HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-02-19 City Council (2)City of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PLANNING AND
COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT
DATE: "
SUBJECT:
February 19, 2002 CMR:141:02
CONTRACT WITH TJKM TRANSPORTATION CONSULTANTS
FOR A CITYWIDE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS)-
BASED VEHICLE SPEED AND TRAVEL TIME STUDY
This is an informational report and no Council action is required.
DISCUSSION
The Transportation Division has recently contracted with TJKM Transportation Consultants
to provide the City with Global Positioning System (GPS)-based citywide vehicle speed and
travel time information. TJKM will purchase the raw vehicle speed data from @Road, a
firm in Fremont which specializes in Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technology.
@Road has developed a GPS location-based application that allows its subscribers to track
their vehicles, noting information such as the location and speed of the vehicles at specific
points in time. The subscribers’ vehicles may include trucks, company fleets, and private
cars. @Road is thus maintaining an extensive database of vehicle speeds and times
throughout the region, including within Palo Alto. This information, however, must be
post-processed in order to be useful for transportation planning and monitoring purposes.
TJKM will provide this post-processing service.
The project scope includes purchasing the vehicle speed data from @Road, performing
travel time studies to validate the data, analyzing the data, developing a database and
corresponding Geographic Information System (GIS), and developing maps and charts to
graphically display the data, which can then be included on the City’s website. The maps
and charts will display average vehicle speeds on all major and residential arterial roadways
within the City during the a.m. and p.m. peak hours. The amount of the contract is $33,000.
This citywide vehicle speed and travel time information will be instrumental in helping the
Transportation Division achieve several of its goals. Following are a few of the potential
uses:
CMR:141:02 Page 1 of 2
¯TJKM is currently under contract with the City to provide the TransEortation
Division with an updated citywide travel demand model. Vehicle speed
information obtained from the GPS vehicle speed and travel time study will be
used to validate the travel demand model to a higher degree of accuracy than could
be done using turning movement volumes alone.
¯The GPS vehicle speed information could be used to supplement, or eventually
replace, speed information obtained from standard pneumatic hoses. Speeds
obtained from pneumatic hoses placed in the street are currently used to respond to
public inquiries and to evaluate streets for the Neighborhood Traffic Calming
Program.
¯The Transportation Division has been directed by Council to report annually on
the condition of the Palo Alto transportation system and on trends with respect to
its use. The GPS vehicle speed and travel time data will provide an effective
means to quantify on a citywide scale the average speeds of vehicles and levels of
congestion on the roadways in Palo Alto. If done on an annual basis, trends can
easily be gauged and the results reported as part of an ongoing transportation
systems performance monitoring program.
Staff hopes to retain TJKM on an-annual basis to provide current GPS-based vehicle speed
and travel time data to the City. As a result, charts on the City website can be updated on an
ongoing basis with current traffic conditions, and trends in vehicle speeds ’and travel times
can be easily monitored. Staff anticipates that the annual cost of such a program will be
significantly less than the $33,000 of the current contract, as much of this cost will be used
to set up database and GIS systems, which can be recycled in subsequent years.
PREPARED BY:
DEPARTMENT HEAD:
DAVID STILLMAN
_~,.-.T.,r~ui~sp ort ation Engineer
~~ cVtoEri~p~LaniEning and
Community Environment
EMILY I-I_~.RI}_I_SON
Assistan)/Uity Manager
CMR:141:02 Page 2 of 2