In 2018, SafeTREC conducted a survey on transportation mobility issues among older adults in California. A follow-up survey planned for 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic changed life for all residents, was redesigned to assess mobility needs and changes during the Shelter-in-Place order and focused on COVID-19 impacts. Results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent Shelter-in-Place order have had a major impact on senior mobility. Communications for many were restricted to phone, email, texts, social media and video chats. Among those with a medical problem, just over 60% called a doctor or nurse line or went to a doctor’s office, while 11.2% went to an emergency room, and 8.6% did nothing. A total of 8% of respondents said they had run out of food or other important items during the Shelter-in-Place order. Rates of exercise outside the home dropped 20% between January and June 2020, and while over 60% sought outside entertainment in January 2020, by June 2020, nearly 70% accessed their entertainment online at home. Almost 80% of working respondents feared spreading or contracting COVID-19 because of their work or related transportation. Almost 20% felt a lack of companionship or closeness sometimes or often. Over 30% were worried about their current or long-term finances. A total of 84.5% strongly agreed or agreed that the Shelter-in-Place order was necessary. None of the respondents to the follow-up survey were diagnosed with COVID-19, and 88.2% were not concerned about risk of exposure from any member of their household.

This report presents the results from a multiyear effort to develop and test performance measures for evaluating the impact of landscaping and roadside features on pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility and economic vitality for Caltrans’ urban arterial network.  The first phase of the study was a literature review, and the second phase focused on developing performance measures. The third and fourth phases focused on testing the proposed performance measures consisting of an infrastructure analysis, policy review, safety analysis and a pedestrian and bicyclist intercept survey on two urban corridors in California. The results of the fieldwork indicate that the majority of the proposed performance measures are valid and ready for adoption by Caltrans.   The remainder of the measures require additional testing to produce conclusive results. The study also revealed that drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users all request similar roadside design features to improve their perceptions of traffic safety, suggesting that transportation agencies maybe able to target a few specific improvements for maximum benefit to all user groups. Finally, the study found that the cities with the most developed pedestrian and bicyclist policies and plans seemed to have commensurate pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure on the ground, suggesting that the policies and plans have a tangible impact on eventual development.