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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 140-06of PMo Alto C ty Manager’s TO: FROM: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PLANNING AND COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT CMR: 140:06 DATE:FEBRUARY 6, 2006 SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION ON SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP RECOMMENDATION The CiD~!Schoot Liaison Committee and staff recommend that Counci! adopt the attached resolution (Attachment A) endorsing the Safe Routes to School National Partnership Consensus Statement (Attachment B) as a means to encourage the continued collaboration of CiDT, School District, and communiD~ partners in their efforts to reduce risk for students and encourage more families to use alternatives to driving to school more often. An equivalent recommendation has been forwarded to the Board of Education for the Palo Alto Unified School District. BACKGROI~’D In April 2004, the City/School Liaison Committee agreed to include a discussion of schoo! traffic safety issues on its agenda each quarter. This was in response to a request from the Safe Routes to School Task Force. a community group. These discussions have highlighted joint ci~7/school traffic safety initiatives as well as the efforts of PTA volunteers at certain schools to work with school administrators to reduce the number of cars near school by encouraging students to walk, bike, carpool or take transit when possible. At its meeting on November 30, 2005, the committee considered a draft resolution endorsing the Safe Routes to School National Partnership Consensus Statement. This statement was developed by a coalition of national, state and local non-profit organizations, professionaI groups and state, regional and local government agencies working to address the decline in walking and biking to school over the last 30 years and to ensure the success of the new federal Safe Routes to School program. Locally, the statement was endorsed by the Executive Board of the Palo Alto Council of PTAs at its October meeting, and by the members of the Safe Routes to School Task Force. While the committee expressed support for the principles in the consensus statement, schoo! board members raised concern regarding possible misinterpretation of one builet in the consensus statement regarding locating schools away from busy corridors, since Palo Alto is a built out community and several existing schools are located along maj or streets. The committee directed staff to return in Janua~ with a revised resolution that could be forwarded to both Council and the Board of Education concun’ently. CMR: 140:06 Page 1 of 3 COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS On January 25, members of the City/School Liaison Committee reviewed the revised draft resolution as wel! as the consensus statement. Schoo! board members aN’eed that their concerns had been addressed by the elimination of the phrase ~not along busy streets on the edges of neighborhoods" at the end of the sixth bullet at the bottom of the first page of the consensus statement. Cormnittee members discussed the need to include education and efforts to change attitudes that induce parents or teenagers to drive to school as part of tocal Safe Routes to School efforts. After discussion, by unanimous vote, the committee then recommended to the Council and the Board of Education adoption of the resolution endorsing the Safe Routes to School National Partnership Consensus Statement. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This recommendation is consistent with Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan Policy T-39: To the extent allowed by law, continue to make safety the first priority of citF~vide transportation planning. Prioritize pedestrian, bicycle, and automobile safety over vehicle level-of-service at intersections, and Policy T-40: Continue to prioritize the safety and comfort of school children in street modification projects that affect school travel routes. ATTACHMENTS A. ResoIution endorsing the Safe Routes to School National Partnership Consensus Statement B. Safe Routes to School National Partnership Consensus Statement, as endorsed by the City/School Liaison Committee on January 25, 2006 PREPARED BY : Transportation Systems Management Coordinator DEPARTMENT HEAD: STEVE Director of Planning and Communib, Environment CMR: 140:06 Page 2 of 3 CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: EMIL[k- HAP~IS ON Assistant City Manager Cib;/Schoot Traffic Safety Coi~ittee members Safe Routes to School Task Force Metissa Caswell, President, Palo Alto Council of PTAs CMR: 140:06 Page 3 of 3 ATTACHMENT A *** NOT YET APPROVED *** RESOLUTION NO. RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO ENDORSING THE SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP CONSENSUS STATEMENT [r~EREAS, Safe Routes to School is a national and internationa! movement to create safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for children to bicycle and walk to school; and k~EREAS, Safe Routes to School programs provide a variety of important benefits to students and their communities, including improved health and fitness, reduced traffic congestion, better air quality and enhanced neighborhood safety; and ~THEREAS, Policy T-40 of the City’s Comprehensive Plan affirms that the city wil! "Continue to prioritize the safety and comfort of school children in street modification projects that affect school travel routes;" and WHEREAS, members of the City/School Liaison Committee have been meeting regularly since April 2004 with members of the !ocal Safe Routes to Schoo! Community Task Force with the goa! of creating and sustaining "a city/school/community partnership to reduce risk to students and to encourage more families to use alternatives to driving more often;" and WHEREAS, a Safe Routes to Schoo! Nationa! Partnership has been established and the Partnership has agreed upon a Consensus Statement; and ~EREAS, the goals of the Partnership are to support the deve!opment and implementation of successful Safe Routes to School programs throughout the United States; and WHEREAS, the Executive Board of the Palo Alto Council of PTAs endorsed the National Safe Routes to School Partnership Consensus Statement on October 12, 2005; and WHEREAS, at their meeting on January 25, 2006, members of the City/School Liaison Committee recommended that the City Council and the School Board endorse this Consensus Statement. NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Palo Alto does RESOLVE as follows: 060130 sm 0100430 *** NOT YET APPROVED *** SECTION i. The Council does hereby endorse the attached Safe Routes to Schoo! Nationa! Partnership Consensus Statement as a means to encourage the continued collaboration of City, Schoo! District and community partners in their efforts to reduce risk for students and encourage more families to use alternatives to driving to school more often. SECTION 2. The Counci! finds that this is not a project under the California Environmenta! Quality Act and, therefore, no environmenta! impact assessment is necessary. INTRODUCED AND PASSED: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTENTIONS: ATTEST: City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: Mayor APPROVED: St. Asst. City Attorney City Manager Director of Planning & Community Environment Director of Administrative Services 060130 sm 0100430 2 ATTACHMENT B Safe Routes to School National Partnership Consensus Statement We believe it is time for a change. The Problem In the last 30 years we have seen a loss of mobility among our nation’s children that has severely impacted their personal health and their ability to explore their neighborhoods, even by walking or biking to school. Consider these facts: ¯ Within the span of a single generation, the number of children walking and bicycling to school has dramatically declined. In 1969, approximately 50% of children walked or biked to school, and 87% of children living within one mile of school did. Today, fewer than 15% of schoolchildren walk or bike to school. (CDC) o There are more than three times as many overweight children today as there were 25 years ago. (CDC, NHANES II!) ¯As much as 20 to 30% of morning rush hour traffic can be parents driving children to schools. (Data from local communities) These problems are all related to the fact that many communities lack basic infrastructure--sidewalks, bike lanes, trails, pathways, and crosswalks--and are no longer designed to encourage or allow children to walk and bicycle safely. Concerns about traffic, crime, and other obstacles keep children strapped in the back seat of cars, which further adds to the traffic on the road and pollution in the air. The Solution Communities around the country are organizing Safe Routes to School programs, which have a common goal to make it safe, convenient, and fun for children to walk and bicycle to and from school like their parents did. While each program is unique, the programs have common objectives to: °Encourage students, families, and school staff to be physically active by walking and bicycling more often. o Hake streets, sidewalks, pathways, trails, and crosswalks safe, convenient, and attractive for walking and bicycling to school. o Ensure that streets around schools have an adequate number of safe places to cross and that there is safe and convenient access into the school building from adjacent sidewalks. ¯Keep driving speeds slow near schools, on school routes, and at school crossings. ¯Enforce all traffic laws near schools, on school routes, and in other areas of high pedestrian and bicycle activity. ¯Locate schools within walking and bicycling distance of as many students as possible. ¯Reduce the amount of traffic around schools. ¯Use trails, pathways, and non-motorized corridors as travel routes to schools. ¯Provide secure bicycle parking at schools. ¯Teach traffic safety skills routinely in school. Every community is unique, so every Safe Routes to School program must respond differently. Successful programs include some combination or all of the following approaches to improve conditions for safe walking and bicycling: ¯Encouragement - Using events and activities to promote walking and bicycling. °Education - Teaching children about the broad range of transportation choices, instructing them in important lifelong safety skills, and launching driver safety campaigns. ¯Engineering - Creating operational and physical improvements to the infrastructure surrounding schools, reducing speeds, and establishing safer crosswalks and pathways. o Enforcement - Partnering with local law enforcement to ensure drivers obey traffic laws, and initiating community enforcement such as crossing guard programs. °Evaluation - Monitoring and researching outcomes and trends through the collection of data. The Partnership The Safe Routes to School National Partners!!ip is comprised of multiple constituencies at the local, state, and national levels. :~t includes: ¯Parents ¯Students ¯Educators ¯Government officials o Business leaders ¯Community groups ¯Advocates for bicycling and walking ¯Law enforcement officers ¯Transportation, urban planning, engineering, and health professionals ¯Health, conservation, and safety advocates The Safe Routes to School National Partnership works to support the development and implementation of programs by: ¯Setting goals for successful implementation. ¯Sharing information with all interested parties. ¯Working to secure funding resources for Safe Routes to Schools programs. ¯Providing policy input to implementing agencies. ¯Providing training and resource materials to assist communities in starting a Safe Routes to School program. ¯]:llustrating the cost effectiveness of Safe Routes to School programs. ¯Providing a unified voice for Safe Routes to School. Through forming the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, we call on you to join us in giving children back the sense of freedom and responsibility that comes from walking or bicycling to and from school. Together, we can again provide children with the opportunity to know their neighborhoods enjoy fresh air and arrive at school alert, refreshed and ready to start the day. As partners in the Safe Routes to Schools National Partnership, we are transforming children’s lives and their communities.