City of Menlo Park TMA Options Analysis Study: Existing Conditions ___

Client: City of Menlo Park January 2020 Our ref: 23642101 Content

3 Introduction 4 Existing Travel Options 4 Rail and Transit 5 Public and Private Shuttles 6 Existing TDM Programming 8 Travel Patterns 9 Northern Menlo Park 10 Central Menlo Park 11 Downtown Menlo Park 12 Southern Menlo Park 13 Stakeholder Outreach 13 Interviews 16 Small Business Drop Ins 18 Employee Survey 22 Conclusions 23 Next Steps

2 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Introduction

TMA Options Analysis for Menlo Park Menlo Park Focus Area Zones The four zones include:

The City of Menlo Park has commissioned an Options This Existing Conditions Report (and subsequent 1. Northern Menlo Park (including Bohannon Dr. Analysis for establishing a Transportation reports and analyses) focuses on four areas or area) Management Association (TMA). “zones” within the City of Menlo Park. Each zone 2. Central Menlo Park faces unique challenges due to both its location and As has been seen across Silicon Valley and generally the specific land uses and industry housed within it. 3. Downtown Menlo Park the Bay Area, recent years have brought an increase 4. Southern Menlo Park (including SLAC area) in congestion in the City of Menlo Park. Transportation Demand Management (TDM) has Figure 1: Map of Menlo Park Zone Analysis been utilized for years to curb congestion by encouraging non single-occupancy vehicle travel across worksites, cities and counties in the Bay Area and beyond. As TDM is implemented in Menlo Park at a variety of levels, the City hopes that a TMA may help to better coordinate the efforts between public and private entities in the city, and potentially region-wide. Work on the Options Analysis began in August, 2019 with a research phase. Through the first months of the Study, the project team conducted outreach to local employees and business groups. This was done through interviews, local business ‘drop-ins,’ and the distribution of a travel survey, which ultimately provided the team with a combination of both qualitative and quantitative information from which to lay out a description of TDM “Existing Conditions” within the City. This report lays out these existing conditions and draws conclusions that will help set up the subsequent phases of the Options Analysis.

3 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Existing Travel Options

Figure 2: Map of Rail, Transit and Shuttle Options in Menlo Park Rail and Transit

Transit riders to and from Menlo Park have multiple rail and transit options providing service connections to the Peninsula and the East Bay. Commuter Rail: Caltrain provides regional commuter rail service from to Gilroy. Menlo Park and nearby Palo Alto and Redwood City Stations have weekday and weekend service. Service to/from Menlo Park is limited, however. Some commuters may choose to use the Redwood City or Palo Alto Stations for more frequent or bullet train service. Figure 2 shows a map of rail, transit and shuttle options around Menlo Park. Many of the local transit and shuttle services connect commercial centers and office parks with the stations in Menlo Park and Palo Alto. Public Transit San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) provides transit service in San Mateo County in the northern peninsula. SamTrans operates three bus routes serving the Menlo Park station: • Route 296 connecting Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City Caltrain Stations • Route 286 connecting Menlo Park with points south in Atherton and Portola Valley • ECR connecting all local Caltrain stations with SFO International Airport and BART Service

4 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Existing Travel Options

Figure 3: Rail and Transit Options Rail and Transit (Cont.)

Valley Transit Authority (VTA) The VTA provides rail and bus service in the southern peninsula region. VTA does not provide service to/from Menlo Park, however several local and rapid routes connect to the neighboring Palo Alto Caltrain station: • Rapid Route 522 and Local 22 connecting the Palo Alto Transit Center to Transit Center • Express 102/103 connecting to Eastridge and San Jose

Alameda Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) AC Transit provides service primarily in the East Bay with a few transbay routes. Line U provides a transbay connection from Palo Alto () to Fremont via the Dumbarton Bridge. AC Transit does not provide service directly to Menlo Park. Public and Private Shuttles

Several public and private shuttles provide Menlo Park rail and transit riders with connections to commercial and employment centers. Menlo Park Shuttles The City of Menlo Park operates three shuttle routes in the City of Menlo Park that are free and open to the public

5 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Existing Travel Options

Figure 4: Public and Private Shuttle Options • Belle Haven route serves key civic destination in Menlo Park. • Marsh Road route connects employment centers near Bayfront Expressway and Bohannan Drive with the Caltrain Station. • Willow Road route connects destinations such as the Caltrain Station with the Civic Center and Northern Menlo Park areas as well as the VA Medical Center and O’Brien Drive. Private Shuttles Several private shuttles are operated by local developer/property managers and large employers. These shuttles are typically free to member employees only. • Tarlton operates three shuttles from Menlo Park Labs on O’Brien Drive to Palo Alto Caltrain Station, Union City BART, and San Francisco respectively. • The Stanford Bohannon (“BOH”) Shuttle provides free service from the Medical Complex on Bohannan Drive to the Menlo Park Caltrain Station to the Stanford medical campus in Palo Alto. • Facebook operates shuttles from their campus in the Northern Menlo Park area to San Francisco and the East Bay (not shown). Facebook estimates that these shuttles, which are rerouted frequently, serve up to 60,000 passengers per day.

6 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Existing TDM Programming

TDM Programming in Menlo Park information daily and demonstrate that trip a shuttle system that spans the entire county. Menlo reduction goals are met. Park’s shuttles are similarly branded to In addition to encouraging non-SOV travel through Commute.org’s due to a joint contract, but they are Beyond Menlo Park the provision of transit options, the City of Menlo managed by the City of Menlo Park. Park requires that developers and property owners Of course, the City of Menlo Park does not exist in a develop programs to shift behavior among their Manzanita Talks bubble, and many trips that contribute to congestion tenants and site users. within the city start or end elsewhere. In addition to Manzanita Talks is a new symposium/partnership of Currently, the City requires that developers of new site-based and municipal programs, TMAs and similar public and private entities in Silicon Valley. While this projects work with the Transportation Division to put organizations provide services across the Bay Area. organization is still in its infancy, it ultimately hopes together TDM plans guided by the City/County to provide coordination and support to the many TMAs Association of Government’s (C/CAG) TDM Program agencies and organizations providing TDM service Guidelines, which include both site and The Bay Area is home to several official TMAs, all of across the area. programmatic elements. These plans are then meant whom serve differing groups of core constituents and to be reviewed periodically by City staff in order to offer different key services. Closest in proximity to ensure that current owners and managers are Menlo Park are the Palo Alto TMA, which focuses operating the agreed upon programs, but the City primarily on providing transit subsidies to small does not have resources or a formal mechanism in downtown businesses, and the Stanford Research place for regular review or monitoring. Park’s SRPGO program which provides shuttle service The City’s policies are more comprehensive for and other TDM programs to their tenants. Also projects located within the Bayfront Area, where nearby is the Mountain View TMA, and neighboring developers are required to submit TDM Plans and Redwood City is exploring the idea of developing a reduce trips by 25% in order to simplify their TMA as well. permitting and approvals on projects. On a case by Commute.org case basis, City staff work with developers to agree upon TDM services and programs that will be Commute.org is the TDM agency serving San Mateo offered. These may include the requirement of County. They offer services such as an online first/last mile shuttles to and from transit stations, or, commuter platform, non-SOV trip incentives and a in the case of the City’s largest employer (Facebook), guaranteed ride home program for all commuters requirements to provide them with traffic count who travel to or from the county. They also operate

7 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Travel Patterns

StreetLight Data For this report, StreetLight data was pulled for The City of Menlo Park purchased access to the each of the four Focus Area Zones referenced in the Introduction, and analyzed for trip origin and StreetLight Dataset, which utilizes anonymized data destination by Census Block Group. This report from smartphones and navigation devices to display analyzes only vehicle trip data. StreetLight does travel networks, routes, and volume across North provide bicycle data, but these datasets are still in America. their infancy and are not guaranteed to be StreetLight provides what they refer to as an Origin- reliable for this purpose. The datasets have been Destination Traffic Index (O-D Index). This is a ratio of pulled, however, so the Project Team may make use of them in future stages of the project. trips within each sub-group, out of total trips calculated by StreetLight. This ratio is consistent with those found in other datasets and travel demand models utilized across North America, though the Project Team does not have enough information to endorse StreetLight’s process of calculating absolute value of actual total trip counts from there. This means, for example, that if the StreetLight O-D Index sites 10 average daily trips from Zip Code 1 into a defined zone, and 5 from Zip Code 2, it is safe to assume that twice as many trips to the defined zone originate in Zip Code 2. It may not be safe to assume that 5 and 10 are the true absolute counts of average daily traffic between those Zip Codes and the defined zone.

Still, these ratios are valuable for city planners in understanding where percentages of total trips begin and end, and the project team will continue to make use of this data as the Options Analysis Study continues.

8 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Travel Patterns

Northern Menlo Park Figure 5: Northern Menlo Park AM Peak Trip Origin Zones

The Northern Menlo Park area (the zone analyzed also includes the area to the west of the 101 Freeway up to Bohannon Drive) is home to some of Menlo Park’s largest employers such as Facebook and the Menlo Park Labs. This Focus Area Zone attracts and contributes to the most trips of all four zones analyzed in this report. Union City Trip origin and destination counts tend to follow a traditional commute-style pattern, with more trips coming into the zone during the morning peak (between 6am and 10am) and leaving the zone during the evening peak (between 3pm and 7pm). There are more trips both in and out of the zone in the afternoon peak than there are in corresponding directions of the morning peak. Newark

In the morning peak (as depicted in Figure 5) the Northern Menlo Park Focus Area Zone has the greatest concentration of trips arriving from the block group adjacent to the zone. This indicates there may be employees who both live and work in the Northern Menlo Park area completing Redwood City short commute trips. E. Palo Alto

Additionally, the Northern Menlo Park Focus Area Zone sees volume coming from across the Menlo Park Dumbarton Bridge (the areas directly on the east side of the Bay to the north and south of the bridge are one consistent block group). This means that there is likely a concentration of West Menlo Park Stanford travelers using the Dumbarton Bridge who work in the Northern Menlo Park area and, if provided with a satisfactory non-SOV option to cross the bridge itself, might be able to easily Mountain View make first/last mile connections.

Table 1: Northern Menlo Park AM and PM Average Daily Traffic AM PM (6am-10am) (3pm-7pm) Into Zone 14222 9980 (ADT StL. Index) Out of Zone 7471 16572 (ADT StL. Index)

9 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Travel Patterns

Central Menlo Park Figure 6: Central Menlo Park AM Peak Trip Origin Zones

The Central Menlo Park area includes City of Menlo Park public facilities such as City Hall, the Menlo Park Library, and the Arrillaga Family Center, as well as the Veterans Affairs (VA) campus north of Middlefield Rd. SRI International is also a major employer located in this zone.

Travel volumes are higher both into and out of this zone during the evening peak, which Union City indicates that the zone likely attracts non-work related trips after traditional morning peak hours. During the morning peak, the majority of trips come from nearby, with concentrations Newark originating in Menlo Park block groups, as well as block groups in neighboring Atherton and Redwood City. While the Central Menlo Park Focus Area Zone attracts a comparable number of morning trips Redwood City from the block group that just touches the eastern edge of the Dumbarton Bridge (indicated E. Palo Alto with a star in Figure 6) to the Northern Menlo Park Zone, trips from the (single) block group that covers the areas both north and south of that are notably lower. Menlo Park

West Menlo Park Stanford

Mountain View

Table 2: Central Menlo Park AM and PM Average Daily Traffic AM PM (6am-10am) (3pm-7pm) Into Zone 4151 4231 (ADT StL. Index) Out of Zone 3302 5905 (ADT StL. Index)

10 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Travel Patterns

Downtown Figure 7: Downtown AM Peak Trip Origin Zones

The Downtown Focus Area Zone covers Downtown Menlo Park, including both sides of El Camino Real. Downtown Menlo Park is home to a variety of small and medium sized retail and restaurant establishments, with very little residential land use. This area also includes the Menlo Park Caltrain Station. Union City Similar to Central Menlo Park, the Downtown Zone both attracts and originates more trips in the evening peak than it does in the morning peak. However, the Downtown Zone has more trips in and out during the evening peak, and fewer trips in and out during the morning peak than the Central Menlo Park Zone. This may be due to retail and restaurant operating hours being later Newark than traditional commute hours, which would skew travel habits later for both employees and customers.

Morning peak trip origins (depicted in Figure 7) also look similar to those from the Central Menlo Redwood City Park Zone. However, there are more trips coming from block groups in the west side of Menlo E. Palo Alto

Park and southern end of Atherton, and fewer originating in the East Bay. The fact that the Menlo Park majority of trips are coming from the west side of the Dumbarton Bridge, and many are within a 2-3 mile radius, may make Downtown Menlo Park a good target for programming related to West Menlo Park active transportation. Stanford

Mountain View

Table 3: Downtown AM and PM Average Daily Traffic AM PM (6am-10am) (3pm-7pm) Into Zone 4056 5397 (ADT StL. Index) Out of Zone 2549 6114 (ADT StL. Index)

11 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Travel Patterns

Southern Menlo Park Figure 8: Northern Menlo Park AM Peak Trip Origin Zones

The Southern Menlo Park Focus Area Zone includes the area abutting Sand Hill Rd. and the 280 Freeway, as well as the “SLAC” area, just south of Sand Hill Rd. In addition to the SLAC Laboratory the area is primarily home to a combination of residential and office space, with office parks that cater to the venture capital industry. The Southern Menlo Park area is further removed from Caltrain service than the Downtown and Central Menlo Park Zones. Though the Union City Stanford Marguerite Shuttle does provide service to the Sand Hill area, office parks are largely removed from the main road, which means if employees were to ride it, many would still need to walk about ten additional minutes to get to their workplace. Newark Similar to the Northern Menlo Park Zone, the Southern Menlo Park Zone sees daily travel trends in line with what is expected of traditional commute travel, with a higher concentration of trips entering during the morning peak and leaving during the evening peak. However, the number of trips both in and out of the zone is less than half of those coming in and out of the Redwood City E. Palo Alto Northern Menlo Park area. Of note, this zone does not include the neighboring Stanford University campus, which likely contributes to additional congestion along the same roadways. Menlo Park Trips entering the Southern Menlo Park zone in the morning originate across Menlo Park and West Menlo Park neighboring cities. Of note however, there are fewer trips originating in the East Bay than there Stanford are for any of the other zones. This may be due to the Zone’s location as the furthest physically Mountain View from the Bay, or, given the pervasiveness of the venture capital industry within the Zone, due to income levels of employees in the area. Table 4: Southern Menlo Park AM and PM Average Daily Traffic AM PM (6am-10am) (3pm-7pm) Into Zone 4466 3747 (ADT StL. Index) Out of Zone 2889 5400 (ADT StL. Index)

12 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Stakeholder Outreach

Interviews Tarlton Properties The team conducted eight interviews with Menlo Zone: Northern Menlo Park Park employers, property owners and business Current TDM Programming: Tarlton Properties organizations, which are summarized below: provides their own TDM services to their Menlo Park Labs properties. They have a system of shuttles that connect to Caltrain and other transit hubs. They Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce promote the service through email blasts and new Zone: All of Menlo Park tenant marketing. They currently offer carshare, but it is very underutilized so will be discontinued. They Current TDM Programming: The Chamber does not are also working on putting together an electric provide TDM service specifically. bikeshare program. Largest Perceived Challenges: Largest Perceived Challenges: • Lack of a convenient east-west corridor non-drive- • Poor bike and pedestrian conditions, including alone options wayfinding issues between Northern Menlo Park • Poor connections between transit providers and the rest of Menlo Park, particularly Willow Rd. • TDM and programming support tends to be • Temporary employees in many offices don’t get stronger for large employers, smaller employers the same options as permanent employees may not have the capacity to fund TDM measures Potential Improvements: Potential Improvements: • More incentives to encourage non-SOV travel • Helping employers become more flexible with • Opening up of private shuttles to wider use shift start/end times to coincide with train schedules • Dedicated shuttle lane across the Dumbarton Br. • Providing transit subsidies to local employees Interest in joining a TMA: Tarlton Properties would potentially be interested, but it would need to Interest in joining a TMA: The Chamber itself may not provide a tangible benefit for their tenants and be a TMA member, but might be a conduit to smaller would need to be of low/no additional cost over businesses. what they spend on TDM and transportation now.

13 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Stakeholder Outreach

Interviews (cont.) The Sobrato Organization Facebook Palo Alto VA Medical Center-Menlo Park Zone: Northern Menlo Park Zone: Northern Menlo Park Zone: Central Menlo Park Current TDM Programming: Sobrato does not Current TDM Programming: Facebook offers a variety provide TDM services directly. Their sites are often of TDM services on site. They provide commuter Current TDM Programming: The VA offers a limited required to provide TDM, but it is typically provided shuttles that connect with Caltrain, locations in the selection of TDM services. They provide VA-owned by tenants to their residents or employees. East Bay, and San Francisco as well as connecting buses for patient outings and have golf carts shuttles between Facebook campuses. They make Largest Perceived Challenges: available to transport patients throughout the carshare available at every campus. They offer campus. Their HR office also provides pre-tax • Sobrato is a community developer so their sites commuters a $260 per month subsidy in addition to commuter benefits. have varied needs and it may be difficult to their transit parking subsidy of $100 per month, and Largest Perceived Challenges: balance regional and local needs are looking to incentivize biking soon. • Traffic is the most common complaint for • TDM provision may make more sense on the Largest Perceived Challenges: employer level than the property owner level employees, particularly at the Menlo Park campus • Managing transportation for high volume of due to construction at the Willow Rd. Interchange Potential Improvements: visitors, temp employees, and employees with • The VA faces constraints with marketing and • A future residential site proposes to provide a staggered start/end times advocacy because it is a Federal organization. This TDM program including subsidized transit passes • Difficulty balancing regional needs with campus- prohibits them from promoting private vanpool and unbundled parking. specific or local needs. companies and/or advocating for more direct Interest in joining a TMA: Sobrato sees the benefit of transit service Potential Improvements TMAs and would potentially be interested, but it • More incentives to encourage biking Potential Improvements: would need to provide a tangible benefit for their • Providing transportation information through the tenants. They expressed concern that TMA services • Partnering with Scoop to provide carpool program might be redundant if similar services are already resource page accessible to employees via their • Coordination of short-range shuttle trips city-wide intranet available to the public. Interest in Joining a TMA: Facebook was a former Interest in joining a TMA: The VA thinks that some of member of Mountain View TMA and is supportive of their challenges regarding marketing and advocacy TMAs, generally. Facebook believes that funding could be addressed by a non-profit TMA. though a mechanism like a parcel tax would help ensure the TMA is long-lasting and successful.

14 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Stakeholder Outreach

Interviews (cont.) Stanford University Bohannon Development Corporation Zone: N/A, but services SLAC in Southern Menlo Park Zone: Northern Menlo Park Current TDM Programming: Stanford provides a variety of TDM services. They provide VTA Current TDM Programming: Bohannon Development Smartpasses and GoPases as well as their own shuttle Corporation provides a few TDM services at their service which connects to Caltrain and other local leased facilities. Each new project is built with bicycle areas of interest. They partner with Scoop to facilities, changing and locker rooms. They provide facilitate a carpool program and partner with and operate shuttles from larger office parks to Enterprise to run a vanpool program. They also have Caltrain. At Menlo Gateway, Bohannon monitors robust programs for cycling and carshare. overall vehicle trips annually. Much of their property is leased by Facebook Largest Perceived Challenges: Largest Perceived Challenges: • Populations that live nearest to Stanford have the most difficult time taking transit or biking because • Bohannon Development Corporation sees high service is slow, bike infrastructure is inadequate, drive-alone rates in their non-Facebook buildings, and roads are perceived to be unsafe likely because trips via Caltrain and shuttle take longer than driving even with traffic, and parking • Difficulty encouraging travel behavior change for is free visitors, older individuals as well as single mothers • Shuttle service is mandated by City, but not well Potential Improvements: used as their main tenant (Facebook) provides its • Looking into testing cargo bike vouchers and own service infrastructure to encourage mothers with children • Lack of bicycle infrastructure particularly at major to bike intersections like Marsh and Willow makes cycling • Trying to partner with cities to develop better bike difficult infrastructure surrounding the campus Interest in joining a TMA: Bohannon Development Interest in joining a TMA: Stanford provides TDM to Corporation thinks that services offered by a TMA the SLAC campus in Menlo Park currently so likely would be well-received, but would be potentially doesn’t need services that would be offered by a concerned with associated costs and the perceived TMA, but could be interested in supporting it for the burden of adding to existing requirements. benefit of overall local trip reduction.

15 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Stakeholder Outreach

Small Business Drop-Ins the total employee population at each business, Figure 9: Responses for All Commute Modes at Site; N=39 answers may not be 100% representative of the 3 Small business owners and employees may not have entire businesses’ employee populations. Business 5 Driving time to dedicate to sit down for a formal interview, size ranged from 2-65 employees, with just under 7 so the project team completed “drop-ins” to connect half of the businesses employing 10 or fewer Caltrain with them and learn more about travel habits at their employees. Bus worksites. Table 5: Employer Size; N=39 Walk Employer Size (Employees) Count 12 The information in this section has been taken from 45 Carpool in-person conversations with 39 businesses in 1-5 18 Downtown Menlo Park. There was also information 6-10 7 Bike gathered at a tabling event at the Sand Hill Commons 11-20 5 13 property, but those contacts were directed to fill out 21-40 3 the employee survey so that data is reflected in the 41+ 5 following section. Almost 65% (24 of the 37 respondents) of the Conversations with business representatives varied, Downtown businesses interviewed indicated that but the following general information was collected: their employees’ shifts coincide with regular business • Number of employees at worksite hours (between 8am and 6pm). Just under 25% had Figure 10: Responses for Primary Commute Mode at Site; N=39 • Typical shift times and schedules for employees separate morning and evening shifts (either split or covering the entire workday) and four respondents 1 • Most prevalent commute modes among 2 had other, less traditional shift schedules. 1 employees Driving 4 • Location of parking for those who drive Driving alone was by far the most popular mode Caltrain among the Downtown business employees, with 37 • General challenges faced by employees in their Bus out of the 39 (95%) who provided an answer stating commutes that it was a commonly used mode at their worksite Walk Information was collected and categorized in order Almost all of those (33 employers) listed it as the Carpool for it to be evaluated quantitatively. Of note, this most common mode at their site. Figure 9 depicts data comes from one representative from each modes listed when the 39 respondents were asked to business, so while questions were asked regarding report all that apply to their employees, and Figure 10 shows only the primary mode stated for each 33 business.

16 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Stakeholder Outreach

Small Business Drop-Ins (cont.) Figure 11: Primary Commute Challenge per Worksite

When asked about the challenges they and their Safety 3 coworkers face commuting, the most popular initial Reliability of Public Transit 2 answer was “traffic,” followed by “parking,” both of Parking 11 which are challenges related to driving. Only five Construction 3 employers noted reliability of public transit or safety Traffic 14 concerns related to cycling, walking, or riding transit 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 as the primary concern at their workplace. Similar trends remained even when employees were Figure 12: All Challenges per Worksite prompted to report all commute challenges they face. Safety 4 Reliability of Public Transit 4 Conversations were purposefully kept brief in order Parking 15 to be respectful of employees’ time, but some Construction 6 employers were asked about home location. Areas Traffic 18 within five miles of Downtown were popular, such as Redwood City and other areas within Menlo Park. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Parking

Throughout the discussions with Downtown businesses parking continued to be raised as a significant issue. Employees noted that parking is difficult for their customers, but also that they themselves struggle finding their own parking. Some choose to park in the surrounding neighborhoods (though they mentioned they often can’t find a spot) and others park in the free temporary lots on either side of Santa Cruz Ave. and move their vehicles every two or three hours. Given the nature of retail and restaurant work in the Downtown area, a few of the interviewees described a common occurrence where they’re unable to leave a customer on time and end up incurring a parking ticket. Some of the employees interviewed do purchase annual passes for $592 per month, but many stated that they do not want to make that investment and prefer to pay daily.

While difficulty parking may discourage drive-alone travel for some, circling blocks and crowded surface lots can add to congestion and carbon emissions. The City has indicated that an increased number of the lots along Santa Cruz Ave. may eventually provide longer term, paid parking. This would allow the City to better control the cost of drive-alone travel for employees, and could help them to encourage alternatives with appropriately sized incentives.

17 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Stakeholder Outreach

Employee Survey It is difficult to determine an exact response rate as it Table 6: Survey Respondents by Industry; N=97 is unclear exactly how many employees directly Industry Response Count Survey Design received a link to the survey. However, the survey Admin 8 received only 98 responses which is not statistically The employee survey was designed to help the significant for the total number of employees within Retail, restaurant or hospitality 10 project team understand current travel habits among the City. Typical office 34 Menlo Park employees, as well as the potential to Of note, the survey was not distributed to Menlo Medical or hospital 9 introduce alternative services that may encourage Park’s largest sites, such as Facebook or the Tarlton Education 10 behavior change. It asked respondents about their Labs, who conduct employee surveys annually. It was Other 26 typical commute mode, times and lengths of also not distributed among employees at the VA commute. Additionally, it asked about their interest which, as a federal organization, was not able to in trying non-SOV modes, and what types of obtain the necessary approvals. The Project Team did programs or services might best encourage them to request information from the larger employers in the do so. The survey was designed by the project team City, and received summary data from Tarlton Labs. with support from City of Menlo Park staff. Their data has not been combined with the data from this survey, but it is referenced throughout the Distribution following analysis. The project team distributed an online survey to In the future, it may make sense for the City to work employees in Menlo Park. The survey was distributed with large sites like Facebook and Tarlton to collect through the following channels: annual data with a set list of questions utilized across all sites. This way, all data city-wide can be analyzed • A City-provided contact list of 109 businesses together. • A Chamber of Commerce Newsletter Despite a lower than ideal response rate, the survey • Word of mouth and email to small businesses results do demonstrate useful trends for TDM that participated in the drop-ins. planning and delivery in Menlo Park. Respondents Survey respondents were entered into a raffle to win spanned a wide range of industries, with the largest a $50 Amazon.com gift card. group indicating they work in a “typical office” environment. Table 6 displays the distribution of respondents by industry, with all but one respondent providing responses. Source: Jeremiah Cox/Subwaynut.com

18 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Stakeholder Outreach

Employee Survey (cont.) both the Tarlton Labs survey and the countywide Figure 14: Why do you choose to travel by the mode data from the ACS, this survey saw a significantly you do? (select all that apply); N=41 Results higher rate of respondents who indicated that they 0 5 10 15 20 ride their bicycles to work. Of note, neither the Survey responses of travel times were reflective of No access near home peak hour patterns, with the majority arriving at Tarlton Labs survey or the ACS states the percentage of commuters who choose “two or more options,” No access near work work between 7am and 10am and leaving work Want to leave in case of… between 4pm to 8pm. The average distance traveled which was the third most popular selection in this Vried work start/end times is 13 miles and 35 minutes for morning and survey. Commitments before or after… afternoon commutes. Respondents that selected ‘Drive Alone’ as their main Need car for daytime work trips Around half the respondents drive alone as their commute mode were asked a series of questions to Need car for daytime personal… main commute mode, followed by biking and a understand travel behavior and barriers to using Unsafe bike or ped conditions combination of two or more modes. Those that other modes. Questions related to time and flexibility Have not thought about not… had the most responses, with most stating that they selected two or more modes varied between driving Other alone, biking and taking the train. The number of had varied work start/end times, have commitments respondents who indicated bicycle was their primary before or after work and want to be able to leave commute mode was over half of those who indicated work in case of an emergency. they typically drive alone. More complete survey data would be needed to explore whether this is the Figure 13: How do you typically Commute to Work?; N=90 case City-wide, but if so, it would indicate a high rate 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 of cycling and could be valuable potential focus for Drive Alone TMA or other TDM programming. Walk Bicycle The mode share depicted by survey responses shows Bus a smaller percentage of single occupancy drivers than Train was seen in the Tarlton Labs survey (77%) or is seen Carpool across San Mateo County according to data from the Vanpool American Community Survey (ACS) (68%). Motorcycle Other While bus and train numbers seem to be consistent Two or more options between the Employee Survey and the data seen in

19 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Travel Habits

Employee Survey (cont.) Figure 15: Which mode of travel would you be willing to try? (select all that apply); N=41

Of those who indicated that they typically drive alone 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 to work, 75% selected ‘yes’ when asked if they were Walk willing to try another mode of travel. From the Bicycle several mode options provided, train, bicycle and Bus carpool were the top choices (employees were Train instructed to select all that apply). Included as stated Carpool responses by those who selected the “Other” Vanpool category were trips by Transportation Network Other Companies (Uber or Lyft) and scooter. The survey listed a selection of TDM services and programs, and asked respondents that typically drove alone how helpful they thought they would be Figure 16: How useful would the following services be to you?; N=38 (along a scale of not helpful, a little helpful, helpful 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% and very helpful) to understand the likelihood that A guaranteed free ride home in the event of an emergency or different services might encourage mode shift. unscheduled overtime

While “incentives to cover the cost of commute” and Subsidies or incentives to help cover the cost of a non-drive-alone “guaranteed free ride home in the event of an commute emergency or unscheduled overtime” were found to Help finding people with whom to carpool or vanpool be helpful for most respondents, it should be noted that, generally, most of these options are considered Maps and information about bicycling or walking routes to be “not helpful” to most respondents. This lines up with what was seen in the Tarlton Labs survey, where Prizes, drawings or contests a similar question saw over 50% of their respondents indicating that none of the additional services Help finding a “bike buddies” or people with whom to bike to work proposed would cause them to alternate their means of commuting to work. Not helpful A little helpful Helpful Very helpful

20 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Travel Habits

Employee Survey (cont.) Figure 17: Why do you choose the travel mode you do? (select all that apply); N=49 0 5 10 15 20 25 Those that did not select ‘Drive Alone’ as their main I do not have access to a car commute were asked reasons for their mode choice. Answers varied from saving time and money to This mode saves me money health and environmental benefits. Most commonly This mode saves me time chosen was “This mode helps me exercise while I’m commuting,” which likely coincides with the high This mode helps me exercise while I’m commuting number of respondents who indicated that they This mode allows me to do other things while commuting typically commute by bicycle. As noted previously, additional data would need to be explored in more Other (please specify) detail to confirm the high rate of bicycle commute travel represented in these survey results.

When asked if respondents were most interested in a commute that would save time, money or neither, Figure 18: Which is most interesting to you?; N=90 commuters that drive alone and commuters that use other modes of transportation were most interested Commute alternative that would save me time in a commute alternative that would save time. 38% of ‘Drive Alone’ commuters selected that they liked Commute alternative that would save me money their commute the way it is while 45% of other commuters selected the same option. Time and flexibility tend to be the most significant Neither, I like my commute the way it is barriers when determining mode choice. Average commute distance does not vary between those that 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 drive alone and other commuters. This lines up with Drive Alone N=41 Others N=49 what was seen in the question about how helpful services would be (Figure 16); none of the proposed services were “time-savers,” but the service deemed most helpful was one that would increase flexibility.

21 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Conclusions

Accessibility and Current Service Regulation and TMA Appetite TDM Programming

Menlo Park’s location abutting the County border The City requires that TDM be implemented at TDM programming is already strongest in the creates challenges for residents and employees. As many project sites, but as programmatic elements Northern Menlo Park Zone, but that area attracts is depicted in the zoomed out views of Figures 2 and are negotiated on a case-by-case basis, there exists the most trips in the City and could still benefit 3, SamTrans, AC Transit, and VTA primarily serve a lack of consistency across sites. A TMA could from additional mode shift. Any additional their respective counties and have very little potentially help to organize TDM programming and programming in this area should focus on better overlapping service. Menlo Park sits between the data collection across the City. coordinating current service across multiple entities, three, and while all of them do provide service near and filling gaps not currently addressed through Menlo Park’s major players understand the value of to or within City Limits, it means that riders traveling employer programs, such as visitor trips. TDM, but are cautious of overlapping programming from other counties may need to switch providers to and/or City requirements. Appetite for TMA Downtown messaging should center around get into the City itself. This presents barriers to public membership and investment does exist among these parking. Parking along Santa Cruz Ave. is a major transit use for those who may not be able to groups, but it may be difficult to secure paying concern for both visitors and employees in coordinate multiple timetables or be able to risk members if sites are required to also maintain their Downtown Menlo Park, and most morning trips delays and missed connections. Better regional current programs. A TMA may not be valuable to originate within a five mile radius of the Downtown coordination could help advocate for improvements. them unless it can either: Zone. TDM messaging should focus on active Private shuttle services can help to bridge gaps in commutes, transit, and carpooling as alternatives to • Provide service beyond what they already offer public transit, but where possible, should be open difficult parking situations. (i.e. more informed knowledge sharing, access to to all Menlo Park employees. Facebook and other shuttle routes or other transportation beyond Free resources exist City-wide through large employers operate robust shuttle services, what they have currently); or Commute.org. When considering the needs of a connecting their sites both to nearby public transit potential TMA’s target populations, consideration hubs and to further away destinations. Though it may • Provide the same level of service at a cheaper should be given to the fact that all Menlo Park be unreasonable to ask employers to open all of their cost. These groups are keenly aware of the needs residents and employees have access to free service to the public, certain routes, such as short- of their employees and tenants, and would likely services through Commute.org’s platform. A range, first/last mile routes may be more feasible for prefer to continue to pay for TDM delivery on potential TMA should explore partnerships with a shared-service model. It may also be worth their own than to pay slightly less for inferior Commute.org in order to balance the need for considering working with employers to open up service. custom programs and services with the ability to routes at “off hours” when private shuttles are more save costs through utilizing existing services. likely to be operating with empty seats, and the gaps in public service are more extreme.

22 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions Next Steps

This report marks the end of the first Phase of the TMA Options Analysis for the City of Menlo Park, “Outreach to Menlo Park Employers/Organizations.” In the coming months, the Project Team will draw from the initial findings of this report, continuing to make use of the data from StreetLight and the employee survey, to support the production of Phases Two and Three. Phase Two, “Detailed Analysis of TMA Options,” involves the development of up to five possible options for TMA structures. These include city-wide TMAs built to support various audiences, as well as options that instead serve a larger regional area, or continue along a current “status quo”. For each option the Project Team will present expected costs to operate, potential funding sources, and official governing structures. The City will utilize the information from Phase 2 to select their preferred option.

From there, the Project Team will enter Phase Three, “Implementation Plan for Transportation Management Association,” where they will lay the groundwork for the City to develop and operate the chosen TMA option. This will include developing a cost-benefit analysis, creating a framework for the future TMA’s structure and programmatic elements, and clearly defining the role of the City in the long- term.

23 | January 2020 City of Menlo Park: TDM Existing Conditions