How to Address Traffic Safety on your Street — Oakland, CA

Do people drive dangerously on your street, or on a street you use frequently? The Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) is responsible for maintaining “safe, equitable, and sustainable access and mobility for residents, business, and visitors.”

If you’ve ever contacted the city about traffic or street safety, you might have experienced silence, delayed responses, or inaction. This can be discouraging. I’ve put together this brief guide to give you some ideas for how you can make more effective requests and organize to get results.

OakDOT accepts a variety of traffic safety requests from the public. For an overview, check out their Traffic Safety Request page. Use this guide as a supplement to official OakDOT information.

Tips on Safety Requests

Before you engage OakDOT, make a 311 request. Tag it as Traffic Safety Non Emergency. You’ll receive a reference number you can share with neighbors and use in future contacts with OakDOT. They’ll evaluate it and score it based on the history of traffic collisions, equity considerations, and proximity to schools. Consider adding information to your request to boost your score. That could include listing nearby schools, churches, senior centers, and disadvantaged communities. After a few weeks, you’ll receive an email with your request’s score (see Sample Response to a 311 Request below).

Looking for a speed bump? Apply for one using the speed bump petition process.

Bigger issues are usually considered Capital Projects. Things like traffic circles, major crosswalk improvements, or protected bikeways are larger issues that need planning, funding, and engineering. The City of Oakland plans and budgets for capital projects every two years using the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). They accept proposals from residents, and score ideas based on 9 factors including equity, health & safety, and environment. Proposals that score above a certain threshold will be included in the next CIP budget and built in the following two year period.

How long will it take?

Mentally prepare for this process to take 6 months to three years start-to-finish. The more complex the project, the longer it will take. You might even feel the need to do research, investigation, and leg work for your request that you feel a city employee should be doing.

A lot of people get discouraged here. It would be nice if the city could fix problems within days or weeks of filing a report. The truth is, that kind of lightning-fast response time is rare.

Tips for Making Requests:

• Ask for “quick build” solutions. These cost a small fraction of Capital Projects, and they’re not permanent. Use quick build to experiment and see if a change has the effect you desire. If it doesn’t, it’s easy to change or undo.
• Link your issue to an already scheduled project. If you know work is scheduled, like the Paving Program, raise your issue as early as you can relative to that project. If you get your concerns addressed at the outset, you have a higher chance of resolution. It’s expensive and takes staff time to revise a design with input later, so changes are harder for the city to justify.
• Link your issue to an existing plan. The city has several master plans, from the General Plan to neighborhood Specific Plans, the Bike Plan and the Pedestrian Plan. Review those documents and use their arguments and language to justify your request.
• See if an existing city program could help you. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Oakland introduced Slow Streets and Flex Streets to encourage social distancing by repurposing street space for people. This has the added benefit of traffic calming. You might be able to apply for one of these programs and access existing funds and resources for your request.
• Bring this up at your Neighborhood Council (NCPC). Neighborhood Council leaders and other neighbors may have experience or know people who can help you.
• Email OakDOT staff listed on the website. When you contact OakDOT directly, be polite and reference any 311 requests you previously made. Staff is busy and may not immediately respond. Please remember these employees are civil servants who probably got into their line of work because they want to help people like you. Persistence is OK, as long as you’re respectful and patient.
• Document and publicize your issue with video, interviews, and data. Post stories online and tag officials and media for attention. Safe 8th Street and the Bike East Bay campaign to save the Telegraph protected bike lanes are good examples. Communicate urgency with respect! Your elected officials and city staff want to help.

How do we get more done, faster?

City agencies like OakDOT have limited resources. They only have so much in their budgets, limited staff, and they’re also governed by rules and laws that dictate how they build and repair our streets. These include city ordinances, state laws, and engineering standards. That doesn’t necessarily make it fair or right, still it’s important to understand and acknowledge the system you’re trying to work.

The secret to getting more done faster is systemic change. Here are some things you can do if you want to work on longer term changes:

Join local pedestrian and bicycle advocacy organizations. These groups have expert staff and volunteers who push for progress with legislation and budgets. These bigger policy changes can make it easier for OakDOT to implement the safety improvements you want.

• Walk Oakland Bike Oakland
• Bike East Bay
• California Bicycle Coalition (help advocate for state bills to advance safer streets)
• Families for Safe Streets (national, with local chapters)
• AARP Liveable Communities

Contact your elected representatives and their staff. Tell them your issue and share stories about why it’s important. They hear from hundreds of people on a wide range of issues, so be patient, respectful, and persistent.

• Oakland City Council
• Find Your Legislator — OpenStates

Educate yourself about safe streets. There’s a lot of emerging literature and content about how to design streets that are safe for people outside of cars. These street designs help reduce car crashes and car violence.

• Dangerous By Design — Smart Growth America
• Equity Benefits of Complete Streets — Smart Growth America
• Complete Streets Fact Sheet — California Bicycle Coalition
• BOOK: Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America
• BOOK: Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution
• BOOK: Crash Course: If You Want To Get Away With Murder Buy A Car

Guides to Traffic Calming and Complete Streets

These links provide introductions to the concepts of traffic calming and “complete streets.” You can find pictures and definitions of common street elements like bollards, bulb-outs, median islands, protected intersections, roundabouts, or traffic diverters.

• Speed Reduction Mechanisms — NACTO
• Traffic Calming Strategies — Global Designing Cities Initiative
• Traffic Calming 101 — Project for Public Spaces
• Protected Intersections for Bicyclists
• Accessibility Toolkit: When Complete Streets Help People with Disabilities
• Tactical Urbanism Materials and Design Guide — Street Plans Collaborative

Sample Response to a 311 Request: