Transportation News

Help develop the plan for the next five years of traffic safety

Post Date:07/08/2024 4:23 PM

UPDATE 10/24/24: The feedback form for the draft Vision Zero Action Plan has been closed. Thank you for your comments.

The City of San José is updating our Vision Zero Action Plan to guide our traffic safety efforts for the next five years. We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts on traffic safety and ideas on making our roads safer.

Vision Zero is the City of San José’s initiative to eliminate traffic deaths. Vision Zero programs have existed all over the world since the late 1990s. The Vision Zero Action Plan guides our Safe System Approach to prevent traffic deaths in San José. The federal Department of Transportation defines the Safe System Approach as a strategy that “works by building and reinforcing multiple layers of protection to both prevent crashes from happening in the first place and minimize the harm caused to those involved when crashes do occur. It is a holistic and comprehensive approach that provides a guiding framework to make streets safer for everyone.”

Our 2020 Vision Zero Action Plan is approaching the end of its five-year span, and we are in the process of reviewing our accomplishments and challenges over the past four and a half years. As we draft a revised plan, we invite you to review our progress and share your feedback using our feedback form below by August 31, 2024.

2025 Vision Zero Action Plan Update

For the next Action Plan, we are proposing five key action areas with new objectives and deliverables:

Key Action Area #1: Prioritize Equity and Vulnerable Road Users
Objectives	Prioritize resources to areas with high fatal and severe traffic injuries for project planning and delivery and grant applications, especially in areas with the highest equity scores Improve safety at locations where vulnerable users are experiencing fatal and severe injury crashes Provide accessibility improvements (e.g., audible pedestrian signals, Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA] transition plan, ADA ramps, trail access) Reduce pedestrian fatalities and injury crashes Enhance mobility for all road users, especially vulnerable road users
Deliverables	Pilot street safety near hotspot locations involving vulnerable road users Implement Walk Safe San José pedestrian safety study recommendations Improve roadway accessibility Provide interpreters at community meetings for engagement when needed

Key Action Area #2: Center Data Analytics and Report Metrics
Objectives	Increase accountability Understand project effectiveness Expand data to better understand where fatal and severe injuries are occurring Data sharing: Trauma injury data from hospitals Data sharing: Light rail crashes and injuries Improve and update public facing data dashboards Implement evidence-based strategies and policies
Deliverables	# of before/after project evaluations Create metrics for tracking progress of Action Plan Frequency of reporting key metrics: TBD Data sharing agreement with county-level agencies (EMS, VTA) Utilize trauma injury data in data analysis New public facing crash data dashboards

Key Action Area #3: Strategize Traffic Enforcement
Objectives	Inform traffic enforcement using top three known violations that lead to fatal and severe injury crashes Implement speed cameras per AB 645 Implement red light cameras Strategize enforcement using data-driven enforcement efforts Utilize technology to enhance enforcement capabilities
Deliverables	Report on top three traffic citations (SJPD) Implement 33 speed cameras in a five-year pilot Implement red light running cameras at four intersections in a six-month pilot Conduct before/after study of camera program effectiveness

Key Action Area #4: Engineer for Safety
Objectives	Vision Zero Quick-Build program Pedestrian Safety Enhancement program Capital improvement projects Align and build controlled crosswalks near bus stop pairs on Priority Safety Corridors Improve safety around K-12 schools Traffic fatality review Collaborate with Santa Clara County Roads and Airports Department to improve safety at top 3 City/County severe injury locations Implement data-driven quick-build and capital safety improvements Benchmark and adopt best practices and innovative engineering solutions from other cities and countries Optimize signal timing to reduce wait times for pedestrians and cyclists and reducing conflicts
Deliverables	Slow Down Vehicles Lower speed limit through 2021 AB 43: # of analyses, # installed # of traffic studies completed; # implemented # of paving projects and paving miles per year # of bike projects and bike project miles per year # of safety request projects per year # of traffic fatalities reviewed and changes made # of pedestrian safety enhancements per year # of Vision Zero quick-build projects and miles per year # of signal studies per year Pedestrian Safety Improvements # of signal projects (leading pedestrian interval, signal timing, etc.) per year # of daylighted intersections per 2023 AB 413 # of safety projects delivered through development per year # of safety capital projects from grant funding per year Near Schools Speed reduction near K-12 schools Pedestrian safety near K-12 schools

Key Action Area #5: Engage the Community and Message Safety
Objectives	Increase public awareness of traffic safety issues Speed camera and red light running camera engagement Promote street safety awareness month campaigns and awareness of darker months April: Distracted Driving Awareness Month October: Pedestrian Safety Awareness Month November-March: Look out when it’s dark out Traffic safety education: School-aged children, older adults, people experiencing homelessness Conduct safety engagement work at schools, community events, and through Walk n’ Roll Coordinate with organizations serving vulnerable road users when increasing injury trends are observed Explain the purpose and benefits of safety projects (“How do I use this?”) after they are built Continue “Slow Down, San José” speeding reduction campaign Encourage safer driving and mindful behavior as pedestrians and bicyclists
Deliverables	Changeable message signs with safety messages (pending funding) Engage community for speed camera and red-light running camera deployments # of adults receiving traffic safety education # of children ages 5-17 receiving traffic safety education # of educational videos online explaining projects that have been built

For a more detailed of the proposed Action Plan updates, and to hear the discussion the Vision Zero Task Force had about them, watch the recording of our recent Vision Zero Task Force meeting. You can also review the slide presentation. Information about the new Action Plan starts on slide 35.

We expect these draft key action areas, objectives, and deliverables to help us improve traffic safety and save lives for the next five years. We would like to hear what you think about our proposed approach. Are we missing objectives that you think would improve traffic safety in your community? Do you think some elements are unnecessary and should be dropped in favor of other, more pressing ones? Are there other comments you’d like to share? Please let us know by using this feedback form (Feedback for has been disabled as of 10/24/24).

We will also have staff participating in nearly 20 Viva Parks events this summer, with information about the Action Plan and a link to the survey. Stop by and say hi! Thank you for your interest in improving traffic safety in San José.

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