San Jose Transportation and Environment Committee Meeting - April 13, 2026
San Jose Transportation and Environment Committee Meeting - April 13, 2026
This meeting of the Transportation and Environment Committee featured updates on the city's bike plan and trail network, the municipal fleet management program, and the San Jose Clean Energy programs roadmap. The committee accepted all three staff reports, with votes ranging from 4-0 to 5-0, and forwarded the clean energy roadmap to full council for May 19, 2026.
Bike Plan 2025 and Trail Network Update
- Staff from the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) presented the annual update. The existing bikeway network is 491 miles, with a plan to reach 550 miles (350 protected bikeways, 100 bike boulevards). In 2025, the city added 7.5 miles of new bikeway, including 6 miles of protected bikeways. Notable projects include the downtown Better Bikeways concrete phase, River Oaks protected bikeway, and a Bay Wheels expansion to the east side using grant funding. The trail network now includes 100 miles of planned and completed trails, with 2 miles completed in the previous year (connecting Barriessa BART to Watson Park and near Vietnamese Gardens to Tully). Encampment removal along the Guadalupe River Trail doubled trail usage. Upcoming projects include the Five Wounds Trail (master plan), Coyote Creek Trail design, Lower Silver Creek Trail feasibility, and Guadalupe River Trail extension. A comprehensive trail assessment is done annually.
- Vice Mayor Foley thanked staff and announced a $1 million federal earmark from Congressman Panetta for the Guadalupe River Trail. Councilmember Campos raised concerns about insufficient outreach on the Silicon Valley Bike Boulevard changes in District 2, noting that residents felt unheard; DOT acknowledged the need for broader engagement. Councilmember Tredia's reported positive feedback from a resident about the Alma bike lane and encouraged support for state legislation on automated enforcement of bike lane blocking. Chair Cohen commended proactive bike lane improvements alongside paving and noted ongoing challenges with east-west connectivity and trail flooding under highways (e.g., Penitentiary Creek Trail under 680).
- Motion to accept the report carried 5-0.
Infrastructure Report on City Fleet Management Program
- Public Works staff presented an overview of the city's fleet: approximately 3,100 units (38% public safety). Alternative fuel vehicles make up 53% of the fleet, with all-electric at just under 13%. Key challenges include staffing (43 mechanics for 3,100 assets, 61% deficient per industry standards), a backlog of 1,500 preventive maintenance work orders, and procurement delays (2 FTEs handle 250-300 procurements annually; a fire apparatus spec takes ~300 hours). The general fund provides $1.5 million annually, purchasing only 6-14 vehicles. Electric equivalents cost 200-300% more. Rental vehicle costs are $3 million per year. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) Advanced Clean Fleets regulation requires 100% zero-emission purchases for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles by 2030, but availability is limited (e.g., Ford stopped F-150 Lightning production). A $12 million federal grant for charging infrastructure was awarded in January 2025 but later frozen and rescinded. Staff are pursuing grants, rent-to-own, and charging-as-a-service models.
- Chair Cohen questioned the feasibility of meeting the 2030 mandate given vehicle availability and infrastructure needs. She also asked about achieving 100% light-duty EV by 2030, noting the city's carbon neutrality goal. Staff acknowledged the difficulty and the need for significant investment in vehicles and charging. Councilmember Ortiz was absent during the vote.
- Motion to accept the report carried 4-0 (with Ortiz absent).
Clean Energy Roadmap Status Report
- The Energy Department presented the annual programs roadmap for San Jose Clean Energy (SJCE). Key context: the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) fee will cost customers $132 million in 2026, offset by $108 million from financial reserves. Staff recommend maintaining a stable $10 million program budget for fiscal year 2026-27 to avoid fluctuations. Currently, 12 customer programs and 3 workforce development programs are offered. In 2025, programs saved customers $29.4 million in lifetime savings and avoided 46,000 metric tons of CO2. New proposals include free technical assistance for commercial customers (with a restaurant track) and a pilot portable heat pump program for renters. A five-year roadmap (2026-2031) was developed based on surveys and stakeholder input, identifying 23 potential programs focused on affordability, EV/heat pump adoption, and demand flexibility.
- Chair Cohen asked about expanding programs if PCIA decreases and noted increasing demand as gas appliances are phased out. She also inquired about community solar options; staff mentioned the existing Solar Access Program (community solar for income-qualified customers, 20% bill discount) and interest in balcony solar legislation. Councilmember Campos asked about alternative uses of surplus credits (e.g., gift cards) and whether that could be discussed at the May 19 council meeting; staff indicated that would be appropriate and noted that surpluses are typically allocated to reserves, rate reductions, or program expansions.
- Motion to accept the report and forward it to full council for the May 19, 2026 meeting carried (unanimous).
Meeting Transcript
Present Ortiz. Present. Vice Chair Foley. Here. Chair Cohen, absent. You have a quorum. Great. Thank you. So we don't have we're not reviewing the work plan or consent calendar. We're gonna jump right into the reports. And the chair has kindly asked that we flip the order and that we move the bike plan 2025 to be the first presentation. So move. Second. All in favor. Aye. Thank you. Motion carries to move, make that adjustment. Good afternoon, Vice Mayor and members committee. John Rissell, Director of Transportation. We are here to give you the presentation on the city's bike plan and trail network. With me is Jessica Zenck, Deputy Director for Department of Transportation, Ramses Madoo, our Division Manager for Transportation. And soon to join us will be Liz Sewell, Parks Manager with Parks Recreation Neighborhood Services. So I'm going to turn it right over to Ramses and we can get started. All right. Good afternoon, committee. Ramses Medou, Division Manager of Planning Policy and Sustainability for DOT here. We've just texted Liz to note that our item just got uh pushed forward. So hopefully she's running over to the elevator. And uh luckily my portion of the presentation is first, so hopefully that will work out. So let's get into it. Um so we're here to talk about both uh the implementation of the bike plan um as well as what's going on with the trail network. This is our annual update. Um as you all know, uh we passed a new bike plan back in about 2020 um called bike plan 2025, uh, which really accelerated development and took on um uh the kind of the new mode for the city in terms of what a bike plan can do, right? This is really looking at all ages and all abilities, making sure that we're making uh the bike system safe and accessible uh for everybody and really driving that mode shift goal that's embedded in our uh general plan. Uh the new uh plan does look for a 550 mile network um uh that primarily consists of protected bikeways um and bike boulevards. The types of infrastructure that we're really looking for in the uh implementation of the plan are these four here. Um really focusing on creating physical barriers um uh where we can, particularly on larger streets with either higher volumes or faster speeds, um, whether that be uh with our first attempts with Quick Build, uh which has been a huge success in terms of getting a lot of infrastructure out there quickly. Uh thank you so much for all the support and getting that done, um, as well as some great new heartscapes. We're seeing more and more of that. And I'll talk about that a little bit later as we go forward. Um, and then a lot of the bike boulevards, and we're starting to implement that as well. And those are on the quieter streets where if we can calm traffic a little bit um and give some specific pointers to drivers and bicyclists, we can create a better environment. Um so what is our bike work uh network look like today and some of the accomplishments from a very busy year in 2025. Our existing network um is about 491 miles. Uh and I just want to point out uh this this has all been done in the last roughly 15, 18 years. Um this has been really an incredible piece of work uh by the city. Our new plan network, as we said, is 550 miles, 350 of those we are hoping to make uh enter protected bikeways and about a hundred and uh bike boulevards. The rest is the traditional uh stripe on the side of the road. 2025 was another huge year for the bike program. Uh we added uh about seven and a half miles of new bikeway, and importantly, uh that work of enhancing uh those uh bikeways that are currently uh not up to the plans expectations, um, are seeing that extra work, getting either those uh separations with pylons or through concrete and the like.
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