Recommendation Concerning a Memorandum of Agreement Relating to the Development, Operation, and Maintenance of a Regional Advanced Traffic Management System and Regional Transportation Management Center - Joy Jones, P.E., Engineering Department Director
That the Board approve, and authorize the Chairman to sign, the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization and Escambia County, for the Unified Development, Operation, and Maintenance and Stakeholder Allocation of a Regional Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) and a Regional Transportation Management Center (RTMC) and designate non-local option sales tax (LOST) funds as a future funding source.
[Funding Source: Approval includes the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) determining a non-LOST funding source for Escambia County's proportionate share, estimated to be $491,506.85 annually, with the first allocation estimated to be in 2021] |
The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) recommended for approval is between the Florida-Alabama (FL-AL)Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) and Escambia County, Florida. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has encouraged the TPO to seek each of the five Florida TPO stakeholders' (Escambia County, Santa Rosa County, City of Pensacola, City of Gulf Breeze, and the City of Milton) willingness, via the MOA, to contribute their portion (based upon number of traffic signals) to the operation and maintenance of the Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) and the Regional Transportation Management Center (RTMC.)
Escambia County's proportionate share is estimated to be $491,506.85 annually. The proportionate breakdown is in Exhibit 1 of the provided MOA.
A similar Recommendation was brought before the BCC for discussion at its regularly-scheduled meeting on June 6, 2019. The result of that meeting was unanimous support of the MOA, with the stipulation that the RTMC be located in Escambia County. This item was further discussed at the Committee of the Whole (COW) Transportation Workshop on August 8, 2019, at which staff was requested to bring the MOA back to the BCC for approval. Provided is the final RTMC Memo, which is a portion of the entire Regional Advanced Transportation Management System (RATMS) Implementation Plan that was commissioned by the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Technical Working Group, established by the TPO in 2010. This memo recommended 8 different locations, 7 of which are located in Escambia County. Also provided with this Recommendation is a map of the location in Escambia County (Mid-Town Commerce Park), recommended at the August 8, 2019 COW as a possible 9th location, to be considered for the TMC.
A Regional Advanced Traffic Management System (RATMS) incorporates advanced communication technologies integrated into transportation infrastructures such as traffic control systems, monitoring/detection subsystems, and motorist information designed to maximize the use of existing transportation systems. The RATMS includes the computerized signal systems and certain ITS components, including communications and networking, traffic signals, dynamic message signs, closed-circuit television video monitoring, incident detection, data collection and monitoring system, traffic operations center, regional center-to-center communications, and a public information portal.
The benefits of this RATMS include improved safety, air quality mitigation, congestion mitigation, emergency response, regional growth adaptability, improved evacuation abilities, system security, transportation agency operations, and reduced operations and maintenance costs by providing capabilities to remotely troubleshoot hardware and traffic operations before sending a technician to a traffic signal.
The TPO has designated the Escambia/Santa Rosa Regional ATMS Project as its first priority in the FL-AL TPO's Project Priority list.
On September 8, 2010, through Resolution FL-AL 10-37, the Florida-Alabama TPO approved the Regional ITS Plan, which includes the FL-AL TPO, Okaloosa-Walton TPO, and Bay County TPO regions. An ITS Technical Working Group was created to oversee the ITS implementation efforts in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties. The Escambia-Santa Rosa ITS Working Group, representatives from Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, the City of Milton, the City of Gulf Breeze, the City of Pensacola, Emerald Coast Regional Council (ECRC) formally known as West Florida Regional Council, and FDOT, meets monthly, working together to ensure the ITS system is comprehensive and includes a funding plan for the implementation and operation of a regional ATMS, an RTMC, and related infrastructure.
In 2015, funded by FDOT and TPO box funds, Escambia County entered into a continuing professional services contract with an engineering consultant to provide general traffic engineering operation and management services including signal retiming, transportation engineering, planning, and other support services for Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties. In general, the consultant serves as an extension of staff for traffic engineering related services for the region.
On September 12, 2018, the TPO approved Resolution FL-AL 18-31, which states that the TPO agrees to be the lead agency in the development of an RTMC and Regional ATMS build-out for the on-system roadways within the TPO area, and that the TPO agrees to obligate 90% of the Federal Urbanized funds in Fiscal Year 2023-2024 towards the development of the RTMC and on-system Regional ATMS improvements. The Resolution also stated that the TPO intends to obligate an additional 90% of allocated Federal Urbanized funds in Fiscal Year 2024-2025 towards the development of the RTMC and on-system ATMS improvements, and that it intends to utilize additional signal maintenance funding and TPO Federal Urbanized funds for operations and maintenance of the built, on-system Regional ATMS for subsequent years. The Resolution affirms that the TPO will continue to work with local governments to encourage the development and tie-in of local off-system ATMS improvements and expansion of the system. The TPO took this action in order to send a unified voice of support for this regional project.
In an effort to be the lead agency and to include all of the TPO area, on April 11, 2019, the TPO published a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for a new professional services contract to exist between the FL-AL TPO and a firm to provide general traffic engineering operation and management services for the entire FL-AL TPO area, and redirect the box funds through the TPO to support the contract. A selection committee was also established to review and rank all proposals.
This MOA is the next step in the process, to ensure the future viability of a regional ATMS and an RTMC in our region. |