much, Therese. Our next speaker is Corinne Winter. She is the executive
director of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and has been referred to as the focal point of
activity for the bicycle coalition in this area.
Corinne?
CORINNE WINTER
Thank you. I’m actually just curious if everyone who’s a bike coalition member could raise
their hand. It’s great to see you guys here.
I just wanted to start by showing you a couple facts here that you may or may not have already
been aware of. We have about 800 people dying every year as a result of fatalities on their
bicycles in the United States, while we have, I think, it’s up now to more like 43,000 a year
dying from auto crashes in the United States. Interestingly enough, riding a bus or a train is
about ten times safer than getting in a passenger car, but we don’t hear people saying things
like, “ Well, I think I’m going to take public transit, ’ cause getting in my car just isn’t safe
enough.” So this is just kind of a different way to look at it. There are a lot of different
perspectives around safety, as John had mentioned, and there’s really a difference between
potentially perceived risks and actual risks. And those are decisions we all need to make as
individuals.
So, while it’s good to keep things in perspective, there is certainly a disparity in safety between
cycling in the United States and in several other countries. Here you can see a bunch of
European countries listed, and I’d like you to note the Netherlands with about five times fewer
fatalities per mile cycled than we have here in the United States. Obviously we could be doing
more here, and there are lots of lessons from around the world in terms of both facilities and
generating awareness that we can follow.
Note here that the Netherlands also has the highest mode- share of cycling per trip in the
countries studied, and I believe, in the world, with 27 percent of trips being taken by bike.
Now in the United States, we have only have around one percent of trips— I think it’s
hovering a little above that now, maybe 1.5 percent of trips— by bicycle. So what we can note
for certain here is that there’s an inverse relationship in between the number of people that are
cycling and the rate of fatalities, both in terms of per trip and per mile. The fatalities fall
dramatically as more people start cycling, and multiple studies have shown that.
So, hopefully, as we move forward, there will be more people cycling. There will be more, for
certain, more people cycling. We’re seeing more people cycling every year due to gas prices,
due to environmental concerns. So hopefully we get over a hump in our infrastructure and are
able to get into a space where cycling does become quite a bit more safe than it is now.
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Figure 12 Corinne Winter
( photo by Metroactive)
So here at the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, we are all about increasing cycling, as many of
you in the audience know. We’re been seeing huge increases in the number of cyclists. This
year, for Bike- to- Work Day in this county, we had twice as many riders as we did last year, and
last year, we had about twice as many as the year before. So we’d love to take all the credit, but
of course we think probably gas prices and environmental concerns and improvements in
infrastructure are also part of it.
One way we do work to promote safe cycling is through our “ Share the Road” initiative, which
has three main components: we do bicyclist education, motorist awareness outreach, and have
a program to do advocacy to enhance cycling and road safety.
So here’s some simple advice for bicyclists. I was asked to provide the number one thing, and I
would say the number one thing is for people to ride on the right side of the road. I’m sure
most of the people in the audience already do this and are frustrated when you are riding down
the right side of the road, and there’s this bicyclist coming at you in your bike lane or in your
shoulder.
In addition, being visible and predictable is obviously important, and as John mentioned,
taking a bicycle skills course can teach even the most competent cyclist something new about
how to be safe and competent on the road. Of course, as always, for both motorists and cyclists,
it’s important to understand the laws that pertain to cyclists.
Some advice for motorists is to place safety before convenience. Has anyone noticed that we
have a problem in this culture where we’re always in a hurry? People get behind the wheel,
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myself included, and we just want to go, and we want to get to our destination as soon as
possible, and really what we need is a paradigm shift in the way people are thinking about
using transportation. It’s really not most important for me to get to my destination as fast as
possible. It’s much more important for me to get to my destination without hurting anybody
on my trip. With that said, people need to not drive distracted or inebriated, and we need to
wait for adequate room before passing cyclists, and not squeeze by.
With our Share the Road program, we have a whole bunch of goals, but here are just a couple
that I wanted to highlight. We really want to see increased signage on all roads, and especially
roads that cyclists are on in large numbers. We’d like to see improved urban and
transportation system design, and we’re working with local cities and counties to try and
realize that. We’d also like to see increased penalties for crashes. You and I should realize as
motorists, I’m going to be a lot more careful out there if I know I’m going to be harshly
penalized if I hurt someone with my vehicle because I am driving a potentially deadly weapon.
We’d also like to do more outreach to law enforcement officers, because they don’t always have
the correct data in terms of bicyclist rules and regulations and responsibilities, and they don’t
always enforce them, either. So we’d like to see more enforcement. And more bicycling
information in the DMV handbook is, as Director Kempton said, already under way. I’m very
pleased to hear about that. More bicyclist education and more outreach to motorists in
whatever way we can.
To close, I’d like to impress on you that we can increase cycling, and we can make cycling safer
for everyone. The many successful policies and programs in cities around the world have really
greatly increased cycling, and there’s no reason we can’t do that here. Northern Europe has
been at the forefront, but there have been isolated areas in the United States, like in Portland
and in Davis, where we’ve seen a lot of success, and we can do that here in Silicon Valley as
well.
We do have a unique opportunity at this time with gas prices going through the roof. We have
a lot of political and social interest in this. The public really wants to see good transportation
alternatives, and bicycling is definitely a great transportation alternative, as many of you
know. Thanks.
ROD DIRIDON
That’s a very nice summary. Thanks, Corinne, and thanks for your day- to- day advocacy and
support of bicycling and safety to all of the people here. We appreciate your involvement.
Chris Augenstein is the deputy director of planning for Santa Clara Valley Transportation
Authority. Chris has the responsibility of trying to coordinate, among many other things, the
connectivity of bike lanes between cities. That’s a thankless job, I know, Chris, but you’re
getting there. It’s a lot better than it used to be, and good luck on that. Let’s hear what the
VTA is doing.
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CHRIS AUGENSTEIN
Thank you, Rod. Yes, we are making progress— maybe slowly— but surely making progress.
In the interest of time, I’ll try to keep my remarks brief.
I’d like to share with you our vision— VTA’s vision— of bicycles, and the vision for bicycles in
Santa Clara County. We envision this as a truly integrated and integral part of our overall
multi- modal transportation system, and a system that really is operable 24 hours a day. It can’t
really function as a true integrated system without being accessible to all levels of rider 24
hours a day and seven days a week. We need to rethink the way we plan and design our streets
and our cities.
Streets are the most abundant public space of any space in a city, yet we really seem to only
think of them in one context. We need to support everything we do with simply good
planning, design and funding. Funding has been a key topic many of us have been discussing
here today, and I would even add that the crisis in safety, as it’s been termed, is related to what
I would say is a crisis in funding. We simply need more money to do the things we want to do
in our cities.
Ultimately, our vision is to elevate the bicycle to a truly viable form of transportation for
everyone— not just recreational cyclists, not just children, or people who can’t afford to buy a
car, but, really, anybody. So we have a bicycle rider by choice attracted to the system, and
obviously this will take a lot of different people doing a lot of different things, so it really is
about a partnership.
I just wanted to touch a little bit on what “ interconnection” means. Really, it means a full
range of facilities. We need to have an integrated system of not only the bike lanes on the
roadways, but also trails, pathways, and all designed to extremely high standards. We should
devote the same attention to our bicycle system as we devote to our roads and our transit
system.
We think that designing and building is really about safe routes, not just to school and to
transit, but safe routes for everybody— whatever trip you need to make, whether it’s to the
grocery store, to your friend’s house, to work, wherever— the trip should be safe. If we develop
this network over the course of years, it’s going to be good for the environment, obviously
because one extremely good way of reducing our vehicle miles traveled, which is a direct proxy
for greenhouse gas emissions, is to get people into other modes, and we think bicycling has
tremendous potential to do that.
I wanted to share with you some ideas about rethinking street design, and, as I mentioned,
streets are the most abundant public space; yet when we think about streets, we really tend to
think of them in terms of design for expressway or freeway speeds. What this graph is showing
is what we really need to think about in the context of bicycles. We really need to put more
attention into designing streets on the local, collector, and arterial level, that have more of an
emphasis on land use and more of an emphasis on accommodating other forms of
mobility— walking and biking and transit— and they shouldn’t necessarily be designed
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simply for automobile throughput at the highest speed possible. So rethinking how we design
streets, rethinking how we view streets, is an integral part of what we’re trying to do at VTA.
This is just a simple diagram to show you what a typical curvilinear network is like, and I
wanted to share this with you, because many of us— many of our neighborhoods— are
designed like this. You can see that if you live in one of the cul- de- sac areas, and you want to
get to the park or get to shopping, not only do you have a circuitous route, but you’re often
forced, as a bicyclist, to go into potentially high traffic volume, high speed roadways. And so it
is just a simple rethinking of how we design these streets, just again, the idea of
interconnection. The more routes we can provide, the more interconnected we can make the
whole transportation system, the safer things are going to be, but also the more efficient
things are going to be.
This is an acronym that our bicycle program manager Michelle DeRobertis came up with to
encompass all of the things we need to do, to build bike- friendly communities. We have to
have the policies. We have to have the education. We have to have the design. We have to have
the systems, laws, and, ultimately, we have to fund these programs.
VTA is the responsible agency for developing the countywide bike plan. We’re currently in the
final throes of getting the plan update together. It will be going to our board of directors in
August. In this plan, not only have we incorporated our vision, but we’ve incorporated the
policy, the design guidelines, and, hopefully, we’ve identified funding for a number of
programs.
One of the things that’s included in here that’s new from the previous bike plan is we have
identified a new set of cross- county bike corridors which will ultimately be incorporated into
the regional bike plan, which would therefore make those corridors potentially eligible for
regional funding. But we’ve also identified over 200 cross- barrier connections. These are areas
that we have worked collaboratively to identify with the cities and the county government,
and Caltrans— things like creek crossings or very onerous intersections to cross, or freeway
barriers. We’ve identified over 200 of these cross- barrier connections that we hope to address
with project development over the next several years. And also we’ve identified hundreds of
millions of dollars in bike projects that we want to implement over the 25- year life of the plan.
So, to close, a little bit about what we’re doing:
Obviously, we’re working to implement our bike plan, and our bicycle- expenditure
plan— these are things that are ongoing developments of VTA— and to implement the bicycle
expenditure plan, or the BEP. It’s really all about funding and working closely with the cities
to make sure the projects can be delivered on time and within budget.
We’re also working with the cities and Caltrans to incorporate use of our guidelines in their
planning activities as well. We also are working with the cities in our development review
process. This is something that there’s really tremendous opportunity with at a local level:
w