10 Bicycle Pedestrian Comm.
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City Hall
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014-3202
(408) 777-3354
FAX (408) 777-3333
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
Summary
AGENDA ITEM I 0
AGENDA DATE April 18. 2006
SUBJECT AND ISSUE
Items related to the Cupertino Bicycle Pedestrian Commission:
A. Presentation ofthe Bicycle Pedestrian Commission's Goals for 2006.
B. Consider the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission's request that Council direct the
Bicycle Pedestrian Commission to study the concept of parking cashout, and
report back to Council at a time of Council's choosing.
C. Consider the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission's request to submit an application to
the League of American Bicyclists for Cupertino to be recognized as a Bicycle
Friendly Community.
BACKGROUND
Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Goals for 2006
The Chair of the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission will present the annual goals (copy
attached) of the Commission to the Council.
Parking Cashout Study (Consistent with Goal #2)
Parking cashout is a policy by which employers who provide ITee parking spaces for
employees offer the alternative of paying the employees for not parking in the spaces. Its
proponents view it as a method of reducing single passenger commuting and the
contribution of such commuting to traffic congestion and air pollution.
In 1992, with the support of the California Air Resources Board, the state legislature
passed a parking cashout bill that is now codified in Section 43845 of the California
Health and Safety Code. The law applies to air basins, including the San Francisco Bay
Area Air Basin, that are classified as "nonattainment" because they have failed to attain
specified state air quality standards.
The statute specifies that employers of 50 persons or more in nonattainment air basins
who subsidize employee parking that the employers don't own shall offer a parking
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cashout program. The employer-funded programs are to be constituted such that the cash
allowance offered an employee by the employer is equivalent to the parking subsidy that
the employer would otherwise pay to proyide the employee with a parking space. The
statute is intended to apply to employers who can reduce, without penalty, the number of
paid parking spaces they maintain for the use of their employees. In order to remain
qualified for the program, participating employees must certify that they are complying
with guidelines designed to ayoid neighborhood parking problems.
The statute requires cities or counties to grant appropriate reductions in parking
requirements to new and existing commercial developments if they offer parking cashout
programs. The City Community Development Department has offered this alternative to
recent projects, including the Toll Brothers' Calabazas Place and Evershine's
Marketplace projects.
The Bicycle Pedestrian Commission feels that the concept of parking cashout, with its
focus on getting commuters out of cars, could help to encourage bicycle and pedestrian
travel in Cupertino, a primary goal of the Commission. Because a fundamental mission
of Bicycle Pedestrian Commission is to study and advise Council on topics that
encourage bicycle and pedestrian travel in Cupertino, the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission
requests that should Council determine it to be appropriate, it direct the Bicycle
Pedestrian Commission to study the concept and its potential applicability to Cupertino,
reporting back to Council at a time of Council's choosing.
Staff suggests that should Council determine it appropriate for the Bicycle Pedestrian
Commission to study the concept of parking cashout, Council consider directing the
Bicycle Pedestrian Commission to report its findings to the Planning Commission,
because of the potential implications of parking cashout for Municipal Code parking
requirements for commercial development in Cupertino.
Bicycle Friendly Community Campaign (Included in Goal #2)
The League of American Bicyclists, a national organization that promotes bicycling for
fun, fitness and transportation and works through advocacy and education for a bicycle-
mendly America, administers the Bicycle Friendly Community Campaign (BFC). The
BFC is an awards program that recognizes municipalities that actively support bicycling.
A Bicycle-Friendly Community proyides safe accommodation for cycling and
encourages its residents to bike for transportation and recreation.
In order to participate in the BFC, a community must submit an application that includes
a detailed audit of the engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, evaluation,
and planning efforts in the community. A committee reviews and scores the application
and consults with local cyclists in the community. An award of platinum, gold, silver, or
bronze status is designated for two years. The League of American Bicyclists will
continue to work with awardees and those communities that do not yet meet the criteria
to encourage continual improvements.
Among the communities awarded a BFC designation in California are Mountain View
with a Bronze designation, Santa Barbara with a Silver, Palo Alto with a Gold, and Davis
with the only Platinum designation in the country.
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Among the items eyaluated by the BFC Campaign in the community are specific designs
of on- and off-street facilities that are considered bicycle mendly. These items include,
among many other things, the existence and extent of shared-use paths, trails, signs and
markings, bike lanes, bike routes, secure bicycle parking, as well as the physical design
of streets and intersections to accommodate bicycling.
The City has provided and continues to commit itself to providing many of the bicycle-
mendly features, including the Mary Avenue Bicycle Footbridge, that will be eyaluated
in determining whether the City meets the criteria to receive a designation, and if it does,
for what leyel it qualifies. Staff notes that applying for a BFC designation signals a
commitment on the part of the City to providing bicycle-friendly features, such as bike
lanes, multi-use trails, and significant regional bike route connections such as the Mary
Avenue Bicycle Footbridge, which are consistent with the City's engineering standards
and the expectations of its citizens. But it also can signal a commitment, if one wishes to
score well under the BFC criteria, to examine and potentially alter the City's engineering
standards to remove traffic lanes ITom arterials and other high-traffic roads and reduce
the width of their intersections, a policy that would proye controversial to the average
Cupertinian.
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact of each of the items has not been evaluated, but it is not expected that
there will be any significant direct costs to the City at this time.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council:
A. Receive the presentation of the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission's Goals for 2006.
B. Consider the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission's request that Council direct the
Bicycle Pedestrian Commission to study the concept of parking cashout, and if
Council determines it to be appropriate for the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission to
study the concept of parking cashout, consider directing the Bicycle Pedestrian
Commission report its findings to the Planning Commission, because of the
potential implications of parking cashout for Municipal Code parking
requirements for commercial development in Cupertino.
C. Consider the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission's request to submit an application to
the League of American Bicyclists for Cupertino to be recognized as a Bicycle
Friendly Community.
Submitted by:
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fõ....Ralph A. Qualls, Jr.
Director of Public Works
Approved for submission to
the City Council:
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David W. Knapp
City Manager
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Cupertino Bicvcle Pedestrian Commission
2006 Goals
Goal #1 - Monitor and Support Cupertino Bicycle & Pedestrian Projects
.:. Mary Avenue Bicycle Footbridge - Construction to begin in Aug/Sept. 2006
o Receiye regular updates rrom staff
o Participate in public meetings as needed
o Make recommendations to City Council as needed
.:. Create wish list of bicycle & pedestrian capital projects in Cupertino to
propose to VT A as the Valley Transportation Plan 2020 and VTP 2030 are
updated
.:. Reyiew and update Cupertino Bicycle Transportation Plan and Cupertino
Pedestrian Transportation Guidelines
.:. Monitor and adyise deyelopment within city for pedestrian and bicycle access
Goal #2 - Promote Walking and Bicycling in Cupertino
.:. Bicycle Friendly Community application - complete application
.:. Place Cupertino bike route maps online
.:. Write articles for Cupertino Scene on a regular basis
Goal #3 _ Improve Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety in Cupertino
.:. Street Smarts program
o Place safe driving, biking, and walking educational materials on city
website, with translations as available
o Online safety quiz and drawing for prizes
o Give away Street Smarts items to promote awareness
.:. Work with schools to improye safety for students who walk and bicycle to
school
.:. Encourage schools to hold Bike & Walk to school days
.:. Promote transportation safety & education programs in schools. As city funds
grow, promote a part-time sheriff position for safety educatiori
.:. Participate in Santa Clara County's Traffic Safe Communities Network
Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Work group
Goal #4 - Monitor and Support Trail Development
.:. Stevens Creek Trail- monitor and assist trail planning process
Commission Members
May Koski, Chair
Jim Wiant, Vice Chair
Geofrrey Paulsen
Joe Walton
Scott Fable
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