PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to request the City Council appropriate $74,950 from unappropriated Fund 127 Development Impact Fees to execute a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) with Meyer Mohaddes Associates for updating and data translation of the City of Burbank Travel Demand Model and to amend the Fiscal Year 2006/2007 Budget.

BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:

The City�s Travel Demand Model is the primary tool used to forecast future traffic conditions for the purpose of planning future transportation improvements and evaluating traffic impacts of large development projects.  The Travel Demand Model is a critical component of the City�s General Plan Mobility Element Update, the draft of which was released to the public in April 2006.  The Burbank Travel Demand Model is based on the Southern California Association of Governments (SGAG) regional model, with additional detail added in the City of Burbank and adjacent areas.  Using the SCAG regional model as a base ensures that future forecasts for Burbank conditions take into account the effects of regional traffic development in addition to changes in the local environment.  Consistency with the regional model and land use assumptions is critical to produce credible traffic forecasts that are consistent with regional planning.

The current Burbank Travel Demand Model combines local growth forecasts and improvements with regional assumptions set by SCAG and future transportation improvements programmed in the Regional Transportation Plan.  This includes a calibration of the model to a base year of 2004 and a horizon of 2025.  These assumptions were used in formulating forecasts and improvements for the Draft Mobility Element, development of which occurred throughout 2005 and 2006 with a planned adoption this year.  During that period, SCAG has shifted its forecasting efforts to a new planning window, which includes an update of regional model base year conditions and an extension of the planning horizon to 2030.  Also, SCAG modelers and forecasters continually refine and update data used in developing the regional model, including updated roadway networks, refined land use assumptions, travel patterns, and other demographic information.  In addition, SCAG is transitioning to a newer, more state-of-the-art software package that provides better access to modeling data and is more closely tied to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data and other transportation planning tools.

The City�s current Travel Demand Model accurately reflects local and regional conditions for the 2025 horizon year.  However, because City Council has asked that adoption of the Mobility Element be delayed pending further analysis of proposed development controls based on trip generation, staff is concerned that the City�s existing model will fall behind the horizon year set by SCAG and followed by other jurisdictions.  Staff believes that this is the opportune time to update and translate our model so that it continues to be compatible with SCAG�s horizon year, software, and forecasts.

Staff proposes to retain the services of Meyer Mohaddes Associates to translate the City�s current Travel Demand Model from the existing EMME/2 modeling software to the new TransCAD software format used by SCAG.  The project would include fully integrating all local data from the City�s existing model into the revised regional model structure used by SCAG and updating the horizon year to 2030.  Project deliverables would include a fully-functioning updated traffic model with revised horizon year, full roadway and turning movement traffic forecasts for base and future year for all studied intersections, and would reflect the latest SCAG forecasts and future conditions as well as the current local data forecasted as part of the Mobility Element growth forecasts.  Technical documentation would also be included to document all assumptions and methodologies.  The model would be ready for immediate use by internal transportation staff to verify and validate the Mobility Element forecasts to the year 2030 as well as for future short-term and long-term modeling projects.

Staff believes that Meyer Mohaddes Associates has superior qualifications to conduct this work that makes this firm uniquely qualified for this project.  The firm is heavily involved in regional modeling efforts throughout the SCAG region, and has been involved in SCAG�s modeling efforts including transition to the newer software.  They are very familiar with the particular issues involved with SCAG�s modeling structure and methodology, and are conducting similar integration efforts with other municipalities.  Staff believes that the firm�s long-standing involvement with the regions modeling activities as well as their recent experience with translation of model data to TransCAD makes them uniquely qualified to perform the requested services.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The City of Burbank Travel Demand Model is a key tool used to develop and update the City�s Mobility Element and Infrastructure Blueprint, as well as evaluate the impacts of new development to the transportation network.  Thus, staff proposes to utilize Fund 127 Development Impact Fees to fund this update.  Funds for this update were not anticipated to occur as part of this budget cycle, therefore, this PSA requires a budget amendment in the amount of $74,950 to be transferred from Transportation Impact Fee Account 127.ND000.30004.0000.000000 to the Mobility Element / Infrastructure Blueprint project account 127.CD33A.62185.

CONCLUSION:

The City of Burbank�s Travel Demand Model is a local, focused traffic model that relies on regional assumptions to account for the effect of regional travel patterns on local street conditions.  While staff believes the existing model accurately reflects local and regional conditions for a 2025 horizon year, delays in implementation of the Mobility Element have caused our existing model to fall behind the regional planning cycle.  Staff believes that this is an appropriate opportunity to bring the City�s model back in line with the latest SCAG modeling efforts, especially in light of their transition to newer software.  The updates provided by this proposed PSA would bring the City�s model up to latest SCAG assumptions, would provide for easier migration and integration of subsequent SGAG updates, and would provide data via newer software that is more accessible to transportation planning staff and more compatible with the City�s GIS systems.

RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the proposed resolution authorizing staff to enter into a Professional Services Agreement in the amount of $74,500 to update the City�s Travel Demand Model and to amend the Fiscal Year 2006/2007 Budget to appropriate $74,500 in Development Impact Fee funds to the Mobility Element / Infrastructure Blueprint project account.

LIST OF EXHIBITS:

Exhibit A:         Professional Services Agreement

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