El Camino Real Corridor Study Community Survey Report February 2015 www.menlopark.org/elcaminorealcorridor El Camino Real Corridor Study Community Survey Report February 2015 Prepared for City of Menlo Park by Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 2. Methodology ................................................................................................................. 3 3. Survey Results ............................................................................................................... 4 Location .................................................................................................................................................... 4 Reasons to Travel on El Camino Real ............................................................................................... 6 Transportation Modes .......................................................................................................................... 8 Opinions and Concerns ...................................................................................................................... 15 Potential Changes on El Camino Real ............................................................................................. 25 Open-Ended Questions ...................................................................................................................... 29 4. Summary of Key Issues .............................................................................................. 34 Transportation Needs ......................................................................................................................... 34 Traffic ...................................................................................................................................................... 35 Safety ....................................................................................................................................................... 35 Appendix A: El Camino Real SurveyMonkey Transportation Survey ...................... A-1 Appendix B: El Camino Real Transportation Survey Responses .............................. B-1 Appendix C: El Camino Real Transportation Survey Open-Ended Responses ....... C-1 El Camino Real Corridor Study List of Figures and Charts Chart 1: Where Respondents Live ................................................................................................................ 4 Figure 1: Study Area .......................................................................................................................................... 5 Chart 2: Where Respondents Work ............................................................................................................ 6 Chart 3: Why Respondents Travel on El Camino Real ............................................................................. 7 Chart 4: How Respondents Travel El Camino Real ................................................................................... 8 Chart 5: Frequency that Respondents Drive on El Camino Real ......................................................... 10 Chart 6: Frequency that Respondents Walk along El Camino Real ..................................................... 11 Chart 7: Frequency that Respondents Bike El Camino Real .................................................................. 12 Chart 8: Frequency that Respondents Use Local Bus Transit Services on El Camino Real .......... 14 Chart 9: How Respondents Commonly Access the Menlo Park Caltrain Station ........................... 15 Chart 10: Opinions on General Safety and Environmental Concerns ................................................. 16 Chart 11: Opinions on Walking Environment ........................................................................................... 17 Chart 12: Opinions on Transit ...................................................................................................................... 19 Chart 13: Opinions on Vehicle Traffic Environment ............................................................................... 20 Chart 14: Opinions on Bicycle Environment ............................................................................................. 22 Chart 15: Opinions on Parking Environment ............................................................................................ 24 Chart 16: Preferences for Potential Changes on El Camino Real ........................................................ 27 List of Tables Table 1: Where Respondents Live ................................................................................................................. 4 Table 2: Where Respondents Work ............................................................................................................. 6 Table 3: Why Respondents Travel on El Camino Real ............................................................................. 8 Table 4: How Respondents Travel El Camino Real ................................................................................... 9 Table 5: Frequency that Respondents Drive on El Camino Real .......................................................... 10 Table 6: Frequency that Respondents Walk along El Camino Real ..................................................... 11 Table 7: Frequency that Respondents Bike El Camino Real .................................................................. 13 Table 8: Frequency that Respondents Use Local Bus Transit Services on El Camino Real ............ 14 Table 9: How Respondents Commonly Access the Menlo Park Caltrain Station ............................ 15 Table 10: Opinions on General Safety and Environmental Concerns ................................................. 16 Table 11: Opinions on Walking Environment ........................................................................................... 18 Table 12: Opinions on Transit ...................................................................................................................... 19 Table 13: Opinions on Vehicle Traffic Environment ................................................................................ 21 Table 14: Opinions on Bicycle Environment .............................................................................................. 23 Table 15: Opinions on Parking Environment ............................................................................................. 25 Table 16: Preferences for Potential Changes on El Camino Real ......................................................... 28 Table 17: Intersections of Concern ............................................................................................................. 32 Table 18: Intersections in Segments of Concern ...................................................................................... 34 ii Executive Summary This report presents the findings of the community survey conducted by the City of Menlo Park in the between June and September 2014 for the El Camino Real Corridor Study. The Study is an effort to evaluate potential transportation and safety improvements to the Menlo Park segment of El Camino Real. The study will consider alternatives for modifying the Corridor to allow for a possible addition of a bicycle lane and/or additional through lanes. Ultimately, the project will be consistent with the goals outlined in the El Camino Real/Downtown Specific Plan for balanced capacity, bicyclist and pedestrian connectivity, transit access, parking, and safety, as well as the City’s Complete Streets Policy. The online survey gauged participants’ perceptions and priorities on a variety of transportation issues, including safety and the environment, walking, transit, vehicular travel, bicycling, and parking, and also sought participants’ reactions to ideas for potential improvements along the corridor. Questions served as a follow-up to the first community workshop, and assessed community members’ feelings on a number of statements and improvement ideas that arose during the workshop. The survey also provided a sense of how participants tend to travel along the corridor, why, when, and from where, thus giving the City context to interpret the other responses, and helping the City anticipate the needs that participants may have when accessing El Camino Real. Analysis of the survey results revealed key issues related to transportation needs, traffic, and safety along El Camino Real. These are summarized as follows: • Transportation Needs Most respondents use multiple forms of transportation along El Camino Real—mainly a combination of driving, bicycling, and walking. They mostly travel the Corridor to access shopping and local businesses, and half of respondents use it to commute to work. Most of the survey respondents reported using the Menlo Park Caltrain Station. These Caltrain users tend to favor bicycling or walking to the station. Respondents desire multi-modal improvements along the Corridor regardless of which modes they currently use most. The majority agreed that if pedestrian and bicycling improvements were made, they would prefer to take advantage of those transportation options rather than drive. There may need to be a closer examination of public transit needs along the corridor. The sample of transit riders responding