SR-506-001-03-01
F:\CMANAGER\STFRPRTS\OTSGrant
Council Meeting: March 28, 2000 Santa Monica, CA
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendation to Adopt Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to
Execute a Grant Agreement with the State of California Office of Traffic
Safety for Receipt of Grant Funding for the Walkable Westside Campaign
for Pedestrian and Traffic Safety
Introduction
This report recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the City
Manager to execute a grant agreement with the State of California Office of Traffic
Safety (OTS) for receipt of $150,000 in grant funding for the Walkable Westside
Campaign for Pedestrian and Traffic Safety, which would enhance the public education
campaign already under way in Santa Monica and extend the campaign to the
neighboring Westside cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City and West Hollywood.
Background
The public education campaign is one part of Santa Monica?s three-part approach to
pedestrian and traffic safety, with the other elements being engineering and
enforcement. At mid-year budget review, the Council appropriated additional funds for
crosswalk improvements, as part of the crosswalk enhancement program that began on
Pico Boulevard and has continued with Montana and Ocean Avenues and Neilson and
Barnard Ways, with studies currently underway on Wilshire, Santa Monica, Ocean Park,
and Broadway. The Police Department continues its effective once-a-week crosswalk
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sting program at problem intersections throughout the community and on February 8,
Council approved acquisition of four additional motorcycles and related equipment for
enhanced traffic enforcement and gave conceptual approval for an automated red-light
enforcement program.
The City began its education efforts in December 1998 with the theme ?Slow Down,
Santa Monica? and in May 1999 retained local advertising agency Big Honkin Ideas
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(BHI) to develop a more powerful pedestrian and traffic safety awareness campaign for
Santa Monica. BHI?s work was directed by a City staff team with representatives from
the City Manager?s Office, the Police Department?s Traffic Enforcement Division and the
Planning and Community Development Department.
Plan implementation began in October 1999, following creative development, focus
group research to gauge public response to proposed themes and messages, and
production. Since October, the following strategies have been implemented: 450?
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pedestrian safety mural, bearing ?Let?s Watch Out for Each Other? tagline, painted on 4
Street construction wall behind City Hall; Matador-themed commercial produced and
time purchased to air the commercial on five cable stations six times a day through
May; billboard reflecting the ?crosswalk sting? theme preferred by focus group
participants mounted in January and February at Wilshire and Bundy entrance to the
City; interior bus cards bearing the message ?Crossing Safely Is a Two-Way Street?
Pedestrians, Look. Drivers, Stop? placed in Big Blue Buses January through July 2000;
bus kings (side ads), again with the ?sting? theme, on Big Blue Buses January through
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March. Public relations included in the plan garnered news coverage of the campaign
in local papers and on TV Channels 9, 4 and 7 and our own Channel 16.
In addition to the projects included in the BHI plan, the City has developed several other
public education pieces, including the ?Look Both Ways? PSA for Channel 16 and other
Adelphia Cable channels, produced through the Police Department by a volunteer crew
with donated talent; ?The Pedestrian Could Be You? PSA produced for broadcast on
closed-circuit TV in local carwashes and on Channel 16, with companion posters; and
pedestrian safety posters produced by the Police Officers Association of L.A. County
and provided in bulk to Santa Monica, where the photo for the poster was shot.
City publications and presentations have continued to be used to promote pedestrian
safety, including Seascape, which has carried a prominent safe walking and driving
message in every issue for over a year (see page 1 of the Spring 2000 issue as an
example); the Police Department?s PCH Traffic Safety Expo in September 1999; more
than 45 pedestrian safety presentations made primarily to school children and senior
citizens since October by Police and other staff; and plans for a pedestrian safety, ?Let?s
Watch Out for Each Other? emphasis at the Police Department?s booth at the upcoming
Santa Monica Festival. The Police Department will implement the ?Every 15 Minutes?
program in May with high school drivers as the audience. An information blitz in parking
lots and structures in June 2000 is planned to reach summer visitors to Santa Monica.
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Discussion
While much has been accomplished to make the public more aware of pedestrian right-
of-way laws and the need for both drivers and pedestrians to be more cautious and
careful on our City streets, more needs to be done, both in Santa Monica and regionally.
Pedestrian safety is a Westside issue, not confined to the borders of Santa Monica, and
effective outreach and awareness-building require a substantial infusion of funds. For
these reasons, in January 1999, Santa Monica applied for grant funds from both the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the state Office of Traffic Safety, on
behalf of the four Westside cities, to be used to conduct a pedestrian and traffic safety
campaign, dubbed the ?Walkable Westside Campaign,? that would benefit each city
individually and the region as a whole. The MTA in July 1999 awarded a $339,000,
three-year grant for Walkable Westside and the Council adopted a resolution accepting
the funds from MTA on February 22, 2000. In October 1999, OTS awarded a $150,000
two-year grant for Walkable Westside to Santa Monica on behalf of the Westside cities.
The grant funds awarded from the MTA and now OTS will allow Santa Monica and the
neighboring cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City and West Hollywood to maximize their
individual public education efforts to improve safety in the region. The $150,000 from
OTS is intended to be used in a collaboration led by the partner cities? police, public
information and planning/transportation divisions to 1) create educational materials and
strategies to increase knowledge of traffic laws pertaining to pedestrians and 2) create
advertising, signage, events and other strategies to raise public awareness of the need
to change driving and walking behaviors. Extending the ?Let?s Watch Out for Each
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Other? tagline and approach to the other cities is Santa Monica?s goal for the project, to
capitalize on visibility and ?buzz? already created through our local campaign.
Budget/Financial Impact
Revenue account #20202.406400 has been set up to receive the state Office of Traffic
Safety grant funds, to be administered by Santa Monica on behalf of the Westside
cities, in fiscal years 2000-01 and 2001-02. The OTS grant does not require in-kind or
matching funds from the cities; however, each city will contribute staff time and in-kind
services (e.g., city-controlled advertising space, cable TV time) to the project. Grant
expenditures will be included at account 01274.555060 in the FY 2000-01 Proposed
Budget presented to Council for its approval in June.
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing the
City Manager to execute a project agreement with the State of California Office of
Traffic Safety for receipt of $150,000 in grant funding for the Walkable Westside
Campaign for Pedestrian and Traffic Safety.
Prepared by: Judy Rambeau, Communications Coordinator
Attachment: Resolution
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