David Cohen, California Senate Candidate

David Cohen is running for California Senate District 10, which covers Sunnyvale.

Sunnyvale voters will soon be deciding on a new California Senator in the June 2 primary. To help inform voters interested in bicycle and pedestrian safety, Sunnyvale Safe Streets interviewed one of the leading candidates, David Cohen. David Cohen has been a San Jose Councilmember for 5 years. Prior to that, he served as a Trustee on the Berryessa Union School District Board for 14 years. David is approachable, rational, action-oriented, and candid. He is a champion of the environment. Here's our interview with him.

[SSS] Please describe some interesting active transportation issues that came before San Jose City Council during your 5 years on the Council.  What were the considerations you had to weigh? How did you vote?  

[David] During my five years on the San Jose City Council, I have chaired the Transportation and Environment Committee, where I oversee the city’s Vision Zero program. Our primary mission is to eliminate traffic fatalities by making travel safer for pedestrians and cyclists through "engineered solutions." We have implemented significant improvements along major corridors, including protected bike lanes, road diets to slow traffic, and the expansion of our citywide trail network. A defining moment for my district was the recent approval of the North San Jose Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). This comprehensive vision includes high-visibility crosswalks, corner bulb-outs, and a transformative bike and pedestrian bridge over I-880 that will eventually connect North San Jose to Berryessa. When weighing these projects, I consistently prioritize long-term safety and connectivity, voting to approve infrastructure that treats alternative transit as a core necessity rather than an afterthought.

[SSS] San Jose, like many American cities, has a low bike mode share.  What are the reasons that the bike mode share is so low?  How should the City address those problems?  Please focus on administrative and policy actions that the city can take to improve the bike mode share.  

[David] San Jose’s low bike mode share is largely a legacy of being designed around a car-centric culture, which has left us with a fragmented network where people simply do not feel safe. A major physical barrier to cycling in our city is the lack of safe east-west connections across highways like 680, 880, and 101. To address this, the city must focus on building a continuous, protected network rather than isolated segments. From a policy standpoint, I advocate for an administrative mandate to include bike lane improvements in every scheduled street maintenance project. Additionally, we must prioritize intersection safety by installing bulb-outs and grade separations that physically protect cyclists from turning vehicles, ensuring that the safest choice is also the most convenient choice for residents.

[SSS] How would you balance the competing pressures of (1) street parking near high density housing vs. (2) safe bikeways, on roads that are too narrow to have both?

[David] As chair of the Transportation and Environment Committee, I believe that when curb space is limited, safety and mobility must take precedence over the storage of private vehicles. On narrow roads that serve as primary bike corridors, the trade-off is clear: we must prioritize protected bike lanes to meet our Vision Zero goals. To mitigate the impact on residents, we can utilize creative parking management, such as implementing residential permit programs on adjacent side streets and establishing shared-use agreements for underutilized off-street lots. As State Senator, I will advocate for the "Complete Streets" model, providing local governments with the legislative and financial tools to help move away from the outdated model of prioritizing vehicle storage and toward a system that ensures everyone can reach their destination safely.

[SSS] Street safety requires slower car speeds. Yet, fire departments are often vetoing speed-lowering measures like speed humps and road diets.  How would you address the conflict between fire departments and slower streets?

[David] The perceived conflict between slower streets and fire department response times can be resolved through collaborative engineering. Rather than allowing a blanket veto of safety projects, we should invite fire departments to be partners in the design process. We can implement emergency-friendly solutions like speed cushions, which feature cutouts that allow the wide wheelbases of fire engines to pass unimpeded while still forcing passenger cars to slow down. Furthermore, investing in signal preemption technology allows emergency vehicles to clear intersections safely and quickly without requiring excessively wide, high-speed lanes.

[SSS] We already have many laws and policies that uphold safe accommodation for non-motorized road users, but they are treated as optional by state and municipal staff when compliance would be unpopular with motorists.  For example, Sunnyvale already has a Complete Streets Policy, General Plan policies that prioritize road safety over street parking, and Vision Zero goal.  But the city routinely ignores these policies when proposing and implementing solutions.  California has a Complete Streets policy (SB 960), daylighting law (AB 413), and 3' safe passage law (AB 910).  But Caltrans and municipalities have made little progress toward implementation or enforcement of these laws.   What can be done to make existing laws and policies effective?  

[David] I support a performance-based funding model where state grants for infrastructure are prioritized for cities that can demonstrate proactive compliance with Complete Streets and Vision Zero standards. By linking state dollars to safety outcomes, we can ensure that local municipalities no longer treat these life-saving laws as suggestions, but as mandatory requirements for modernization.

[SSS] If you are successful in your bid for state senator, what bills would you propose, to improve active transportation in the state? 

[David] In the State Senate, I will propose legislation to codify "Complete Streets" principles into state law, specifically mandating that any road project receiving state funding must include active transportation elements. This shift would redirect billions of dollars toward protected bike lanes, wider sidewalks, and pedestrian safety improvements. By making safety a core infrastructure requirement rather than an optional add-on, we can ensure that every state-funded transportation project contributes to a safer, more sustainable, and more accessible California.

[SSS] Thank you, David, for your time. Good luck in your bid for the State Senate.