Resolution 14276CITY OF ALAMEDA RESOLUTION NO. 14276
ENDORSING ALAMEDA COUNTY ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION CAMPAIGN
WHEREAS, Alameda County's Countywide Bicycle Plan and
Countywide Strategic Pedestrian Plan include the following goals that support
active transportation:
Increase the number and percentage of walking trips with the
intention of reducing motor vehicle use, preserving air quality, and
improving public health.
• Improve pedestrian safety, especially for the young, elderly, and
disabled.
• Ensure that essential pedestrian destinations throughout Alameda
County - particularly public transit - have direct, safe and convenient
pedestrian access.
• Complete the San Francisco Bay Trail and paved inter-jurisdictional
East Bay Regional Park District trail systems that serve populated
areas in Alameda County.
• Maximize the amount of funding for pedestrian projects, programs
and plans in Alameda County, with an emphasis on implementation,
• Create and maintain an inter-county and intra-county bicycle network
that is safe, convenient and continuous.
• Increase the potential for bicycle transportation by closing gaps in
existing bikeways.
• Encourage policies and actions that foster bicycling as a mode of
travel; and
WHEREAS, nearly half of all trips for personal transportation in the
United States are three miles or less in length, and thirty percent of all trips in
the San Francisco Bay Area are one mile or less making biking and walking a
healthy alternative for a significant portion of daily trips; and
WHEREAS, bicyclists and pedestrians represent 9% of all personal trips
nationwide (14% in Alameda County), and 14% of all traffic fatalities in the
United States (over 23% in Alameda County), yet receive less than 1% of all
federal road spending; and
WHEREAS, the above disparity indicates an opportunity to produce a
substantial shift to these healthy, non-motorized transportation modes; and
WHEREAS, federal legislation, SAFETEA-LU, in 2005 created the Non-
motorized Transportation Pilot Program for the construction of a network of non-
motorized transportation infrastructure facilities in four urban communities to
demonstrate the extent to which bicycling and walking can carry a significant
part of the transportation load and play a major role in transportation solutions;
and
WHEREAS, the four communities were selected to each receive grants
of $25 million over four years to participate in the Non - motorized Transportation
Pilot Program; and
WHEREAS, a national non - profit multi -modal transportation advocacy
organization, the Rails -to- Trails Conservancy, is leading a national campaign to
expand this program in the next federal transportation reauthorization to include
at least 40 communities, with $50 million per community over six years, to
promote "active transportation" (walking, biking and access to transit) for
mobility; and
WHEREAS, Alameda County joined this effort to expand the federal
program, called the 2010 Campaign for Active Transportation, and seeks to be
one of the communities to receive $50 million; and
WHEREAS, an Alameda County Active Transportation Plan was
developed in 2008 with the input of a Steering Committee, Community Advisory
Committee, Technical Advisory Committee and Organizing Committee,
representing all areas of the county; and
WHEREAS, this Active Transportation Plan, which will benefit the entire
county, will create active transportation opportunities for kids, commuters and
community by investing in three priority areas:
1. Advancing pedestrian and bicycle access to transit,
2. Connecting communities with urban greenways, and
3. Inspiring the community to walk and bike through education and
promotion programs.
WHEREAS, the overarching goal of this Plan is to increase the number
of people walking, biking and using public transit in Alameda County from 22%
today, to 30% by 2016.
WHEREAS, Alameda County showed its tremendous support for active
transportation in 2000 when 81.5% of voters approved a $100 million
investment in improving walking and biking as part of the passage of a twenty
year local sales tax measure (Measure B); and
WHEREAS, in 2006 Alameda County adopted a Countywide Strategic
Pedestrian Plan, a Toolkit for Improving Walkability in Alameda County, and a
Countywide Bicycle Plan; and
WHEREAS, the East Bay Regional Park District Master Plan, as updated
in 2007, encompasses an extensive system of multi -use trails in Alameda
County; and
WHEREAS, municipalities in Alameda County continue to plan and
develop active transportation infrastructure to:
• Create safe transportation routes.
• Promote healthy lifestyles.
Invigorate the sense of community.
• Promote economic diversity and vitality.
Improve air quality.
Relieve motorized traffic congestion.
• Improve the efficiency of transportation infrastructure.
o Decrease dependency on carbon fuels.
o Reduce the burden of infrastructure maintenance.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City
of Alameda strongly supports and endorses Alameda County's participation in
the 2010 Campaign for Active Transportation which has a goal of doubling
federal funding for trails, walking and biking in the next federal transportation
reauthorization and attracting $50 million of this funding to Alameda County to
implement its Active Transportation Plan.
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly and
regularly adopted and passed by the Council of the City of Alameda during the Regular
Meeting of the City Council on the 7th day of October, 2008, by the following vote to wit:
AYES: Councilmembers deHaan, Gilmore, Matarrese, Tam
and Mayor Johnson - 5.
NOES: None..
ABSENT: None.
ABSTENTIONS: None.
IN WITNESS, WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of
said City this 8th day of October, 2008.
Lara Weisiger, Cit
City of Alameda