FORM GEN,, ',GOAIR".'/82) CITY OF LOS ANGELES IN, ~R-DEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDl:..tE Date: December 4, 2007 To: The Honorable City Council c/o City Clerk, Room 395, City Hall Attention:~l.7~ Wendy Greuel, Chair, Transportation Committee From: rRita L. Robinson, General Manager Department of Transportation Subject: USDOT CONGESTION REDUCTION DEMONSTRATION INITIATIVE- CONGESTION PRICING (CF 07-3754) As directed by the motion (CF 07-3754) presented by Councilmember Wendy Greuel (CD 2), the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) has prepared this report regarding the recent announcement by the United States Department of Transportation (US DOT) on the availability of federal funds for Congestion-Reduction Demonstration Initiatives. The motion directed LADOT to identify projects that would be eligible for grant funding under this federal program and to work with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) to prepare a grant application to be submitted to USDOT by the deadline of December 31, 2007. RECOMMENDATION AUTHORIZE LADOT to partner with Metro and Caltrans in the preparation of a joint Congestion-Reduction Demonstration Initiatives application package to the USDOT with consideration of the following overall project elements including complementary City components which total approximately $35 million: 1. Conversion of the existing Interstate 110 (Harbor Transitway) High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes to High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes (Caltrans to determine scope and cost) 2. Grade separation of the northern terminus of proposed HOT lanes on the Harbor Transitway over Adams Boulevard onto Figueroa Street (Caltrans to determine feasibility, scope and cost) 3. Enhancement of Transit Service along Harbor Transitway from Artesia Transit Center to Downtown Civic Center (Metro to determine feasibility, scope and cost) 4. Installation of Changeable Message Signs (CMS) on Figueroa Street and Broadway from Imperial Highway to Downtown Civic Center ($5M) 5. Harbor Transitway Extension Transportation Systems Management (TSM) Improvements ($1 M) 6, Implementation of the Downtown Intelligent Parking Management Program ($15M) 7. Downtown DASH System 'Enhancements ($12M) 8, Commuter Express Global Positioning System Enhancements ($2M) DEe 0 7 2007 TRANSPORTATION Council member Wendy Greuel -2- December 4, 2007 CF 07-3754 DISCUSSION On November 13, 2007, USDOT announced a solicitation of grant applications for funding of Congestion-Reduction Demonstration Initiatives. This is a federal program that will provide funding to implement projects and programs that include innovative, systemwide solutions in dealing with traffic congestion. To be eligible, such solutions should include technological advances in tolling, transit, parking. and/or operations to improve congestion. LADOT has met with staff from Metro and Caltrans to discuss this grant funding program and to explore potential congestion-reduction initiatives for Los Angeles County. To be considered for funding, it is recommended that applications include congestion pricing projects that could be implemented in a relatively short time frame after an agreement with the USDOT is signed. At its meeting on November 29,2007, the Metro Board approved a staff report recommending a congestion-pricing program that was explored collaboratively with Caltrans and LADOT. This program would convert existing freeway HOV lanes to HOT lanes along Interstate 10 (EI Monte Busway), Interstate 110 (Harbor Transitway) and Interstate 210 from the 1-605 to the 1-710 as part of the first phase proposal. Of the toll lane facility projects identified above, Interstate 110 is the only freeway within the City of Los Angeles boundaries. In light of this, LADOT has primarily focused on project initiatives which include a series of innovative technology applications that enable enhancements to transit service, parking, and traffic flow along the Harbor Transitway corridor and areas in and around Downtown Los Angeles. Due to limited time, some components of the overall program are still being evaluated for feasibility, scope and cost by Caltrans and Metro as indicated. Not every project component has been agreed to be included in the overall package at this point by all parties. As such, we anticipate that some project components including complementary City proposed project components may not be included in the final application package. LADOT will continue to work with Metro and Caltrans to finalize the application package before the December 31, 2007 deadline. The proposed joint Congestion-Reduction Demonstration Initiatives application package will consider the following overall elements with complementary City project components as identified in Section B: A. Caltrans and Metro Project Components 1. Conversion of existinq HOV lanes to HOT Lanes on Interstate 110 This project would convert existing HOV lanes to a toll lane facility with a graduated fee program to allow toll paying vehicles to gain access to the HOT lanes. Typically, single person vehicles pay the highest amount and the toll is gradually reduced for additional passengers. Also, usually at a pre- determined number of person vehicles, the cost is free to enter the toll lanes. The toll lanes on the Harbor Transitway will utilize sophisticated electronic Council member Wendy Greuel -3- December 4, 2007 CF 07-3754 toll collection and traffic information systems that can provide real-time information on toll pricing to non-HOV vehicles. Information on price levels and travel conditions is normally communicated to motorists via variable message signs, providing potential users with the facts they need in order to decide whether or not to utilize the HOT lanes or the parallei general- purpose lanes that may be congested during peak periods. Please see Attachment A for more information on the Metro congestion-pricing proposal. 2. Grade Separation of the northern terminus of the proposed HOT lanes over Adams Boulevard onto Fiqueroa Street In order to address the potentiai bottleneck issue at the northern terminus of the proposed HOT lanes along the Harbor Transitway, a grade separation feasibility is being currently investigated by Caltrans to ensure that the project does not end up moving toll paying vehicles faster to a point of known congestion. Caltrans is to investigate feasibility, scope and cost. 3. Harbor Transitwav Enhancements This project would provide for an enhanced transit service along the Harbor Transit corridor from the Artesia Transit Center to the Downtown Civic Center which may potentially include increased headways and/or limited stop services. Metro is to investigate the feasibility, scope and cost of the potential transit service enhancements. B. City of Los Angeles Project Components DOT has identified the following five eligible and complementary congestion- reduction programs that would be included in the grant application. It is recommended that these programs be consiered in the grant application being prepared by Metro for the congestion-pricing proposals described above. These City initiatives, which are estimated to cost $35 milion to construct, meet the requirements of the USDOT solicitation for eligible projects as they include the application of innovative technology programs that enable enhancements to transit service, parking, and traffc flow. The five programs proposed are: 4. Chanqeable Messaqe Siqns This project would provide for the strategic placement of changeable message signs (CMS) along Figueroa Street and along Broadway between Imperial Highway and the Downtown Civic Center. Traffc problems resulting from special event traffc, nonrecurring problems (accidents, roadway construction, filming), recurring problems (peak hour congestion), and freeway gridlock can be significantly reduced with the use of real-time information displays like CMS that provide motorists with advance warning. Some of the more common uses of CMS include traffc warning, regulation, Council member Wendy Greuel -4- December 4, 2007 CF 07-3754 routing, and management information. The real-time information displays assist in modifying the behavior of the driver and thereby improve the traffic flow for all motorists. The estimated cost of this project is $5 million. 5. Harbor Transitwav Extension TSM Improvements This project, which is partially funded, will improve the connection between the Harbor Transitway HOV lanes along the 1-110 Freeway and the EI Monte Busway along the 1-10 Freeway by improving the movement of commuter buses through the Downtown street system. This program, which is described in more detail in Attachment B, proposes to install exclusive peak-hour bus lanes along key arterials, left-turn arrows where necessary to facilitate bus travel, pedestrian signal upgrades, bus stop security lighting, removal of bottlenecks, signal systems optimization, closed-circuit television cameras to enhance monitoring, and strategic relocation of bus stops. This project would enhance commuter transit service by implementing improvements that would provide improved effciency, safety and reliability. The estimated cost of this improvement is $6 million with a funding short-fall of $1 million. 6. Downtown Intelliqent Parkinq Manaqement Proqram The Downtown Intelligent Parking Management (IPM) Program is proposed as a comprehensive strategy to relieve traffic congestion, improve parking availability, and reduce traffic demand in Downtown by implementing demand-based pricing and operational policies for on-street