Business Plan Summary

Transcription

1 Owner: Business Plan Summary Program Transportation Services Service grouping Roadways Service Type Public Service Shane Maguire, Division Manager, Parking & Traffic Signals, Planning, Environmental & Engineering Services Strategic Priority Progressive Transportation System Purpose To provide pedestrian/vehicular traffic control, appropriate lighting, signage and pavement markings for the safe and effective mobility needs of the public so that they can travel in accordance with the Highway Traffic Act on public streets. Key processes Maintain existing traffic signals Financial & Staffing In $000s Operating budget 2010 Actual 2011 Revised Budget Expenditure: 9,404 10,478 Non-tax revenue: Net (tax supported): Capital budget 9,116 10, Revised Budget 2011 Revised Budget Expenditure: 1,893 2,384 Non-tax revenue: Net (tax supported): 1,647 2,060 Staffing FTEs: Percentage of expenditures budget (all rate sources): Annual per household cost of net budget ($): Maintain the safe operation of traffic signals using sound engineering while adhering to the Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways. Replace bulbs and computer control hardware; reprogram timing and test failure modes; repair/replace poles and ductwork Maintain existing street lighting Maintain the street lights in an efficient manner while adhering to the Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways. Replace bulbs, clean lenses, test and repair circuit failures, repair/replace poles and ductwork. 100 Monitoring & installing new traffic signals Monitoring ever changing traffic patterns identifies the need for new traffic signals and pedestrian signals. These must meet the Provincial warrants under City Policy. 90 Page 1 of 6

2 Optimization of traffic signals Traffic volumes and patterns along major corridors are monitored and analyzed. Traffic signal timings are updated and revised to transport the largest volume of traffic in safe and efficient manner. Traffic Sign Maintenance Traffic operations provides regulatory and non-regulatory signs, and street markings for the safety and information needs of the public. The Traffic operations group provides a year round service within three core operations. Detours respond to temporary traffic routing and signage due to planned or emergency construction within the road right-of-way. Pavement Marking crews refresh worn lines, stop bars and logos (bike lanes, for example); and Sign crews prepare and install regulatory and information signs. Regulatory sign inspections occur as prescribed by the Provincial Minimum Maintenance Standards (MMS) Regulatory/Policy landscape Service Delivery method Mandatory Legislative New council direction, new regulations, legislative changes Current state of this service The challenge facing street lighting service is a forecasted 8 rise in power, each year for the next 5 years. This represents 60 of the street lighting service cost. Attempts to mitigate this at the Provincial level are being pursued with AMO and OGRA. Ongoing pilot projects are testing LED lighting fixtures. Short term cost control success has resulted by negotiating a 0 contract extension with the maintenance contractor through to spring There is a high risk that rising energy costs will exceed the budget target for this service, notwithstanding cost reduction initiatives proposed herein. This in turn will threaten attainment of Municipal Maintenance Standards. The challenges facing traffic signal service are public concerns about left turning levels of service and rising maintenance costs. Short term cost control success has resulted by negotiating a 0 contract extension with the maintenance contractor through to spring There is a high risk that rising maintenance costs will exceed the budget target for this service, notwithstanding cost reduction initiatives proposed herein. This in turn will threaten attainment of Municipal Maintenance Standards. In order to address the public's expectation that advance green signals should be displayed all of the time, the traffic signal timings have been modified so that it is more likely that an advance green signal will be seen. This has been done without the high expense of installing new vehicle detection. Monitoring of public complaints and changes in the level of service of an intersection will continue. New investments include completion of the inventory of signs, particularly non-regulatory ones, and completion of the reflectivity testing in accordance with MMS. In 2011 a new program was started to check sign reflectivity. Council approved $50,000 to help implement this project. 20 has been done in the initial year. Page 2 of 6

3 Recent enhancements to economy, efficiency and effectiveness Traffic signal timings have been optimized at 155 intersections (~40 of the network) with travel delays decreased by 20 and CO emissions reduced by 12. Negotiated extensions to the traffic signal and street light maintenance contracts with a 0 increases from May 2011 to April Future direction of this service The street lighting service will undertake an investigation and implementation of new technologies to reduce energy consumption and maintenance costs while maintaining adequate lighting levels for safety standards. Monitoring of LED and Induction Lighting system development for street lighting is an ongoing activity. Several pilot projects are currently underway. An element of the LTC long term plan to increase ridership involves the implementation of traffic signal transit priority along key corridors. Consultation is required to ensure the interests of all road users are balanced. The potential for any additional left turn support measures is assessed as traffic volumes/patterns change. Increased optimization work could be achieved with the addition of a dedicated traffic signal optimization technologist. In order to achieve cost containment and efficiencies a variety of strategies will be required to meet the corporate financial target for 2012 and to rigorously evaluate options and changes in methods of service delivery for ongoing service changes. Consideration and evaluation of cost transfers to other City budgets, though not producing corporate savings, will properly align services. An example of this will be the charge for the Opticom services being allocated to Fire Services. Opportunities to contain costs will be evaluated, such as attempting to again extend contracts for lighting and signal maintenance at no cost increase. Another considered change is to the cost of re-lamping street lights by switching to a longer life lamp and increasing the frequency of the mass re-lamping from a 4-year cycle to a 5-year cycle. It is anticipated that the higher cost of the lamp will be offset by the savings in the mass re-lamping. This will result in a minor change in service level but with a savings of $160,000 per year An initial identified challenge for 2011 and an emerging issue for the service area as the 2012 budget is developed will be to address financial constraints/targets below known labour cost increases in the operating budget which may limit service delivery in various areas. Objectives next 4 years Negotiate or tender traffic signal and street light maintenance costs Attempt to achieve a 0 increase in the contracts. Expected completion year Division responsible 2012 Parking & Traffic Signals Actions If a 0 increase in contracts can't be negotiated, report to Council on options to tender and any service level changes that may be required to manage cost escalation. Outcomes and measures Amount of cost increase. Page 3 of 6

4 Reduce street light energy costs. Working with Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) to reduce street light costs by reducing the Global Adjustment Factor and how the Connection Charges are calculated. The reduction or elimination of the Global Adjustment Factor from the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) is offered to large consumers of electricity to encourage a move to off-peak times. Most street light energy is consumed during conventional off-peak times; therefore, they should be subject to the same benefit. Currently the number of street light connection points is equal to the number of street lights even though the City owns and maintains many of the wires delivering electricity to these lights. Street light connection charges should be based on the actual number of connections to the electricity network. Expected completion year Division responsible 2012 Environmental Programs Actions Support OGRA and AMO in efforts to reduce or eliminate the Global Adjustment factor and to revise how the connection charges are calculated. Outcomes and measures Reduction or elimination of the Global Adjustment Factor. Reduction of the number of connection points to include only connections to London Hydro's network. Emerging issues and challenges Budget Constraints Increasing electricity delivery and consumption charges which exceed budget target rate. Economy Revised Electrical Safety Authority standards will increase the cost of maintaining and operating traffic signals and street lights. Changes in standards apply to City maintenance contracts. AODA New Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) requirements will increase the cost to construct and maintain traffic signals and may have a significant impact on the cost of street lights. Economy Manage growth of sign and pavement marking inventory with the expected budget restraint while still adhering to the new minimum maintenance standard. This new program is still under development and staff are monitoring for efficiency opportunities. Pavement marking budget restraint will reduce the use of longer lasting thermoplastic markings with paint as the substitute. Page 4 of 6

5 Service changes with financial impact (+/-) Statistics and performance measures A Activity measures Number of traffic signals Growth of the City triggers the need for traffic signals at busy intersections. Number of Roadway Illumination maintained 31,917 32,889 33,080 33,400 34,100 34,960 33,958 34,355 35,055 35,755 36,455 37,155 37,855 Assumption of new subdivisions increases the inventory to be managed. B Efficiency measures Operating cost per traffic signal 5,384 4,750 5,172 5,574 5,744 5,534 4,413 5,738 5,915 6,130 6,353 6,582 6,835 A switch to LEDs in 2005 resulted in 85 energy savings in future years. Reduced expenditures in 2010 is not expected to continue. Forecast an 8 increase in hydro rates. Operating cost per street light Significant increase in electricity costs in 2009 & Forecast an 8 increase in hydro rates. Page 5 of 6

6 Cost per capita for traffic operations- signs, pavement markings and detours Reduction is due to average population growth and an assumed zero cost increase target. C Effectiveness/Quality/Satisfaction measures Percent compliance with MMSMH -- signals and street lighting Continuing to meet standards is planned Page 6 of 6