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SR-CC/PA-2 (4) eei PA-Z AP 2 5 1995 PCD:SF:RKF:prkequi4;WINWORD Santa Monica, Ca11fornia Council Meeting: April 25/ 1995 To: city Council and Parking Authority From: city staff Subject: Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute a Contract With SECOM International Inc. to Provide and Install a Parking Access and Revenue Control System in the six Downtown Parking structures for an Amount Not to Exceed $696,242; Appropriate $220,650 to the Parking structure Control Equipment ClP Account for the contract, contingencies and Other Appurtenant Work; and Consider Information Regarding Nighttime Parking Meter Operations on Downtown streets and Related Issues. INTRODUCTION This report recommends the city council and Parking Authority authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract " with SECOM International Inc. to provide and install a parking access and revenue control system (PARCS) in the six downtown parking structures for an amount not to exceed $696,242. It is recommended that the Council appropriate $220/650 to the Parking structure Control Equipment eIP account for the cost of the contract, contingencies and other appurtenant work; the remaining amount is currently budgeted. This report also provides information to the council regarding nighttime parking meter operations on downtown streets and related issues. eel PA-2 APR 2 5 1995 DISCUSSION At its meeting on December 14, 1993, the city Council and Parking Authority approved the conversion of the six downtown parking structures from a parking meter operation to a cashier/pay-on- exit operation. This conversion was requested by the Bayside District Corporation (BDC) and the Restaurant and Merchants Associations to improve customer relations, make the parking structures more user friendly, and to enhance vehicle security and personal safety. A Public Works bid process was originally used and resulted in a rejection of bids on January 10, 1995, and Council authorization for staff to proceed with a Request for Proposals (RFP) process. The RFP was issued and two proposals were received. SECOM International Inc. submitted a proposal including a proposed cost of $696,242, and Socal Parking Equipment Company in conjunction with CTR Systems Inc. submitted a proposed cost of $750,762. Staff, the City's new parking operator and a parking consultant have evaluated both proposals and both companies, including thorough reference checks and site visits of each company's parking equipment. As a result of this evaluation, SECOM was rated as having the superior proposal. SECOM is a full-service equipment manufacturer and software provider, installer, and 2 ---- -- - service and maintenance company. Their equipment is reliable and long-lasting, and, if necessary, can be easily upgraded or retrofitted for changing needs. Staff's recommendation that the Council authorize the city Manager to negotiate and execute a contract with SECOM is based on many factors. One of the more important factors considered was customer service. SECOM is a Los Angeles based firm with their engJ.neering, programming, manufacturing and technical support staff all located only 20 minutes from Santa Monica. This proximity assures the City of the prompt avaJ.lability of support alld replacement parts without having to purchase a large spare part inventory. Another factor in recommending SECOM is their excellent " reputation as a result of more than fifteen years in designing, manufacturing, and installing access and revenue control systems w1th thousands of systems installed worldwide, hundreds of those located in Southern California. OTHER ISSUES Nighttime operation of On-Street Parking Meters When the Council approved the conversion of the downtown parking structures from a parking meter operation to a cashierfpay-on- 3 exit operation, staff was requested to evaluate the feasibility of operat1ng the on-street parkIng meters at night. The CouncIl expressed the need for on-street, short term parking at night to better serve patrons of the Bayside District who may want to make a qUIck stop for such things as coffee or a newspaper or magazine. Currently, all on-street meters end operation and enforcement at 6:00 pm. Typical on-street meters throughout the city provide for two hour parking or less and operate from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday through Saturday. Those locations where 15 to 30 minute meters exist were requested by the adjacent business operators to help them by providing high turnover parking spaces. The scope of this discussIon will be limited to on-street spaces \ along Wilshire Boulevard, Arizona Avenue, Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway between 2nd and 4th streets; and along 2nd and 4th streets between Wilshire and Broadway. On-street meters beyond these limits do not serve the needs for short term evening parking for the Bayside District and have been found to adversely affect adjacent businesses, especially restaurants and entertainment venues because in most cases there is no other long-term parking alternative. 4 - Along Wilshire, Arizona, Santa Monica and Broadway between 2nd and 4th streets, there are 80 available on-street meters, all of them being 1 hour or less. There are currently 75 meters along 2nd Street between Wilshire and Broadway. A significant number of the meters are 1 or 2 hour meters and a few are 36 minute short term meters. Currently, there are no meters along 4th Street, but nighttime parking is allowed after 7:00 pm. Several years ago the city implemented the operation of on-street meters at night throughout the entire downtown area and along many major commercial corridors. This program was implemented in July and August 1990 and hdd an immediate adverse impact on businesses, and was rescinded by the Council in September and October of 1990. At that time, it was determined that daytime and nighttime on-street park1ng needs, in most cases, are signif1cantly different. Nighttime parkers required longer term park1ng than most on-street meters provided. For example, for a restaurant, a 1 or 2-hour meter may be suitable for daytime customers, but it hindered nighttime customers because dinner patrons tended to spend more time in a restaurant than lunch patrons. Another example, was the 15 to 30 minute short-term meters which adequately served small, high turnover businesses such as cleaners, print shops and shoe repair, during the day, 5 but did not serve the nighttime parker and the parking space was often left empty. If the Council desires operation of downtown parking meters at night, the Council needs to take formal action to authorize implementation as well as appropriate additional funds. Nlghttime meter operation could be initiated ln conjunction with implementation of the attendant parking program. Unless directed otherwise, the hours of operation would be the same as the parking structures (Monday through Saturday 8:00 am to 12:00 midnight and Sunday 1:00 pm to 12:00 midnight), however the meter rate will be the same as existing, 50 cents per hour. The cost to implement a nighttime meter operation along Wilshire, Arizona, Santa Monica and Broadway between 2nd and 4th Streets would be approximately $5,000. This estimate includes the manufacture and installation of new signs which would consplcuously indicate that the meters would be enforced until 12 midnight. Since the existing meters already provide for short term parking, it is not necessary to purchase and install any new meters. The cost to implement a nighttime meter operation along 2nd and 4th Streets would be approximately $35,000 including the costs of new nlghttime-only meters along 4th Street and the costs of signs. Therefore, the total costs for implementation of 6 nighttime meters at all locations in the district is approximately $40,000. It 1S estimated that the nighttime operation of meters on Wilshire, Arizona, Santa Monica and Broadway may generate about $60,000 add1tlonal revenue per year. On 2nd and 4th streets the meters may generate about $100,000 additional revenue per year. The BDC discussed the nighttime enforcement of on-street meters at its October 27, 1994 Board meeting. The consensus of the Board was to oppose the enforcement at night since the parking needs of most nighttime visitors to the district require several hours of parklng time. since most of the meters provide for one hour or less, they do not satisfy the nighttime parking demand. Follow1ng the February 14th meeting, the BDC Board determined to \ reconsider the issue at a special Board rneet1ng on April 20, 1995. The results of that discussion will be presented to the Counc1l at the April 25th meeting. Queuing in the structures and Alley Exiting At the meeting of February 14, 1995, when AMPCO Systems Parking was selected to operate the parking structures I some members of the Council expressed concern about the queu1ng that may occur 7 - --- ------- during exiting, and the feasibility of using the alley exits for permit holders and prepa1d tickets to reduce queuing and delay. staff retained the services of a parking consultant to analyze this sltuation. In summary, the consultant's analysis indicated that during the peak hour for all six structures the entering traffic will not experience any slgnificant queu1ng or delay. For the exiting traffic, no significant queuing or delay will occur in Structures 1, 2 or 6. However, in structures 3 and 5 some moderate queuing and delay will occur during the peak hour (three to eight vehicles or one to three minutes). Finally, the consultant determined that structure 4 cannot accommodate the peak hour eX1ting traffic and s1gnificant queuing and delay will occur durlng the peak perlod unless exit lane configurations are improved. staff, the parking operator and parking consultant are designing exit lane modifications for all six structures that will address the current queuing and delay problems. The new design, which includes relocating the exiting cashier booths and gates back 1nto the structure onto the second level, will also address any future concerns in this area. The closure of the alley exits is still recommended for improving the pedestrian safety in the alleys. The alley exits do not contribute significantly to 8 -- -- reducing queulng delays since most traffic is required to circulate through the main exit lanes in order to access the alleys. parking Access for the Disabled The concern for parking access for the disabled was also discussed. In conjunction with the conversion of the structures to the cashier/pay-on-exit program, the ground floor areas of the parking structures will be converted to parking areas for the disabled. These future parking areas are accessible immediately after entering the structure. Disabled parkers with a disabled placard will still pull a ticket at the entrance and will exit the structures at the cashier booth in the same manner as other parkers, however, as is the current council polley, there will be no charge for parking for the disabled. Coordination with Santa Konica Place parking The council also requested that staff contact the Santa Monica Place management about the coordination of their parking program with the city's parking program. In response to staff's inquirles, the management at Santa Monica Place indicated they were not prepared to move forward with any significant changes to their parking program at this time, but would monitor the city's 9 ----- - ---- ---- program and would seriously consider modifications in the near future. BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT Funds required: Contract $696,242 Contingencies (10%) $ 69,624 Contract Total $765,866 Approximately $545,216 for this project is currently budgeted in CIP account 01-720-263-20094-8900-99048 (Parking structure Control System) . In addition, staff is recommending that $220,650 be appropriated to CIP account #01-720-263-20094-8900- 99048 from funds held in deferred revenue account #01-000-000- 00000-9870-04703 (Mall Parking Levy Account). As indicated in previous staff reports, it is projected the change from a parking meter operation to a cashier/pay-on-exit operation will initially result in an estimated $600,000 per year revenue shortfall. However, careful monitoring of the structure operations will be conducted during the first year of operations and parking rate adjustments may be recommended in the future in order to meet the staff's objective of a revenue neutral position as a result of this operational change. 10 RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council and Parking Authority: 1. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract with SECOM International Inc. to provide and install a parking access and revenue control system in the SlX downtown parking structures for an amount not to exceed $765,866; 2 . Appropriate $220,650 to ClP account #01-720-263-20094-8900- 99048 (Parking structure Control system) from revenue account #01-000-000-00000-9870-04703 (Mall Parking Levy Account) . Prepared by: Planning and Community Development Department Suzanne Frick, Director Ron Fuchiwaki, City Parking and Traffic Engineer Doug Blag i , Assoclate Traffic Engineer Resource Management Department Jeff Mathieu, Director JUdlth Meister, Asset Manager (prkequ14) 11 -------- - - - -