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City Council Agenda Request
January 16, 2018
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AGENDA REQUEST NO: V.E.
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| | AGENDA OF: City Council Meeting |
| INITIATED BY: James Turner, P.E., City Traffic Engineer
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| PRESENTED BY: James Turner, City Traffic Engineer
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| | RESPONSIBLE DEPARTMENT: Public Works |
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| | | | | | | | | AGENDA CAPTION: | | Consideration of and action on authorizing a purchase in the amount of $846,998.45 from Trafficware Group, Inc. for Pod Wireless Detection System and SynchroGreen Adaptive System as part of the Traffic Signal Management Intelligent System upgrades, TR1503. |
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| | | | | | | | | RECOMMENDED ACTION: | | Authorize a purchase of Trafficware Group, Inc’s SynchroGreen Adaptive System and Pod Wireless Detection System for various locations in City in a maximum amount of $846,998.45 as part of the TR1503 – Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) CIP. |
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| | | | | | | | | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: | In a continuing effort to keep ahead of mobility needs, the City’s ITS Operations Master Plan is updated every 4-5 years to identify needs that support the City’s priority to keep improving mobility. The 2014 ITS Operations Master Plan outlined a four-year Capital Improvement Program and subsequent projects for each fiscal year starting in FY15. Since the inception of the CIP program, it has completed projects to improve traffic signal detection, add essential traffic data gathering capabilities, upgrade an outdated school beacon system, added improvements to City’s ITS website to help motorists with travel info, re-optimize major corridors within the City, upgraded all City traffic controllers with latest hardware/software, and initialized the first phase of adaptive signal control on SH 6. All these projects have brought benefits such as improved travel times on major corridors, real-time/historic traffic data which assists staff in making operation decisions, better sharing of traffic information to motorists, and a more reliable/self-reporting school beacon system.
This year, per the ITS Operations Master Plan, the City proposes to continue with the final phase of the Traffic Signal Detection Upgrades (Phase III) and the Expansion of Adaptive Signal Control (Phase II). The Traffic Signal Detection Upgrade portion of this project is a continuation project and one of the major recommendations from the ITS Operations Plan. This upgrade provides the City with Trafficware’s POD detection that addresses the shortfalls of our older detection systems but more importantly introduces automated data capturing capabilities (traffic volumes, delay) at signalized intersections. The data being collected today is building the foundation for a more reliable and smarter data driven Intelligent Transportation System. This same data supports adaptive signal control which will make automated signal timing changes by measuring real-time traffic conditions. Phase III will expand on the previous two phases, using Trafficware’s pods to upgrade 25 major intersections and install 590 more pods to help improve detection reliability, traffic operations, and help plan and design a better traffic network.
The second part of the proposed projects is recommending the expansion of Trafficware’s SynchroGreen Adaptive Control. Last year, the City initiated the first phase of SynchroGreen on SH 6 to evaluate performance on the City’s busiest roadway and measure the benefits. SynchroGreen is a software application which adjusts traffic signal timings in real time based on the current traffic demand conditions of the system. It uses algorithms to adjust signal timing parameters to minimize delay and reduce stops. Adaptive systems require accurate traffic data via detectors in the field and a reliable communication network to send/receive data to the field. One of the biggest differences between adaptive traffic signal control and other forms of operations is that older forms of operations (time of day patterns, responsive signal control) are on set parameters within set patterns based on generalized conditions. These older forms of traffic operations cannot adjust to variations from the general conditions from which they were implemented. Adaptive systems use algorithms to access the conditions/traffic demands and develop appropriate patterns based on programmed thresholds.
The City evaluated SynchroGreen on SH 6 from Brooks St/First Colony Blvd to Dulles Ave which carries approx. 60,000 vehicles on an average weekday. In summary, SynchroGreen showed average travel time decreases of 100 seconds but showed the best results in the PM peak with 200 seconds of reduction in travel times. With these decreases in travel times, the average number of stops decreased and congestion was less apparent in the peak times. The Public Works Department is recommending to expand this technology to US 90 from SH6 to Dairy Ashford and University Blvd from SH 6 to Lexington Ave.
The City previously selected Trafficware Group, Inc’s products through various outside studies/open trials and has been satisfied with the results. The recommended sole source purchase will also be required for compatibility with existing equipment/software. Trafficware has a proven record with the City and other major municipalities like the City of Las Vegas, City of Houston, Orlando, Palo Alto, and Jacksonville to provide leading innovation in the traffic industry. Funding for this purchase is available through the CIP project TR1503 - Traffic Signal Management/ITS budget.
The Public Works Department recommends that the City Council approve the sole source purchase of Trafficware Group, Inc’s Pod Wireless Detection System and SynchroGreen Adaptive System in a maximum amount of $846,998.45 as part of the TR1503 – Traffic Signal Management/ITS – Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Upgrades project.
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| BUDGET |
| | EXPENDITURE REQUIRED: 846,998.45 |
| | CURRENT BUDGET: 2,115,408.69 |
| | ADDITIONAL FUNDING: NA |
| | FUNDING SOURCE: |
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