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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-12-10 City CouncilCity of Palo Alto C ty Manager’s Repor TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL Policy and Services Committee FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PLANNING AGENDA DATE: December 10, 1996 SUBJECT:Scope of Work for Traffic Signal Timing Project REQUEST The Policy and Services committee identified the Traffic Signal Timing Project as one of the projects for which it would like to review the draft scope of work, prior to the start of the consultant selection process. RECOMMENDATIONS Staff recommends that the Committee approve the attached scope of work for use in hiring a consultant to perform the Traffic Signal Timing Project. POLICY, IMPLICATIONS The recommendation of this report is consistent with existing Comprehensive Plan Transportation Program 17: Make operational and intersection improvements to ease traffic flow on major streets. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The current traffic signal timing plans for the City of Palo Alto traffic signals are based on traffic conditions (volumes and travel speeds) that were last measured in 1986. Since then, several new traffic signals have been added and traffic volumes and patterns have likely changed. Therefore, there is a need to review and update the traffic signal timing plans for the Palo Alto signals. Staff applied to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) for a grant, to establish new traffic signal timing plans and replace one-quarter of the existing traffic signal controllers, which was subsequently approved. The objective of the current Traffic Signal Timing Project is to develop new traffic signal timing plans for 83 of the traffic signals trader Palo Alto’s jurisdiction. The scope of work includes data collection and analysis, model calibration and application, testing and CMR:490:96 Page 1 of 3 evaluation of alternatives, implementation and refinement, before and after studies, and report documentation. Staffhas prepared a draft scope of work to hire a consultant to perform the Traffic Signal Timing portion of the work, because in-house resources are not available to do this type and magnitude of work. Although the federal funds are to establish new traffic signal timing plans and replace one-quarter of the existing traffic signal controllers (please refer to discussion under Fiscal Impact), replacement of controllers is not a part of this current effort. Controllers will be replaced/upgraded subject to the findings and conclusions of a Traffic Signal System Evaluation Study, the scope of work for which will be the subject of discussion at a later Policy and Services Committee meeting. Staff has formed a Project Study Cormnittee (PSC) to assist with consultant selection, as well as to review and comment on the consultant’s work during the course of the project. The draft scope of work has been reviewed by the PSC and incorporates their comments. The PSC consists of the following members: Chief Transportation Official, Transportation Division City Traffic Engineer, Transportation Division Senior Power Engineer, Utilities Department Supervisor, Traffic Signals - Coax, Utilities Depamnent Following review and approval of the scope of services by the Policy anti Servicc~, Committee, staffwN proceed with the Request for Proposals, evaluation of respondents, selection of a consultant, and negotiation of a contract. The final agreement with the consultant selected to perform the work will come before the full Council for review and approval. FISCAL IMPACT As a means to improve and upgrade the traffic signal system, staff investigated potential sources of funding, and identified the Regional Traffic Signal Operations Program (RTSOP) administrated by MTC, as a potential applicable program. Subsequently, Palo Alto’s grant application to MTC, in the amount of $459,845 ($407,100 federal funds and $52,745 state Transportation System Management ftmds), to establish new traffic signal timing plans and replace one-quarter of the existing traffic signal controllers was approved. Funding, in the amount of $166,000, for the traffic signal timing portion of the project, is included in the Electric Utility section of the 1996-97 Capital Improvement Program. Up CMR:490:96 Page 2 of 3 to 88.1 percent of the actual project cost, or a maximum of $146,279, in federal and state TSM match will be reimburs~.~d to the City for this portion of the work. The residual 11.9 percent, or $19,721, will come from budgeted Electric Utility funds. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Approval ofa drat~ scope of work to retain a consultant is not considered a project under the California Environmental Quality Act; therefore, no environmental assessment is required. ATTACHMENTS 1. Map illustrating traffic signal locations 2. Scope of Work for Traffic Signal Timing Project Prepared by: Ashok Aggarwal, City Traffic Engineer Department Head Review: KENNETH R. SCHREIBER Director of Planning mad Community Envirolmaent City Manager Approval: city cc:Hin Kung, Caltrans CMR:490:96 Page 3 of 3 \EAST PALO ALTO CITY OF lo1 PALO ALTO Legend Cit7 of Palo Alto Traffic Signals City of Menlo Park Traffic Signals Santa Clara Counq~ Traffic Signals San Mateo Count)." Traffic Signals Cahwans Traffic Signals Not to Scale City of Palo Alto Transportation Division Traffic Signal Locations cAs~gna~sigl_bas.cdr SCOPE OF WORK Traffic Signal Timing Project ATTACHMENT 2 Background The City of Palo Alto has 87 traffic signals under its direct jurisdiction. These do not include the traffic signals along Oregon Expressway, Page Mill Road, and Foothill Expressway which are the responsibility of Santa Clara County, nor those along El Camino Real which are the responsibility of the State of California. Attachment 1 illustrates the location of all of the traffic signals and the jurisdiction with primary responsibility. For each traffic signal, there is a traffic signal timing plan that specifies the amount of green, yellow and red time, as well as pedestrian walk time, allocated for each movement during various portions of the day. The current traffic signal timing plans for the City of Palo Alto traffic signals are based on traffic conditions (volumes and travel speeds) that were last measured in 1986. Since then several new traffic signals have been added and traffic volumes and patterns have likely changed. Therefore, there is a need to review and update the traffic signal timing plans for the Palo Alto signals. The City has applied for and received approval of a grant for funds as part of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s "Regional Traffic Signal Operations Program (RTSOP)". The objective for the RTSOP program is to reduce congestion, improve air quality, and improve traffic flow by replacing/updating traffic signal equipment and timing plans. The total RTSOP grant is for $459,845, with the intent to use approximately $146,279 for developing new traffic signal timing plans. The remainder of the grant is available for traffic signal equipment changes. The City’s present intent is to proceed with the collection and analysis of the data necessary to evaluate and develop revised traffic signal timing plans, which can be used with the existing traffic signal equipment, as well as any changes in equipment that may be forthcoming in the future. The work is to be done by a consultant with supervision by City staff. Since the project involves the use of federal funds, Palo Alto is required to follow procedures and standards established by the federal government and administered on its behalf, by Caltrans. These include review and approval of several elements, including following Caltrans required guidelines for selecting consultants. Work Tasks The scope of work for this contract includes data collection, analysis, evaluation and development of traffic signal timing plans for 83 traffic signals (because four of the signals are isolated and cannot be coordinated, the number of signals included in the project is 83 instead of 87). In general, the consultant will become familiar with the 83 intersections; collect, reduce and check all data required as input to the TRANSYT program; code and Page 1 keypunch input data; check data files; debug and calibrate TRANSYT; make production runs for various time periods (e.g.a.m. peak, mid-day, p.m. peak and off-peak); interpret and check output; prepare data for input to City’s VMS 300 central computer traffic signal controller; monitor resultant traffic performance; adjust and fine tune the timing plans; conduct before and after studies; and prepare all of the progress and final reports. Specific tasks to be performed by the consultant include the following: Task 1-Link/Node Diagram Consultant will field check all of the existing traffic signal equipment, as well as required intersection and roadway characteristics, develop the appropriate network diagrams showing node numbers, link numbers, and link lengths, etc., and meet with City staff; Task 2-Data Collection Consultant will collect and analyze all data (existing or new) to provide a data base suitable for use in calibrating the TRANSYT model to existing traffic conditions. Such data will include, but not be limited to: existing traffic signal phasing and timing (green, yellow, red, lost time, extensions, pedestrian, etc.); coordination; intersection geometrics; intersection volumes (through and turning); saturation flows; queue length; vehicle speeds and mid-block flow profiles; travel time runs; etc. A minimum of three or four runs in each direction on each major study street will be made during the off-peak, a.m. peak, p.m. peak, and mid-day peak periods. The runs will be conducted for both the before and after situations. All of the data will be transferred to data reduction sheets. Task 3-Calibrated Simulation Run/Field Calibration Data Consultant will prepare and enter input data, complete initial simulation runs, and calibrate model. The purpose of this task is twofold: (1) to develop a complete and properly formatted set of input data for each time period that is to be studied, and (2) to calibrate the model to observed existing conditions for each time period. The result of this task will be an operational and calibrated TRANSYT model for each of the four time periods to be studied. Task 4-VWVV Clocks Consultant will determine the need for the VVWV clocks. If required, consultant will prepare the necessary hardware specifications and assist with the installation of the necessary hardware. Task 5 - Model Analysis and Evaluation The purpose of this task is to complete TRANSYT analysis runs and an evaluation of alternative timing plans. The consultant will develop a recommended timing plan for each traffic signal subsystem within the study area (1) for each of four time periods (AM, mid-day, PM, and off-peak), (2) for each of four travel speeds (posted speed limit, five miles above the posted speed limit, prevailing speed, and the Page 2 speed for optimum two way progression), and (3) for each of two optimization criteria (maximum two-way rogression on main roadway and cross-street/main roadway balanced appro£c~-,). The recommended timing plans will be developed through a series of model applications. Measures of effectiveness will be reported for each condition. Time space diagrams will be prepared to ensure that the timing plans are reasonable. Task 6 - Implementation and Fine-Tuning The purpose of this task is to implement and fine-tune the preferred timing plans, complete a before and after field evaluation, and complete the final TRANSYT simulation runs of field implemented fine-tuned timing plans. Based upon the option selected by the City, the Consultant will generate refined timing plans for each of the four time periods, including time of day and traffic- responsive commands, properly formatted for input into the City’s VMS 330 computer. While City staff will actually enter the data into the computer, the consultant will be on hand to resolve any problems. Field observations will be conducted by the consultant, with City staff participation, to evaluate system operation. Based on the field observations, consultant will adjust timing plans either manually or with additional model runs with revised data to remedy any operational problems. The consultant will conduct field surveys to measure changes in the network’s performance before and after the implementation of the new timing plans. The surveys will consist of multiple floating car runs along subsystems to collect data on total travel time and number of stops. The number of runs must be statistically valid for before and after comparisons. Task 7 - Final Report The consultant will prepare and provide an individual progress report for each task, as well as a final report. The final report will summarize the entire project, including existing traffic flow conditions and the resulting effects of the newly implemented traffic signal timing plans (e.g. measures of effectiveness, before and after comparisons, sub-system performance summary, etc.). Consultant’s Proposal The consultant’s proposal shall include, but not be limited to, information concerning the following items: a.A work plan b.An organization chart, c.The firm’s experience with interconnect systems in general, Page 3 go The firm’s familiarity with VMS operation, TRANSYT model and computer resources needed for the project, The firm’s success with implementation of coordinated timing plans, Names of specific individuals to be assigned to this project, including their respective roles and relevant experience, A schedule indicating the time required to complete the project, Estimated fee, broken down by tasks, and Information about the consultant’s use of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs). Consultant Selection Criteria The following criteria will be used in evaluating consultants: f. g. h. I. Specialized experience in this type of work, Familiarity with VMS 330, Familiarity with traffic-responsive coordinated traffic signal timing plans, Success in achieving efficiently coordinated traffic signal systems, Geographic location of the firm relative to Palo Alto, Completeness in answering the RFP, Make-up of the team, Innovative aspects of the proposal, Presentation at the oral interview, and Proposed fee. C:~ASHO~SIGNALS~CONTROLL\SCP-WK,WPD Page 4