March 31, 2004
Mr. Tim Haddad
Marin County Community Development Agency
3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 308
San Rafael, CA 94903-4157
Re: |
Comments on the Marin Countywide Plan Update 2004 Draft's Transportation Section of the Built Environment Element |
Dear Mr. Haddad:
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC) appreciates the opportunity to submit comments on the Marin Countywide Plan Update 2004, in preparation for its EIR phase.
The MCBC is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1998 to promote safe bicycling for everyday transportation and recreation. We promote bicycling as a way to improve public health, increase recreational opportunities, decrease traffic congestion, improve the environment, and provide benefits for public safety.
MCBC's specific interests are to ensure maximum accessibility and safety accommodations throughout the County for bicyclists and pedestrians. The following comments are recommended refinements to the draft language.
Comments on the Key Trends and the specific policies for each Plan Goal follow in numerical order, as they appear in the draft report. Where we are recommending text changes, the original text is struck out with a line, and the proposed text is added in italics.
Specific Comments:
1. Key Trends (p 3-138) People walk and ride bicycles less in the USA.
We have two requests for this section:
- Please remove the statistic that 5% of trips in Marin are made by walking and bicycling. This is for "commute trips" only, and is not comparable to the other data which indicates ALL trips. It is not appropriate to mix methodologies for data collection, and commute trips only represent about 23% of all trips.
- We request that statistics for recreational bicyclists be included to supplement the information on bicycle commuter trips. Recreational riders comprise a substantial percent of the traffic on Marin roads, especially on weekends, and their use of the roadways needs to be acknowledged and addressed in a pro-active manne
2. Key Trends (p 3-139) County residents are making more automobile trips than ever.
Please add: Congestion management must respond with pedestrian and bicycle friendly facilities, rather than simply trying to move more cars faster. Solutions to reduce the use of automobiles include expanded bus service on secondary roads (free to students), new bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, added traffic calming elements, etc.
3. Key Trends (p 3-140) Fuel consumption and transportation costs are high and increasing.
Please add: In direct response to high fuel costs, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements offer low cost infrastructure solutions to the County that increase mobility and improve public safety at low cost to the users.
4. Key Trends (p 3-140) Where are drivers going?
Please correct the statistic to state that "40 percent of all trips in the United States cover TWO miles or less."
5. Key Trends (p 3 - 140) Figure 3-23: Please note if these daily trips generated are on a weekday or weekend.
6. Key Trends (p 3-141) Figure 3-24: Please note the overall percentage of trips in Marin County that are work related trips. Nationwide, only about 23% of trips are actually work related. It is important to clarify this information, as it then becomes more clear that to relieve traffic, we must focus on much more that the work commute.
7. Key Trends (p 3-143) Will traffic levels of service (LOS) be adequate in Marin?
Please add: The use of the Level of Service (LOS) to determine the effectiveness of roadways and intersections is limiting for user groups other than motor vehicles, such as pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users. Today, there are most likely many intersections and roadway segments that are currently at LOS E and below. Additional measurement systems that reflect circulation by the other user groups is critical to include, otherwise future infrastructure work will address improving the roadway system solely for moving motor vehicles and will neglect improvements that move pedestrians and bicyclists safely and efficiently.
8. Goal TR-1 (p 3-146) Safe and Efficient Movement of People and Goods
TR-1.2: Maintain Balance Service Standards. Establish Develop level of service standards for vehicles on streets and highways that consider and are balanced with the and performance standards for transit, bicycle, pedestrian and other modes of transportation.
TR-1.4: Share the Costs for Improvements. Require new development to pay its fair share of the transportation system improvements it necessitates and to implement those improvements prior to development as a way to mitigate traffic.
TR-1.5: Keep Rural Character in West Marin. Maintain roads in West Marin as two-lane routes, with the possible additions of allowed being bicycle lanes, multi-use pathways, turn lanes at intersections, and turnouts for slow-moving traffic.
TR-1.c: Promote Transportation Alternatives. Work with local government, business, the National Parks Service and environmental groups to encourage use of transit, vanpools, carpools, bicycles and walking for commuting, recreation and tourism…
TR-1.e: Adopt Vehicle Level of Service Standards. Adopt peak-hour or peak period vehicle Level of Service (LOS) D or better for urban and suburban arterials and LOS E or better for freeways and rural expressways. Balance the need to meet these LOS standards with the movement of other transportation modes including transit, bicyclists and pedestrians.
TR-1.f: Analyze Multi-Modal Performance. Add: The pedestrian and bicycle performance standards need to include measurable levels of safety and time of travel between destinations for these users by which the facilities are assessed.
TR-1.i: Adopt Flexible Parking Standards. Amend the Development Code and …or provide direct bicycle and pedestrian access to multi modal transit hubs or locations that provide adequate, safe bicycle parking and changing areas.
TR-1.k: Update Transportation System Modeling. Maintain transportation system modeling capability for the purpose of providing estimates and projections of trip generation, transportation demand (for categories including commuting, tourist and recreational use), and vehicle LOS on the road network and transit routes within the modeling system, and incorporate multi-modal performance measures and indicators as feasible. Insure that transportation modeling includes the needs of bicycles and pedestrians.
9. Goal TR-2 (p 3-150) Increased Bicycle and Pedestrian Access
TR-2.1: Improve the Bicycle and Pedestrian Network. Add: Agreed-upon standards include those from Caltrans, AASHTO, and the MUTCD.
TR-2.2 (p 3-151): Provide New Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities. Where appropriate, Require new development to provide trails or paths for use by bicycles and/or on-street bicycle and pedestrian facilities, or bank such mitigation towards larger local projects. Adopted the Marin County Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan (2001) by reference as part of the Countywide Plan update to help guide the implementation of bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
TR-2.3: Create a Public Review Process for Transportation Infrastructure Projects: Require transportation projects to be approved by the Marin County Planning Commission. Note: The City of Palo Alto recently changed the name of their Planning Commission to be the Planning and Transportation Commission, in order to expand its scope to fulfill this described function. As this plan states, transportation and land use are inextricably linked. New housing projects must go through the Planning Commissions and a public hearing prior to implementation, however, roadway and transportation projects have traditionally not been required to do this. This provision in the Countywide Plan would bring all transportation projects to the Planning Commission for public review on the design and conceptual plans. The details would need to be worked out as to the exact process for public review, as some transportation projects go through an extensive environmental review/public process for State and Federal requirements. It would also be important to ensure expediency and efficiency in developing a new public review of transportation projects.
Page (3-151) Why is this important? During recent years, there has been insufficient emphasis on accommodating pedestrians and bicyclists in new development projects. Roadway designs should strive to must adequately serve all types of users. Encouraging non-automobile travel will expand options for commuting (and potentially employee productivity) and reduce environmental impacts…
TR-2.a: Encourage Bicycling. Work with local advocacy community groups to encourage…
TR-2.b: Adopt Standards for Pedestrian and Bicycle Access. Amend the County Code to include standards for the provision of facilities to safely accommodate pedestrians and bicycles, including in the design of roadways, and to require new development and redevelopment projects to address, where appropriate bicycle and pedestrian access, per the 1974 Bikeway Policy adopted by the Marin County Board of Supervisors… (Note: a copy of this 1974 policy has been attached for reference).
TR-2.c: Support Bicycle Stations and Consider Attended Parking. Encourage the development of bicycle stations …Bike stations are full-service bicycle facilities providing secure and guarded "valet" bicycle parking in addition to other possible amenities, such as showers or bicycle rentals and repairs.
TR-2.d: Fund Projects. …and apply, where feasible, a portion of traffic mitigation fees toward improvements that will increase bicycle commuting transportation and mitigate congestion.
TR-2.e: Prioritize Completion of the North-South and East-West Bikeways. Work with local all jurisdictions (Caltrans, MTC, GGNRA, NPS, Marin County, BCDC, local cities and towns, etc) to identify gaps…
TR-2.g: Add Bicycle Lanes. Identify roads with shoulders wide enough to be designated as bicycle lanes and where feasible, stripe and sign appropriate roadway segments as bike lanes and bike routes.
TR-2.h: Encourage Innovative Bicycle Lane Design. …communities throughout Europe and the U.S.A., such as: painted red colored bike lanes, signage, lighting and other safety features (i.e. traffic calming elements: speed humps, tabled crosswalks, tabled intersections, bulb outs, and roundabouts).
TR-2.i: Renovate Tunnels Along the Planned North-South Bikeway into Multi-Use Pathways. Support, if feasible, the Work to reopening of reopen the California Park Hill Tunnel …and the Camino Alto Tunnel provides a direct, nearly level link between Mill Valley, and Corte Madera and points beyond, along the Highway 101 corridor. This would satisfy a huge latent demand for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
TR-2.k: Explore Funding Options: Please add: A public process should be used to select which projects should be pursued for funding as well as the project design.
TR-2.l: Consider Pedestrian Needs. …and work with Safe Routes to Schools to encourage the creation of a countywide school crossing guard program and implement needed infrastructure improvements along routes to schools including traffic calming, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, multi-use pathways, crosswalk improvements, intersection redesign, etc.
TR-2.m: Consider Non-motorized Access in Transportation Projects. Include safe and convenient bicycle and pedestrian access where feasible, in all transportation improvement projects or as mitigation, if not feasible on a particular project, that can be banked and installed on other projects, and request that Caltrans…
10. Goal TR-3 (p 3-154) Adequate and Affordable Public Transportation
TR-3.5: Support Bicycle Access with All Transit Systems. Ensure that all new and existing transit systems provide for the storage of bicycles on transit as well as at transit centers, and that safe and convenient bicycle and pedestrian access to transit hubs along local roads is provided. This is called "Safe Routes to Transit."
TR-3.d: Upgrade and Create Intermodal Hubs. … are comfortable and convenient for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and drivers; and, where feasible provide secure bike parking. Other services that transit providers should endeavor to provide include: …
TR-3.f: Coordinate Paratransit. Encourage Require the Transit District to provide information and …
11. Goal TR-4 (p 3-157) Protected Environmental Resources
TR-4.3: Increase Clean-Fuel Vehicle Use. Encourage Require government agencies to switching switch from conventional cars and transit vehicles to zero or low emission vehicles.
TR-4.b: Recycled and Resource Efficient Materials. Use resource efficient materials such as rubberized asphalt concrete and pervious pavement in road repair and construction where feasible.
TR-4.c: Support Green Fuels. Work with advocacy groups to promote the use of hybrid and low-emission vehicles and clean fuels (including biodiesel) as feasible based on cost and availability, set targets for increasing the proportion of clean-fuel vehicles in the County fleet, and encourage require transit agencies that are based in Marin to increase their use of clean-fuel vehicles to the same degree.
Page 3-158: How Will Success Be Measured?
The measurements of success for the number of bikeway miles are completely insufficient. It would be go against the previous policies drafted in this plan to approve of such low targets for improving the bikeway system. The Marin County Bicycle Coalition recommends the following changes:
Miles of Class I Bicycle Pathway
Non-Binding Targets: Increase by 5 times by 2010, and 10 times by 2015
Benchmark: 3.5 miles of Class 1 in 2000
Miles of Class II Bike Lanes (remove the words "or better")
Non-Binding Targets: Increase by 5 times by 2010, and 10 times by 2015
Benchmark: 2.25 miles of Class 2 in 2000.
Add a New Category
Miles of Class III Bicycle Routes
Non-Binding Targets: Increase by 5 times by 2010 and by 10 times by 2015
Benchmark: 3 miles of Class 3 (signed bicycle routes) in 2000.
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition is available to answer any questions you have regarding our comments, and welcome your feedback. You can reach me at 415-456-3469 x1#.
Thank you for consideration of our comments. We look forward to hearing back from you and to increasing safe and aesthetic opportunities for people to enjoy Marin County on foot and by bicycle.
Sincerely,
Deb Hubsmith
Executive Director
