Burlingame commission backs Vision 0 safety action plan, urges enforcement funding

The Burlingame Transportation Commission voted 5-0 to recommend that the City Council adopt the citys Vision 0 safety action plan, adding a formal request that the council prioritize budget and staffing for enforcement measures.

Dana Wiseman, the plan consultant, told commissioners the action plan "aligns community priorities, data driven strategies, and city decision making around a shared safety vision to eliminate severe injury and fatal collisions on Burlingame's roadways." Wiseman said the plan reflects more than 18 months of analysis and community engagement and is intended as a planning document to guide policy and investment decisions rather than an implementation plan.

The presentation summarized public outreach and analysis: a project webpage with roughly 3,000 visitors, an online map survey with about 650 community contributions, two in-person pop-up events with roughly 100 attendees each, and a five-year collision data study covering 20202024. Wiseman said the analysis identified four safety emphasis areas (arterials, signalized intersections, areas around schools and commercial areas) and that a high-injury network comprising about 20% of the road network accounted for roughly 80% of serious injury and fatal collisions.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about the data and priorities. Commissioner French asked what years of data were used; Wiseman said, "the data that we looked at for the study was from a five-year period from 2020 to 2024." French also raised whether collisions involving autonomous vehicles appear in the records; Wiseman said collision records do not identify autonomously operated vehicles but the plan includes forward-looking items such as a curbside management strategy to respond to changing curb use.

Several commissioners pressed technical and local concerns. Commissioner Bourgeault flagged growing double parking by delivery trucks on Broadway and asked why Hillside and Carmelita received different tier rankings; Wiseman explained the prioritization framework: corridors receive baseline safety points for collision history and potential (vehicle volumes, speeds, roadway width) with bonus points for community-flagged locations, school proximity and commercial areas, and then are placed into tiers AC. Wiseman noted she would review why Carmelitas display on the high-injury network did not match the collision counts cited in the presentation.

Enforcement and resources were a central focus. Public commenter Jim Evans told the commission that "one of the most basic ways to control speed is improved speeding enforcement," noting Burlingame uses LADAR and that about 30 to 40 streets are currently approved for that enforcement. Commissioners and staff said the police department participated in the plans task force and reviewed enforcement strategies. Wiseman pointed to action items in the plan that address enforcement: automated enforcement (item 1.3) and targeted enforcement (item 2.3), and she acknowledged the police had flagged potential resource needs to execute targeted enforcement.

Commissioners also made recommendations for implementation: build margin in budgets for emerging technologies (e-bikes, AVs), designate a program coordinator to champion Vision 0, and consider lower speed limits in downtown and near schools (several commissioners suggested a 15 mph downtown standard for high-pedestrian areas). Staff said capital-project designs would return to the commission as funding and projects develop and described an interactive internal web map and suggested progress metrics to track outputs and outcomes over time.

Commissioner Bourgeault moved to support the plan "with the addition that we strongly recommend to city council that priority and budget be considered or dedicated to police enforcement"; Commissioner Brown seconded. The commission took a roll-call vote and the motion carried 5-0.

The commission will forward the recommendation to the City Council, with staff targeting an August 17 council hearing date for adoption. Chair Martos adjourned the meeting and wished attendees a safe Fourth of July weekend.