2026 Election: Questionnaire for MV City Council Candidates
Robert Cox's Response
1. Knowledge and priorities: What do you see as the biggest barriers to making walking and bicycling safe, comfortable, and convenient throughout Mountain View? What specific changes would you prioritize to address them?
From 2001 to 2009, I made a goal of walking to and from my Mountain View townhome to every city in the Bay Area from Redwood City (in the west) to San Jose and Milpitas (in the east) and south to Cupertino and Monte Sereno. What I noticed was that streets that had reasonable block sizes, were tree-lined, and provided a variety of visual interest were the most enjoyable to walk along. Beyond that, major streets that provide for safe crossings with pedestrian signals at reasonable intervals are much more desirable.
As for bicycling, streets with higher class of bike lanes (like Class 4) provide greater safety and mobility for bike riders. However, while out campaigning, many people have told me that in spite of the good intent behind providing bike lanes on El Camino Real, they prefer to bike on streets, like California Street, that have less automotive traffic. Parents are primarily concerned that the city provide safe routes to schools for their children who bike to school and back.
I believe that providing for more street trees, safer intersections with bulb-outs and crossing signals, and a bike-lane between major streets like California Street, Miramonte Avenue, Rengstorff Avenue, and Middlefield Avenue will enhance our city’s walking and biking infrastructure. Paths to and from schools should be carefully evaluated to provide safe, continuous routes to and from school. I support our city’s Active Transportation Plan, which endeavors to accomplish this.
2. Judgement: Mountain View has made a number of changes to its streets in recent years, including
the California Street Complete Streets Pilot. Which changes do you consider successful, and which have fallen short? What lessons should the City take from these projects, and what measures should it use to evaluate the success of future street improvements?
I have heard some concerns about the California Street Complete Streets project. Some people do not like the reduction of one lane of automobile capacity, the reduction in parking capacity, the difficulty in getting from the buildings on California Street onto California Street, the reduction in useful space on the street, and the increased difficulty in removing leaves from the street during autumn.
While the reduction of one lane of automobile capacity was necessary to implement the project, I believe that the other issues should have been vetted before the pilot program was implemented. I believe that feedback from residents should be incorporated into the California Street design before the project is deemed complete.
It is generally beyond the scope of an average resident to evaluate such projects in detail before they are implemented. For future work on street changes, I would recommend a citizen task force, similar in function and spirit to the Environmental Sustainability Task Force, to vet future street changes and allow the task force to choose among staff provided alternatives before implementation begins.
3. Vision and city role: What is your vision for the future of downtown Mountain View? What would you like Castro Street and the surrounding downtown to be like in 5 to 10 years, and what changes should the City make in economic development, public space, transportation, land use, or other areas to achieve that vision?
I would like Downtown Historic Retail District H to be made into an official historic district on Mountain View’s local register so that the city council may retain control of its development despite SB79. I support the façade improvement program to help revitalize the appearance of the buildings along Castro Street. I support new, denser housing in the downtown, but would like respective transitions to existing neighborhoods. If business owners along Castro Street do not voluntarily rent out their ground floor retail spaces, I support exploring a vacancy tax to motivate them. I support programs to enable people of disadvantaged communities to become business owners and locate their businesses in the downtown and other locations in Mountain View.
4. Leadership and handling opposition: Improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure can require reallocating space or changing how streets are used, which can generate opposition from some residents, businesses, or drivers. As a Councilmember, how would you approach that opposition while advocating for the changes you believe are necessary?
I support the Active Transportation Plan that staff and council are currently working on. I also expect the staff and council to earn the public’s support by appropriately understanding the tradeoffs between new bike infrastructure and reduction in automobile capacity. I attended the BPAC discussion about proposed changes to Middlefield Road and support the staff recommendation. Ideally, every major street in the Active Transportation Plan should have Class 4 bike lanes. But on Middlefield, the implementation of these could lead to doubling the transit time along Middlefield from Shoreline Boulevard to Sunnyvale for vehicles in the early rush hour traffic. The public has reason to be concerned if fire and police officers are unable to answer a call in a timely manner. As a councilmember, I would advocate for the goals of the Active Transportation Plan while ensuring public safety.