138-24 Exhibit to Resolution Adopting the Township of West Orange Vision Zero Action Plan.pdf

VISION ZERO TASK FORCE Vision Zero Task Force Members The following organizations made up the West Orange Vision Zero Task Force: • New Jersey Department of Transportation • Essex County ◦ Bureau of Safety, Bicycle, and Pedestrian ◦ Engineering Programs ◦ Planning • West Orange Township • West Orange Pedestrian Safety Advisory Board ◦ Administration • Families for Safe Streets New Jersey ◦ Schools • Nikhil Badlani Foundation ◦ Police/Safety • Thomas Edison National Historical Park ◦ Fire • Downtown West Orange ◦ Senior Services • EZ Ride ◦ Health ◦ Engineering ◦ Planning ◦ Environmental The Vision Zero Task Force assisted with organizing outreach, providing valuable context and knowledge, and evaluation of the findings of this project. Meetings were held monthly to discuss these findings and to guide the continued efforts involved in creating the Vision Zero Action Plan. In these monthly meetings, the progress of the project was discussed along with new findings, and the Task Force's input was taken into consideration for future actions by the project team. 44 WEST ORANGE TOWNSHIP: VISION ZERO ACTION PLAN

OUTREACH TOOLS AND SUMMARY OF RESULTS Project Website An ArcGIS Hub website was created for this project as a central source for information regarding the Vision Zero Action Plan. This website contained links to surveys and mapping tools, relevant statistics and contact information for members and organizations involved in the project. The website included an interactive data dashboard where website visitors could view the locations of severe and fatal crashes as well as the top ten pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular crash corridors in West Orange. Safety Pledge A safety pledge was developed for West Orange residents to sign, encouraging safe and responsible behavior on roadways. This pledge was distributed as a handout and made available on a large board with room for signatures at the two public workshops. The safety pledge ultimately accumulated over 70 signatures. Vision Zero Community Safety Survey To support the West Orange Vision Zero Action Plan, the project team created a survey that incorporated questions regarding the community's travel behaviors, knowledge of Vision Zero, interest in and prioritization of the various concepts and intents of Vision Zero, perceptions of safety across travel modes and perception of the community's present day needs. The survey was available in both English and Spanish, and was open from March to July 2023. A total of 454 surveys were completed. The team also created paper surveys with a mapping exercise to be shared with the Seniors and Older Adults Advisory Board. A detailed technical memorandum of the outreach summary was submitted and is on file with West Orange Township and NJDOT. Key findings are highlighted in the following pages, and all survey results are located in Appendix F. WEST ORANGE TOWNSHIP: VISION ZERO ACTION PLAN 45

Vision Zero and Safe System Approach Respondents were asked about their awareness of Vision Zero and the Safe System Approach. 241 respondents (53%) were not aware of Vision Zero or the Safe System Approach. Of those who were, 96 (21%) were aware of both, 101 (22%) only knew about Vision Zero, and just 5 were only familiar with the Safe System Approach. One question asked how important they felt a "policy and plan in West Orange Township that aims to eliminate deaths and serious injuries from traffic crashes" was to adopt in West Orange. Respondents overwhelmingly felt it was important: 379 respondents (83.5%) answered with "Very Important" with an additional 42 (9.3%) selecting "Important." Of those choosing a lower option, 14 (3%) selected "Moderately Important" and 2 (0.4%) selected "Of Little Importance." Travel Modes and Concerns Survey respondents were asked how often they West Orange residents typically travel using a variety of modes. In terms don’t find walking or of walking, 312 respondents (69%) indicated "sometimes," with 107 (24%) selecting "most often" biking as safe as driving and 23 (5%) selecting "never". Bicycling was less Active Transportation Modes common among these respondents, with 272 (60%) • Walking Safety - 9% “Very” & 35% “Somewhat” selecting "never," 120 (26%) selecting "sometimes" • Bicycling Safety - 3% “Very” & 16% “Somewhat” and just 15 (3%) selecting "most often." Motorized Transportation Modes • Driving Safety - 22% “Very” & 48% “Somewhat” When asked how safe they perceive walking to be, • Ridesharing Safety - 20% “Very” & 40% “Somewhat” respondents were mixed, with "somewhat safe" the 250 most common response (34%) but "very unsafe" 200 (13%) more common than "very safe" (9%). Because bicycling was so uncommon, most chose the "not 150 applicable" option (48%), but those that do bicycle 100

. Because bicycling was so uncommon, most chose the "not 150 applicable" option (48%), but those that do bicycle 100 largely perceive it as an unsafe activity in West 50 Orange, with "very unsafe" (17%) the most common 0 Driving Walking Bicycling Ride-Sharing Other Wheelchair response and "somewhat unsafe" (14%) the second Very Safe Somewhat Safe Neutral Somewhat Unsafe Very Unsafe most common response; only 8% of respondents selected "somewhat safe" and just 1.5% selected "very safe." Common barriers to Survey respondents were asked about the barriers active transportation in to non-motorized forms of travel, with the ability to select all they felt applied. The most commonly West Orange Township selected barrier was that "the sidewalk network is The sidewalk network is incomplete incomplete/in need of repair" (63%); "speeding cars" Speeding cars (52%), "crossings feel unsafe" (46%), "distracted Crossings feel unsafe Driving is practical drivers" (44%), "there are no safe ways to bike such There are no safe ways to bike such as bike lanes as bike lanes" (43%) and "driving is practical" (42%) Distracted drivers were all selected by over 40% of respondents. Walking and biking take longer Poorly maintained roads Impaired visibility due to poor lighting I am worried about being in a crash Equity and Safety Trade-Offs

paired visibility due to poor lighting I am worried about being in a crash Equity and Safety Trade-Offs I do not have a bike Realistically, any safety improvements to the Hit and runs I do not like walking or biking transportation network will require trade-offs in I am physically unable to walk or bike other areas; making the public aware of these other helps them give informed opinions on these safety 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 46 WEST ORANGE TOWNSHIP: VISION ZERO ACTION PLAN

improvements. When asked about a selection of What would people trade-offs in terms of their willingness to accept them, there were none with universal approval accept for safer roads? but also none that were broadly rejected. Lower speed limits/zones (66%) was the only option with The most common tradeoffs to achieve safer roads for West Orange residents were: over 50% acceptance; the remaining options were • Lower speed limits/zones (66%) increased waiting time at traffic lights (48%), reduced • Increased waiting time at traffic lights (48%) parking to provide space for other modes (39%), slow People were less enthusiastic about longer routes traffic (36%) and longer routes to destinations (29%). to destinations (29%) Respondents were asked about equity concerns in Slow traffic the implementation of traffic safety improvements for West Orange. Of the options presented, the most Reduced parking to provide space for other modes common selection (with multiple selections allowed) Lower speed limits/zones was "ensuring investment is equitably distributed" Longer routes to with 201 selections (44%), while "targeted destinations enforcement in communities of color" received 120 Increased waiting time at selections (26%) and "cost of ticketing for limited traffic lights 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 income households"

selections (26%) and "cost of ticketing for limited traffic lights 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 income households" received 100 selections (22%). Who did we hear from? Demographics Vulnerable road users are a priority in Vision Zero Of all the people who answered our survey: analysis, and in the case of this survey the most • Most were 45 Survey Respondents: Age represented groups of vulnerable users were: 136 or older (65%) Seniors (55+), 109 children or parents of children, 3% 0.7% • Few were and 65 non-motorists. 83 respondents skipped this under 24 years question, and there were only 23 transit riders, 21 old (under 4%) community members that reported experiencing • 24% were 21% racial, ethnic or socioeconomic disparities, and 17 either under 18 32% people with disabilities. or a parent of a child under 18 Over 97% of survey respondents reported living in • 98% were West West Orange, while just over 6% reported working in Orange 44% the Township and just over 3% were local business residents owners. Respondents were also asked where in town Under 18 18-24 25-44 45-64 they lived. Using a word cloud tool to summarize 65 or over responses, the project team

lived. Using a word cloud tool to summarize 65 or over responses, the project team found that some of the most common roads included the major arterials of West Orange including Gregory Avenue, Pleasant Valley Way, Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Eagle Rock Avenue and Main Street. Nearly all responses came from working-age adults or older, with 25-44 year olds comprising over 30% of respondents and 45-64 year olds the most common age group with over 41% of responses. Nearly 20% of respondents were seniors. Just 12 responses (2.64%) came from people under 18 years old and just 3 responses from people aged 18-24. WEST ORANGE TOWNSHIP: VISION ZERO ACTION PLAN 47

Additional Ideas Open-Ended Responses Respondents were asked about additional ideas Word Cloud: What street do you live on? they may have for improving roadway safety in West Orange. 149 responses included an additional comment, with 79 of them identifying locations and 73 of these related to a specific location. Because of this, these responses were added to the WikiMapping tool either as new features or as comments on existing ones. Comments were placed into categories, with a Word Cloud: Open-Ended Ideas & Thoughts secondary category assigned to some comments that included multiple topics. Of all the comments, four stood out as the most common concerns: 52 included a comment supportive of pedestrian mobility or safety improvements, 35 included a request for stricter enforcement of traffic laws in some capacity, 30 were general comments regarding changes to traffic management (including lane management, traffic volumes, and more), and 27 comments were regarding traffic calming. 25 of the comments regarding traffic calming were positive and supportive, but two expressed a concern toward, or outright rejection of, traffic calming measures. Other moderately common comments included: 14 regarding bicycle mobility or safety improvement (including two opposed to bicycle lanes based on observations of Bicyclist behavior) and nine

Other moderately common comments included: 14 regarding bicycle mobility or safety improvement (including two opposed to bicycle lanes based on observations of Bicyclist behavior) and nine regarding speed limits (eight in favor of lowering speed limits, one opposed). The remaining comments covered access to transit, ADA accessibility, education, lighting, maintenance, parking, traffic lights and visibility. Of these, the only comment including an expression of opposition to such measures was one rejecting adding traffic lights. Safety Map An interactive mapping tool was also provided using WikiMapping. Respondents were asked to identify points and corridors that concerned them, and they were able to categorize and elaborate on their markings with a caption on their entry. In all, 214 points were placed and 63 polylines were drawn; this does not necessarily indicate the total number of individuals participating in the safety map, as many people submitted several entries. A large paper map for marking up was provided at public workshops, and these markings were added to this online map. Additionally, 73 location-specific entries from the survey were added to the online map, with 12 added as new points or lines and the remaining 61 added as comments to previously-added features. Points and lines could identify: sidewalk/pedestrian network issues, bicycle network issues, locations of concentrated unsafe driver behavior, lighting issues, parking concerns and barriers to transit. Additionally, respondents could leave positive remarks in places with adequate safety conditions. 48 WEST ORANGE TOWNSHIP: VISION ZERO ACTION PLAN