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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-11-25 - AGENDA REPORTS - RED LIGHT PHOTO ENFORCEMENT (2)PUBLIC HEARING DATE: SUBJECT: FOXX S ► Agenda Item: _=w CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT City Manager Approval: Item to be presented by: November 25, 2003 Andrew Yi RED LIGHT PHOTO ENFORCEMENT. PROJECT NO. I0002 Transportation and Engineering Services RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council conduct a public hearing; approve implementation of a Citywide Red Light Photo Enforcement Program; award a five-year contract with extensions for the Red Light Photo Enforcement Program, Project No. I0002, to Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc.; and authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all documents, subject to City Attorney approval. BACKGROUND City Council directed the Transportation and Engineering Services Department to investigate establishing a Red Light Photo Enforcement Program within the City of Santa Clarita, and has allocated $250,000.00 towards that program. Staff has completed its investigation, and with support from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Traffic Division, is requesting that the City Council authorize such a program to install cameras at up to twenty (20) selected intersections under a phased implementation plan. However, staff recommends that four intersections be implemented with the system for the first phase, and the expansion of the system will be determined in the future based on required resources. The use of such cameras, and resulting traffic citations, would help promote traffic safety as part of a comprehensive community safety program. Similar programs are already being used, or are being implemented, throughout California and the nation. Research by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) reveals there are more than 1.8 million intersection crashes annually. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, red light running is the leading cause of urban crashes. Likewise, staff has noted a growing trend of red light running collisions within the City of Santa Clarita. In 2002, there were 106 collisions caused by red light running, resulting in 94 injuries and 2 fatalities. L'Lrl�u j� U L L ii' J .,_..... Increased levels of enforcement at problem locations will reduce accidents and improve traffic safety. Standard enforcement practices for red light running are difficult, and often require officers to make aggressive movements through busy intersections to cite the offending drivers. In cities where photo enforcement technology has been deployed, red light violations, traffic collisions, and resulting injuries and fatalities have been reduced. As a traffic safety program, the Transportation and Engineering Services Department and Sheriff's Department believe that the implementation of red light photo enforcement will significantly reduce the number of red light violations, and will provide the City with another tool to improve traffic, community, and pedestrian safety. Exhibit "A" is a summary of previous studies into the effectiveness and concerns of red light photo enforcement. During the past several months, representatives from the Transportation and Engineering Services Traffic Engineering Division, Administrative Services Department, Sheriffs Department, and the private consultant reviewed materials and information for the following four vendors who provide red light photo enforcement programs: Affiliated Computer Systems, Transcore, Nestor Traffic Systems, and Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc. Based on vendor information and specifications, field visits, and consultation with several municipalities currently deploying the technology, staff has selected Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc. (RTS) as the preferred vendor. RTS offers an effective and proven system, has experience with the local court system, and is the only vendor that offers a comprehensive program which is fully funded by violator citations. Additional information on the qualifications of RTS is provided in Exhibit "B." Staff has begun reviewing the safety record of all signalized intersections within the City and identifying potential red light photo enforcement locations. The red light photo enforcement vendor will be required to place appropriate equipment to monitor potential violations at each intersection to assure that the highest priority intersections and approaches are chosen for the enforcement. City Council will be informed of all selected intersection approaches prior to installation of the equipment. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS Other action as determined by the City Council. FISCAL IMPACT According to state law, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department officers need to approve citations and represent the City at all court proceedings. The Sheriffs Department anticipates to absorb the cost of the program for up to four intersections with their existing staff. This newly added program, along with the training and assignments associated with it, will be collateral in nature; thus, increasing the workload of Traffic Engineering Division staff. Funds for the Red Light Photo Enforcement Program are available in Account No. I0002001. Red light photo enforcement programs should not be considered as a revenue generator. The proposed contract to be established with RTS is for a comprehensive program fully funded by violator citations, and by which RTS assumes responsibility for capitalization of the program, including all associated risks. Therefore, the City will have no up -front capital costs, and revenues will likely offset operating costs. The annual estimated cost for the contract is $640,000.00, which will be offset by revenue generated by the program. Recent California legislation will limit contract opportunities with red light photo enforcement vendors beginning January 1, 2004. After that date, all contracts for this enforcement will need to be based on a flat rate fee schedule. This presents a significant up -front cost and financial risk for the City. ATTAC111VVIENTS Exhibit "A" - Previous Studies into the Effectiveness and Concerns of Red Light Photo Enforcement available in the City Clerk's Reading File Exhibit "B" - Qualifications of Reflex Traffic Systems available in the City Clerk's Reading File CITY OF SANTA CLARITA NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN: A Public Hearing will be held before the City Council of the City of Santa Clarita in the City Hall Council Chambers, 23920 Valencia Blvd., 19t Floor, Santa Clarita, California, on the 25th day of November 2003, at or after 6:00 p.m. to consider implementation of a Citywide red light photo enforcement program. Proponents, opponents, and any interested persons may appear and be heard on this matter at that time. Further information may be obtained by contacting the Transportation and Engineering Services Department, Santa Clarita City Hall, 23920 Valencia Blvd., Third Floor, Santa Clarita, CA. 91355, (661) 286-4047, Gus Pivetti, Project Engineer. If you wish to challenge this action in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City Council at or prior to the public hearing. Dated: November 14, 2003 Sharon L. Dawson, CMC City Clerk Publish Date: November 15, 2003 \corres\phform.wpd 1*11II1.111I 71% PREVIOUS STUDIES INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS AND CONCERNS OF RED LIGHT PHOTO ENFORCEMENT One of the most effective, proven, and cost effective methods to address red light violations is by the use of red light photo enforcement. In a report dated February 24, 2000, the Department of Transportation (DOT) analyzed the results of existing red light camera programs in Los Angeles County, San Francisco, New York City, Howard County, Maryland, and Polk County, Florida. As a result of this analysis, DOT reported that red light running violations decreased by as much as 60 percent at intersections where cameras automatically identify violators in Howard County, Maryland. At 18 monitored intersections in New York City, there was a 34 percent reduction in red light violations. In a separate report, the DOT noted that Fairfax, Virginia installed red light camera enforcement at nine intersections. After three -months, there was a seven percent reduction in violations. After a full year of photo enforcement, those nine intersections had a forty-four percent reduction in violations. In a 1999 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) report, the Institute found that red light running violations in Oxnard, California, dropped a total of forty-two percent across the city after cameras were introduced at only nine of the 125 signalized intersections. There was a corresponding twenty-nine percent decrease in injury accidents. What was found in Oxnard, California, and many other jurisdictions where red light photo enforcement is conducted, is that there is a decrease in both violations and accidents not only at those locations with cameras, but citywide. The IIHS has labeled this phenomenon the "spill over effect." Area drivers are aware that the jurisdiction conducts red light photo enforcement and are more cognizant of violations. There have been two objections consistently raised in objection to red light photo enforcement. The first is that the programs are disliked by motorists and, secondly, that the programs are unconstitutional. The IIHS has conducted at least two surveys regarding public opinion and red light photo enforcement. One survey was conducted in ten cities, five with red light cameras and five without. The cameras were supported by eighty percent of the drivers in cities with red light cameras, and by seventy-six percent of the drivers in those cities without cameras. In the second, a nationwide survey, conducted in 1995, sixty-six percent of those surveyed were in favor of red light camera enforcement. The constitutional argument is most frequently raised in conjunction with a 2001 lawsuit in San Diego against red light camera enforcement. In that case, a Superior Court judge issued a ruling that eventually led to the dismissal of about 300 tickets, and the program was halted for a time while changes were made in the program. In this case, the city was found to be at fault for allowing the contractor excessive control and for paying the contractor according to the number of paid tickets; but the judge specifically upheld the constitutionality of the red light photo enforcement program. What was also interesting in this particular incident, according to the California Bureau of State Audits, was that accidents caused by red light violations "increased citywide by fourteen percent during the time photo enforcement was curtailed. traffic\gus\Exhibit A —Red Light Photo Enforcement Agenda EXHIBIT `B" QUALIFICATIONS OF REDFLEX TRAFFIC SYSTEMS • On-line dial up access of camera. • 12 -second video loop. • Real time intersection monitoring. • No delay for film processing. • Quality digital photos. • Fully electronic, no mechanical cameras. • On-line processing of violations. Also, of the various technologies available, the system developed and manufactured by RTS is the only red light photo enforcement system that uses a combined approach of both digital video and digital still images. Specifically, RTS is the only provider that includes a total of four (4) digital cameras in each camera unit. The camera configuration includes three (3) digital still cameras and one (1) digital video camera. Specifics are summarized in the following: Technology only the RTS program provides. • 4 -camera configuration per housing. ✓ 3 high resolution digital still cameras. ✓ 1 high resolution digital video camera. • Combination Still/Video System, which provides the strongest violation evidence set. ✓ 4 high resolution encrypted digital still images per violation. ✓ 12 -seconds of full motion video per violation. • Multiple camera configuration, which is synchronized to a single internal clock. • Ability to provide 24-hour a day, 7 -day a week "live" video feeds for traffic and incident management. • Ability to conduct remote camera adjustments. • Ability to enforce multiple violations per phasing across lanes. Page 1 • Ability to enforce 4 -contiguous lanes of traffic with one system. • Ability to enforce four types of violation movements. ✓ Straight -through movements. ✓ Left -turn movements. ✓ Double left -turn movements. ✓ Right -turn movements. • Ability to implement non-invasive vehicle detection. • Ability to enforce at speeds of 100 MPH+, during nighttime and variable weather. In addition to being the only red light photo enforcement program vendor that can supply the City of Santa Clarita with the above listed capabilities and hardware, RTS is also the longest established digital vendor in the United States, supports more operational digital red light photo enforcement systems in the United States than all other vendors combined, and is the only fully vertically integrated vendor, which includes: • In-house camera manufacturing. • In-house system design. • In-house research and development. • In-house software engineering. • In-house citation processing. • In-house support and maintenance. RTS is the only Red Light Photo Enforcement vendor that offers a program which is fully funded by violator citations. All of the other vendors offer contracts with flat monthly lease/processing fees, per citation fees with a guaranteed minimum number of monthly citations, or a combination of the two. During staff consultations with other municipalities, it was found that some agencies had lower than anticipated citation rates leading to program fees which exceeded citation revenue. RTS is a vendor that has no pending legal actions, has had no programs shutdown, nor lost any incumbent programs. Earlier this year, the City of Chicago, Illinois, initiated a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) process. This RFP was seeking the most advanced automated enforcement technologies in the red light photo enforcement industry. Chicago received eight (8) formal bids from vendors across the United States and abroad. Page 2