Dear Mayor Keith and Members of Council, I am a member of the Complete Streets Commission, but I am writing to you today as a resident. I have served on the Transportation Commission since 2011, and for my entire tenure considering traffic and transportation issues in Menlo Park, the Willows has been a constant area of concern, and this is a subject about which I have learned a great deal. I write to you today about three items on tonight's agenda that are interrelated: H1, H2, and H3. Traffic in the Willows is a symptom of a larger problem, and the solution is regional, not local. I urge Council to be wary of quick fixes that have not been thoroughly studied and may have unanticipated consequences. Signage will not fix the problem. It may temporarily ease the pain, but it will not fix anything. Widening Willow will not fix the problem. A wider Willow will simply attract more drivers, thus exacerbating the problem. ( https://www.wired.com/2014/06/wuwt-traffic-induced-demand/ ) The solution to the problem of Willows traffic is a regional one, that requires cooperation among the cities of Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Redwood City, Mountain View and also Stanford University. It requires providing efficient and effective alternatives to single-driver vehicles. It requires subsidizing transit passes so that commuters can leave their cars at home. The ample free parking commuters enjoy at many corporate campuses in the area create the wrong incentive; how can cities change that? Encouraging the construction of more housing near transit corridors, so that people can live closer to their employment, would ease the amount of through- traffic. Congestion pricing on the Dumbarton Bridge would go a long way to encouraging commuters to explore alternatives to driving alone. The funds generated from congestion pricing could be used to subsidize transit alternatives. All of these things combined could go a long way to easing the gridlock our city experiences every weekday evening. The city cannot, acting alone, do anything about through traffic, and it would be unfair to blame Council for not fixing a problem of this magnitude. There are, however, actions that are well within the power of City Council to implement. Vigorous support of Transportation Demand Management programs for the benefit of folks working downtown is one such step. Another action the city can take is to provide its residents with the ability to walk and bike safely throughout the city; a safe and attractive bicycle network would many residents a feasible alternative to getting behind the wheel of their car. Induced demand works in a positive sense for bike lanes as well, and for short trips bicycles are much more efficient than cars. To this end, for item H1, I urge the Council to make mindful choices about short-term fixes. For item H2, I would ask Council to include a package of Dumbarton Corridor TDM investments such as transit pass discounts, concierge services to help employees choose nondriving options, shuttles where needed, and other transportation alternatives in the *Get Us Moving* San Mateo County Expenditure Plan. For item H3, please urge SamTrans to strengthen TDM on the Dumbarton Corridor to relieve local congestion. thank you, Bianca Walser Received on Tue Dec 05 2017 - 13:29:41 PST
