sr-041310-1bCity Council Meeting: April 13, 2010
Agenda Item: 1®
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Eileen Fogarty, Director, Planning and Community Development
Subject: Traffic Signal Timing Plans for Downtown Area
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a contract with KOA Corporation for an amount not to exceed $150,000, to
provide traffic signal timing plans for the Downtown area of the City.
Executive Summary
A total of 59 traffic signals are located in the Downtown area of the City, bounded by
Pico Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard, Ocean Avenue, and Lincoln Boulevard. Downtown
is the main civic and commercial hub in the City, drawing the highest concentration of
automobile, transit, bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
Given this high concentration of traffic, it is imperative that the traffic signals within the
Downtown area be synchronized and coordinated in a systematic and well-planned
manner to ensure efficient transport. In the past, only critical areas of the Downtown
were analyzed individually; the enfire area was never looked at as a whole. This project
intends to analyze the entire Downtown grid in order to: 1) optimize the flow of traffic for
both east-west and north-south streets, 2) create timing plans for morning, mid-day and
afternoon traffic peaks, 3) update the signal timing to current pedestrian and bicycle
standards, and 4) create timing plans for weekends and special events. It is anticipated
that the overall delay and number of stops could be reduced by as much as 20% as a
result of this project. The consultant contract for these services will not exceed
$150,000,
Discussion
On September 14. 2004, the Council approved the purchase of an Advanced Traffic
Management System (ATMs). The ATMs is intended to maintain synchronized timing
plans of the City's traffic signals. ATMs provides centralized control of the traffic
signal controllers and all other Intelligent Transportation System devices used to
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manage traffic such as detection systems, transit priority system, emergency vehicle
preemption system, variable message signs, and traffic monitoring cameras on one
integrated system.
The ATMS project is currently in the third phase of afive-phase, multi-year plan. The
first and second phases covered the Downtown area and were completed in 2008.
Thus, the Downtown area is ready for synchronized timing plans. Staff applied for and
were granted Proposition C/Local Return funding to develop synchronized timing plans
over the next five years. The timing plans will adjust for peak hours of traffic throughout
the day and will also take transit, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic into consideration. The
plans will ensure that the City is able to optimize the flow of traffic by creating
coordinated bands of traffic to and from primary Downtown destinations (e.g., parking
garages) and the freeway ramps.
Consultant Selection
On February 11, 2010, a Request for Proposal (RFP) with a preliminary scope of
services was sent to six firms specializing in traffic signal timing and operations,
soliciting proposals for signal timing plans. On March 4, 2010; four proposals were
received from the following firms: RBF Consulting, Advantec, Kimley-Horn and
Associates, Inc, and KOA Corporation (KOA). A selection committee consisting of staff
from the Planning and Community Development Department reviewed the proposals.
Based on the proposals, the selection committee recommends KOA to provide services
for this project. The KOA team met and exceeded all of the requirements and criteria of
the RFP. Specifically, KOA emphasized their understanding of efficient traffic
engineering principles on similar timing projects in a dense urban grid network similar to
Santa Monica. They demonstrated proficient skills and tools in managing a project of
this size and scope. In addition, KOA clearly showed their extensive knowledge and
experience in reducing overall delay and number of stops along corridors. KOA also has
the staff resources and availability to complete the project within our aggressive
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schedule. Last, the proposed budget for KOA was reasonable relative to all other short-
listed firms and adequate to complete the job.
Financial Impacts 8~ Budget Actions
Funds of $100,000 are available at account 0207030.589000 Traffic Signal
Synchronization. Funds of $50,000 are available at account 0017018.589000 ATMS
Traffic Signal Timing Plans.
Prepared by: Andrew Maximous, P.E., T.E., Transportation Engineer
Approved:
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Eileen Fogarty
Director, Planning and Community
Development
Forwarded to Council:
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Rod Gould
City Manager
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Reference Contract No.
9195 (CCS).